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Apr 29, 2024

Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) Runner Comments

Back to Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) Information & Reviews

Course 3.9

Organization 3.5

Spectators 3.4

Number of comments: 286 [displaying comments 61 to 71]

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Stephen Lee from Ottawa, Canada (4/7/2011) "Great spring race" (about: 2011) 50+ previous marathons \| 3 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I love coming down to DC to run this race. I've run the marathon twice, and this year did the half. It's a very scenic course, especially the first half. And running conditions always seem to be ideal - an early start and the time of year leave the air cool and crisp. It's true that the course is a bit hilly. On the other hand, there are several stretches of gentle downhill to make up time lost climbing. Besides, in my opinion a few hills give a course character. I mean, would anyone ever consider taking the Newton hills out of Boston? In any case, I always seem to run very good times in DC, usually much better than I'd expected. Not opening the Metro two hours early - as was done in past years - was a bit of a pain. I wonder if this had anything to do with Adrian Fenty not running the marathon - and with him not longer being the mayor, as well. In the end, though, it didn't affect me. Experience has taught me that I have to get to starting lines at least an hour early, in order to drop off my bag, stretch, and get in the last trips to the porta-potties; so I wasn't about to gamble on a train that at best would get me there half an hour before gun time. So I ended up taking the bus, as they seem to run pretty much all night, and even though it left me with a 10-minute walk from H St. to RFK (you can't transfer buses free), I still arrived in plenty of time. Hopefully the Metro situation will be better next year, maybe by getting Fenty back into public office. I found the expo to be fun. The kit pickup lines were a bit annoying (about 15 minutes), so hopefully that'll improve. But the kit bag had a couple of nice touches, including a pair of free running gloves - very useful for the first 30 minutes of the race. There were many more exhibitors than I remember from the previous years that I ran DC, and there was a speaker series, and many good deals to be had. And having the armory open to hang around in pre-race was terrific. I did the half, so the fair at the finish line was great at that point, with lots of good stuff to try. Plus I got to hang around and see the top athletes finish. Michael Wardian won again this year, and he's always been a bit of an idol of mine, so it was great to finally see him run. Plus a fellow Canuck came in second. Spectator support was strong, if not overwhelming, but to be honest, I don't find crowd support all that motivating at the best of time. It's nice, but it doesn't seem to do much for the weariness in my legs. Although I am kind of partial to the weird things that can momentarily take your mind off the pain, like the girls of Wellesley College with their "Kiss Me" signs; being able to hear the thunder of their applause from a mile away while running Boston; seeing the "Wall" they built around mile 20 the year I ran Sacramento, complete with a Grim Reaper stalking the runners; seeing the costumes that the water-station runners wear at Niagara Falls; hearing the phenomenal bands that line the first 10 miles in New York; or seeing the chubby belly dancers at mile 14 here in Ottawa. One year DC had a high school marching band performing outside their school, which was pretty cool, but since then there's been nothing I can think of, which is too bad. I guess the closest thing to a trademark is the finish line announcer who makes me laugh out loud with his over-exuberance. In previous years he called Mayor Fenty the fastest marathon mayor in the world; this year he called a councilman who did the half in just over two hours the world's fastest councilman. He may be right about Fenty, as the last time I ran the marathon I think he finished in around 3:25; but you have to think that there's a councilman somewhere who has gone under 2 hours for the half. But still, he is fun, as is the entire finish line festival, in my opinion. Yes, getting from the finish area to the armory to pick up my stuff was a bit of a pain, although probably more for the marathoners than for me, as you have to cut across the course at the point where the marathoners are beginning their second half. It would be nice if organizers could fix that. But still, this is a terrific race. In addition, DC is a wonderful place to visit at this time of year. Not too warm, and usually the cherry blossoms are out, making the air intoxicating. And let's face it, there's so much to see in this town. I don't usually do the touristy stuff, but there are things here that absolutely must be visited, like Arlington Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, the Mall, and the Vietnam Memorial. And of course, the various Smithsonian Museums - I visited a couple, and they absolutely blew me away. Great race, great town, great time of year. And organizers that seem to want to get better year after year. I really enjoy this race and this city.
L. K. from North Liberty, IA (4/4/2011) "Disappointed, overall." (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The reason I gave 3 stars for the course is that it could be so much better. I think they could take the route through the National Mall or be able to hit more landmarks along the course. This marathon/half marathon event is getting BIG quick. Starting the full and half at different times would be an excellent idea. The course was jam-packed with half runners and it made it quite cramped. I think this event could be GREAT, but it was mediocre.
E. C. from Orlando, Florida (4/2/2011) "Great course but with no mile markers" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Very scenic course, especially during the first 18 miles. Packet pick up, bag check, and finish line refreshments were very smooth - kudos for the organization. However, Garmin is a must, as I only recall seeing 3 mile markers.
N. S. from Richmond VA (4/1/2011) "Great course, good fans, needed mile markers" (about: 2011) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This was my first time running the half. I loved the course and want to do the relay next year with my kids to give them the chance to run in Washington DC. I did my packet pick up mid-day on Friday so I did not have the parking delays and lines other runners mentioned. Loved having the armory to wait in before and after the race. We drove because we could not have made it from where we were staying (right by one of the Falls Church metro stations) in time. Got there at 5:30 and had no trouble parking. I realize the Metro opening time was not decided by the race directors, but it was a big problem. As was the lack of mile markers. I saw only one in the first 13 miles (and was actively looking for them). The one I did see I don't think was in the right place. I did not consider the race to be very hilly - but I do a lot of hill training. Plenty of post-race food. No race is perfect and these things can be fixed. I do plan to come back next year. You just can't beat running past the monuments.
T. R. from PA (3/31/2011) "Good race? Yes. Fair reviews? No." (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I've run this race twice, and both times I've enjoyed it and have looked forward to doing it again. Volunteer support is top-notch, the medal is nice, and the course is fun/tough. Is it the best marathon you will ever run? Probably not. Is it anywhere near as bad as the negative reviews posted here? Most definitely not. I don't think the other reviewers here represent the race fairly. First, others have commented on the metro this year. While it's true that this convenience wasn't available this year, I think it should be noted that SunTrust and the event organizers do not actually control the DC metro. That seems to be shocking news to some, but I'm not sure why. Heeding the emails that the race sent me prior to the big day, I drove in and had NO problems getting in or out of the plentiful parking lots. When driving in and parking is the standard at 99.9% of all race events, I don't know why people are blasting this race over the metro. If anything, I experienced LESS hassle driving in to this event than I have at other major events. Second, I believe this is one of the few major multi-race events that sets a total entrant cap, and not a marathon cap and a separate half-marathon cap. Why fault this race for more people signing up for the half-marathon, which is arguably a more popular race distance in DC and elsewhere? To say something like this race is really for the half-marathoners as a sleight to this event is kind of dumb and incredibly elitist, in my opinion. Think about it; the half-marathoners pay WAY more (per mile) than the full marathoners do (in other words, they should complain that we are in THEIR way!). Of course, this event may slightly cater to half-marathoners, just like 99.9% of all other major events do. It's called majority rule, people. Rather than being snobby about it, marathoners should be grateful for half-marathoners; I'm quite sure that the half-marathon at most events subsidizes the full marathon. That is, without the companion half-marathon race, the full marathon typically wouldn't be economically feasible (evidence of this: relatively few marathon-only events take place in the US; countless half-marathon-only events take place in the US). That said, I didn't feel like I was at all treated as second-class for running the full marathon. I got to run two half-marathons and paid only marginally more than the single half-marathoners, lol. If anything, the half-marathoners were very enthusiastic in their cheering for the full marathoners (or maybe that was just the few thousand half-marathoners I saw/heard). Finally, to say this race is too expensive is just not fair either. I signed up early and paid a very low rate for an event of this quality level (significantly less than $120) - plus I got a tech shirt for registering. Just like 99.9% of all other major race events, if you wait until the last minute to sign up, you WILL pay a LOT. I paid $65 and I got two shirts, got to run a nice marathon through DC, got a nice medal, got to drink beer afterward, and got decent post-run food. I would have to be pretty clever to find a way to complain about that. P.S. This applies to comments on any race at this site: Garmins are not NASA-accurate, people. I seriously doubt this marathon, or any other major race course, is long or short. Maybe it's just me, but I'm thinking that most marathon (half-marathon) courses are in fact 26.2 (13.1) miles long and that most Garmins, mine included, provide an estimate of distance with (in some cases, substantial) error.
B. A. from Los Angeles, CA (3/31/2011) "A very good regional marathon" (about: 2011) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 In reading all the reviews about the race, there are certainly some valid points of improvement, but some of these are too critical. Although I have limited long-distance, road-racing experience, I was an NCAA D1 800 meter runner and had one half marathon under my belt prior to this race. My goal for this race was to run around 3:00 for the marathon and qualify for Boston (which I did). In terms of the half/full distribution, there are certainly more runners in the half. Toward the front of the pack, I was never concerned with too many people and I was able to utilize every water/PowerAde station available (aid station every 2 miles, enough volunteers calling out, "water," or "PowerAde"... very helpful). In terms of the mile markers in the first half, they were not very visible at all. I saw a marker at Mile 1 and then from Mile 8 onward. According to the race, this was due to a logistical error of getting the markers to the right place in the morning (since this was a logistical error, I am confident they will fix this problem next year). First half of the marathon was very nice in terms of going past several important landmarks. At the split for the full/half it was very clear that runners for the marathon moved left and half marathoners finished right... very simple. Also, I got a charge out of the field thinning out after 13 miles. I looked around at the other runners and said, "This is where the real race starts," which got some brief laughs. Even at the front of the pack (top 100-200 runners) I was still in constant contact with other runners of my ability. The second half of the race wasn't as beautiful as the first but I wasn't paying too much attention to the scenery (at this point in the race you shouldn't be looking around; you should be starting really to race the course). I loved around mile 20 and 23 where there were little loops, so I could see how far in front or how far back my competitors were. After mile 23 there were some rolling hills for a mile or so but nothing killer. After mile 25, it's a straight shot to RFK Stadium and the finish, which is great for seeing where your competitors are again. There were also few but very passionate supporters along the last 6 miles of the course. Finish line festival was alright but nothing spectacular. The medal and t-shirt were very nice. Overall this is a relatively fast course (only a few hills, and temperature throughout the race of 38-46). I thought that temperature would be too cold but BELIEVE ME - IT WAS THE PERFECT TEMP for running a marathon. P.S. The expo had some excellent speakers on injury prevention, proper athletic nutrition and marathon training. This isn't a world-class marathon, but I would certainly recommend it for either the half or the full.
J. M. from Georgetown, Delaware (3/30/2011) "Definitely could have been organized better" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 The packet pick-up parking situation left a lot to be desired. Ended up having my wife just drop me off and I ran in to the armory while she circled around RFK. The last-minute change in the Metro opening from 5 to 6 a.m. played havoc on both traffic and parking. The streets leading to the lots were overloaded and not moving. I ended up parking about 1/4-mile away and jogging to the starting corral. I would have liked to save my energy for the marathon. I agree with the earlier comment that the race felt more focused on half marathoners than full marathoners. (It felt like 80% of the runners only did the half.) I would recommend that organizers split the half-marathoners off much earlier in the race and that they consider offering a separate finishing tent for marathoners as well. When I finished at just over 4 hours, there was only one line for getting food and drink and we had to shuffle through slowly. There was lots of debris and trash all around as well. The race does has have long, slow hills. The harder ones, of course, came late in the race, between miles 23-25. The first half seemed less hilly.
B. B. from DC (3/30/2011) "Great (half) course, but no way to get there" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This half-marathon course is my favorite course in DC, and I've run nearly all of them, from 5Ks to marathons. It runs through interesting areas that the tourists don't visit, and it's a great peek at some of the actual neighborhoods of DC. I also think it has the savviest spectators with the most clever signs. Previously I thought the race was nearly perfect: Take Metro in; run a really fun, somewhat challenging course with great volunteers and enthusiastic spectators; take the Metro home. This year, when Metro didn't open early enough, getting in and out was a nightmare by car. This is my last of these until the subway opens earlier or the race starts later. The lack of mile markers this year was puzzling, but that was clearly a bizarre glitch and they'll fix that. The cost is very high for a half, but to me, the race is worth it. Unfortunately the transportation headache is not.
C. W. from NY state (3/30/2011) "Enjoyable race" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This was my 2nd marathon and my first National. I heard a lot of people complain about the course, but I liked it. Yes, it has a fairly big hill from ~5-7, but I knew that was there. There were a few other uphills in the first half that I wasn't expecting, but they weren't huge. Yes, some of the course goes through less than attractive areas, but that happens in big cities. Most of the first half is really nice and the parts along the water in the 2nd half are also quite nice. The couse was crowded but not enough to slow things down (except around corners) and was great once the half-marathoners split off. I think the biggest issue was in the organization of the parking/start. First of all, they need some signage to direct people who are driving. We carpooled and got there quite early, so we had no problems getting into a lot; but as those filled, things apparently got more chaotic. Opening the metro earlier would also be helpful. Then the start itself, they have assigned "corrals," but they are not enforced. This year, in addition to the elite corral, there were 10 corrals with different colored stickers on the bibs for what corral you were supposed to be in. However, the corrals were an open free-for-all and people just ended up wherever. This makes for a congested start. Also, the pace groups were out of order and not in the corral they belonged in either. The 4:00 group started ahead of the 3:50 and 3:55 groups, which further confuses people about what corral they should be in. Packet pick-up/expo were fine. Shirt was OK and I really liked the medal. Bag check worked really well. Post-race food was OK, but I've seen 5Ks with better spreads. I didn't go as fast here as I had hoped but that is the fault of the training - not the race. The volunteers were great, especially in the late miles. There were two drum lines along the river that were great. Yes, there are fewer spectators than in some races, but the ones that were there were very supportive to everyone. One note: be sure to pay attention when you are registering because there is a space where you can enter what you want printed on your bib. Some people must have missed that field and were disappointed. I liked having my name on my bib because, especially toward the end, the volunteers would call me by name and say something encouraging.
A. M. from New York, NY (3/29/2011) "Easy fixes could make it a great race" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I agree with all of the comments from previous posters. This has the potential to be a great event if the race directors made some easy changes: 1) MILE MARKERS - cannot be said enough. How much money could 26 cardboard signs cost? Don't even need the official timer at all the miles, runners just need to see at least one marker before mile 11, especially since the tunnels messed up Garmins...the back half of the marathon had more markers, but seriously, nothing to even note mile 26 for exhausted runners who couldn't see where the finish line was over the hill at the end?? 2) I was not one of the people who suffered on the Metro since it seemed there was no way to make it from official race hotels across town to the race within an hour. Luckily I was able to chase down one of the few cabs available, but seems like there could be some shuttle options from official race hotels if the Metro isn't an option. 3) The expo packet pickup was somewhat of a nightmare. Since it's only open one day, there was a huge rush late afternoon, which was really the only option for out-of-towners. Wasn't a problem to pick up marathon bibs, but also was picking up for some half-marathon friends and the lines were completely disorganized and took forever...after that, we didn't even want to stay and walk around the expo. Other than that, I have nothing but positive things to say about the race - loved running through the capitol and that made up for a less-scenic 2nd half, the volunteers were extremely friendly and crowd support was surprisingly good especially for an early race, and being able to stay warm in the Armory before the race was a nice perk. I would definitely recommend this race to others if the race directors take reviews to heart and make those simple changes everyone is suggesting.

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