Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

May 19, 2024

Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 4.4

Spectators 3.5

Number of comments: 195 [displaying comments 71 to 81]

More Comments: [ < 1 .. 6 7 8 9 10 .. 20 > ]

W. Y. from USA (5/24/2011) "Well Organized Fast Course" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 An excellent course to PR and BQ. (Which I did). Yes there are rolling hills in the latter miles, but the downhills outnumber the uphills. Nice finish at the high school. If you want to BQ and/or PR this is a good one.
M. C. from Philadelphia (5/24/2011) "Would definitely run this one again" (about: 2011) 2 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was a very good experience. Nice time of year to be in the poconos! Beautiful scenery. The race was well organized. Not a lot of crowd support, but I didn't expect there to be much. People that were there were very enthusiastic. You have to be smart about how you run this course. I saw a lot of people letting it rip on the down hills, only to get burned out on the rolling hills towards the end! Stadium finish was very nice. Plenty of food, (hoagies, donuts, bagels etc) Will definitely run this one again!!
B. V. from PA (5/20/2011) "Great Marathon, but with some room for improvement" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was my 3rd marathon, and the first where I had to travel. I'll start with the cons: 1. The hotel situation is very limited, and after reading the reviews of the host hotel I decided to look elsewhere and really had limited options in the Stroudsburg area. I ended up staying at the Hampton Inn, which was fine, but way over priced. If I had to do it again, I would probably stay near the start line because of this, and also because of con #2. 2. This was probably a one time thing, because they changed the start line location with the 2011 race, but the bus we were on got lost twice to the start line. Talk about adding to the anxiety of an already anxious bunch. I would recommend in the future that the race organizers print out detailed directions for each bus driver so this doesn't happen again. 3. The start line was kind of crammed up against the side of a school, which was a little strange. Not really a big deal, but thought I'd mention it. 4. Crowd support was lacking, which I expected. However, I did expect to see more people down in town in our last few miles. Of course the bad weather could have kept people away. Now the Pros: 1. I loved this course. Loved it, Loved it, Loved it. The first half was mainly down hill, and the entire course is through some amazing areas. You will be challenged in the 2nd half though, which some tough rolling hills. 2. They ban (or were to supposed to) headphones. At first I thought this would be tough, but since most people followed the rule, it really gave you the opportunity to meet some great people along the way. I'm not sure why everyone wasn't forced to follow the ban, since it was clearly marked on the website, but whatever. 3. The volunteers were great, and had to deal with some ugly weather for the early part of the race. Overall, I really liked this race, and I would consider doing it again.
M. N. from Staten Island, NY (5/17/2011) "First marathon, great course, will be back." (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon so I don't have much to compare it to, but it was a wonderful experience. I found the course to be amazing. A nice flat section, followed by extensive downhill, followed by rolling hills. The support was outstanding and the spectators were great. I will definitely be back next year.
B. K. from Maryland (5/17/2011) "Wow - this is one awesome little race!" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 My first small marathon. Having only ran large marathons (7), I was concerned about the crowd support. This little community was SO SUPPORTIVE. The race was EXTREMELY well organized. The course was BEAUTIFUL and FAST! Loved every minute of it. The only down side was the host hotel was a bit shabby, but staff was pleasant and did their best on accommodating a big crowd in a small town. And, it was strategically located. So, I probably would stay there again.
C. R. from Philadelphia, PA (5/17/2011) "Very Happy with the Marathon" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my first marathon. I enjoyed the peacefulness of this the marathon. If you are looking to run with thousands, then this one is not for you. The only drawback was that breakfast was not available to runners on the morning of race.
L. M. from East Stroudsburg, PA (5/17/2011) "Love the new course" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I've run all 6 years and I love, love, LOVE the new course. It is prettier then the old; but it is also tougher. Injury took away most of my training time and I was really slow. Didn't matter, the volunteers were awesome - treated me like I was in 1st place. Will definitely be back next year, hopefully healthy!
Bruce Kuziola from Piscataway, NJ (5/17/2011) "Fast But Challenging" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Beat my previous PR by 7:03. Got my 1st BQ with 6:36 under which hopefully will be enough to get into 2012. Comments: * Drove the course the day before and had the same impression as others who drove it - the course is intimidating but was not as difficult as it looked. I did feel though that it was the most challenging that I've run - others were NYC (2x), Marine Corp.-DC (2x), Philly (3x). * Don't plan on running even splits - you need to let gravity help you pick up the pace on the downhills early in the race and put time in the time bank that you may need on the uphills after mile 18. I know this violates the - don't go out too fast - cardinal rule of marathon running, but gravity helps you conserve energy. * The host hotel was within walking distance of the finish line (which is where you picked up the buses to get to the start) and the hotel did not have a checkout time which was a big help. * Crowd support was sparse but encouraging. * Event was well organized and the responses to questions posted on the Facebook page was a nice touch. * Pasta dinner was disappointing. * Highly recommend this marathon.
J. S. from Alexandria,VA (5/17/2011) "Oh, the hills!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 PROs: -A race rep responded to every comment/question posted on Facebook. Wow. -Easy drop-off for those who didt ride the bus. -Hanging out in the gym before was GREAT. -Perfect weather. -Beautiful route. -Nice volunteers and plenty of water stops. -My spectator was able to spot me 6 or 7 times & because he did some thorough Mapquest research and creative driving. -Great medal and T shirt (..with NO advertising on it!) -Charming, friendly town. CONs: -Seemed like there was a lack of info at the expo. No info on road closures, the course, spectator routes, etc. Perhaps the RD could post this stuff on a wall at next years expo? -It felt like EVERY inch of this race was either up or downhill. (How do you train for that?! My quads will never forgive me.) -When you think you re nearly done (turning into the school), you still have a long way to run & weaving through parking lots then almost a full lap around the track. Ug. (I love a finish you can see from a distance!) FUNNY: In most goodie bags you get a bar and maybe a tiny tube of sunscreen. In this goodie bag I got a chip clip and a light bulb. Ha ha ha ha! OVERALL: Well organized, beautiful marathon &but I won t be back. The hills ate my lunch.
B. M. from Florida (5/16/2011) "Very tough course for a Floridian" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 The course was great, but as true flatlander, it felt like there was nearly as many ups as there were downs. This was definitely the hardest course that I've experienced through 12 marathons, mostly in part because I did not do any hill training. Anyway... it is a great race, but if you are not running on hills and are looking to qualify for Boston, I would steer clear of this one.

More Comments: [ < 1 .. 6 7 8 9 10 .. 20 > ]

Quick Links

Marathon Search
Upcoming US Marathons
Upcoming International Marathons
Search Marathon Results
Latest Running News
Recent Newsletters
Race Director Tools

Become an Advertiser

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Become an Advertiser

© 2000-2024, All Rights Reserved by MarathonGuide.com LLC

Privacy Policy Refund Policy Terms of Use