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☰
Geneva Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Geneva Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.2 
Organization 4.4 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 17 [displaying comments 11 to 17]
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C. S. from Casablanca, Morocco
(5/9/2012)
 "Small but interesting" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Geneva Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Only 2000 for the marathon and twice that many for the half which started 2 hrs later. Course out in the countryside through fields, and small villages. Spectators when in towns, otherwise a lovely run in the countryside. Finish is along Lake Geneva and the crowds were great. Water/food every 5 kms. | |
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A. S. from Geneve, Switzerland.
(5/12/2009)
"Good, fast course and great Swiss organization!" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Geneva Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was my fifth year around this course, and I set another PB. Very well organized, frequent refreshment points and excellent pacing. Shame about the cost! Poor expo, the same medal as last year, and no more goody bag or water bottle (as against previous years). Where did the entry fee go this year? | |
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J. B. from Geneva
(1/2/2009)
 "good for PBs" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Geneva Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The ourse is designed to avoid hills in what is a hilly city: hence, two loops and the lack of historical elements along the course. If you want history, run the short escalade race in December. The course is well structured, although you can be overwhelmed by the half-marathon participants in the latter stages. This is a hassle-free race and it's well-timed in September; the usual schedule is May, when it can be hot, but the early start affords some protection. | |
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C. N. from Annecy, France
(9/29/2008)
"Good first marathon" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Geneva Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon, so I don't have anything to compare it to (apart from semis and triathlons). Firstly, the route - two laps of a course which crossed a number of bridges and passed through the back streets (pretty uninteresting) and even through the middle of a BMW dealership (!!), before heading onto an out-and-back loop along the lake. The part along the lake was nicest, the parts along the mainly-spectator-free back streets were pretty average. On the first loop it was fine, but on the second loop there weren't enough people guiding runners along the route (despite my being mid-pack at 3:44). It almost felt like everyone had gone home already! Having names printed out on the bibs meant that people could give personalized encouragement - a nice touch. The last three kilometers along Mt. Blanc Bridge and Quai Wilson were well-populated with spectators, which helped me bring it home. It was not a very big race (around 500 male finishers), so drink stations were pretty easy to access (and well organized). Pacers were very encouraging, which helped. I found the KM signage a bit confusing due to the half-marathon also being held in an overlapping time frame. The post-race massage was much appreciated, although the throwaway watch and the rest of the goody bag was a bit of a waste of time. I would have preferred a t-shirt! I don't know that I would do the same course again - there are a lot of marathons within traveling distance, so I will probably try somewhere else in spring. All in all, though, a good first marathon for me. Ideal weather also helped! | |
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B. A. from Lausanne, Switzerland
(9/28/2008)
 "Great race. Will return next year." (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Geneva Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The course, which went through some of downtown Geneva and then around the lake and back, was quite beautiful. It was all flat, which helps your time. The spectators were plentiful and cheered enthusiastically throughout the race. Because of the two-lapping system (for the whole marathon), it was easier to have more fans in a more crowded area. The race was organized quite well, from packet pick-up, to starting time, to the bag retrieval at the end. The weather was perfect and the air quality couldn't have been any better. If any of the organizers are reading this, I would like to make the following suggestions for next year: 1) Have the course go near more of the international organizations. There are many beautiful campuses throughout the city. (Although, I do understand that this might be somewhat of a security risk for them.) 2) Although this became apparent later on, could you please differentiate the KM markers for the 1/2 and the full marathon more clearly? (They were differentiated by color - black for full, red for half.) 3) Give the half marathoners medals too!! I'm envious of the full marathoners' medal! (Quite nice.) 4) The race coincided with the bigger and more famous Berlin Marathon. If you would like to attract more runners, perhaps making it a weekend before/after would help. (How about Haile's new WR?! Wow!) Otherwise, I highly recommend the race and will be back again next year. (My time: 1/2 Marathon - 1:29:00 - new PR!) | |
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g. L. from USA
(5/6/2007)
"Manageable size and great location" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Geneva Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I very much enjoyed this marathon. Beautiful location and gentle course, plus an excellent runner's medal! And if you splurge on one of the beautiful but expensive hotels on the Quai du Mont Blanc (I recommend the Paix), it's a very convenient day. Was able to give my wife a kiss five times along the course... beat that! | |
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D. P. from Switzerland
(8/15/2006)
"Quite flat, not crowded and around the lake" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Geneva Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I have enjoyed this marathon. The staff was well prepared and overall the marathon was well organized. There are not many difficulties. (Just around the 40th KM we run through a park, which is wonderful, but which has small steps for 50 meters and some curves which are tough on the legs.) I think it is possibile to do a good time here except if you plan to run under two hours and 40 minutes, because there will not be a lot of runners around you to give you the pace. Nice race overall. Well organized. I did not like so much the part of the race in the city but I liked the long part along the lake. In the center of the city (start/finish and some other parts of the race) there are many spectators, but they are quite scarce throughout the rest of the race. I would recommend this race. |
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