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May 6, 2024

Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon) Runner Comments

Back to Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon) Information & Reviews

Course 4.5

Organization 4.8

Spectators 4.3

Number of comments: 123 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

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P. M. from Atlanta, GA (3/13/2015) "Well-organized, fast & flat! Great small city race" (about: 2015) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Mara COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is a review of the 2015 race: I needed to shave 5 minutes off my marathon PR to BQ and as a runner in Atlanta, running the annual Publix Georgia Marathon is very difficult. Way too hilly to PR. I was looking for a fast, flat race nearby in the Southeast and Albany seemed to check all the boxes. PRE-RACE Easy drive from Atlanta. About 2h 45 mins. I stayed at the race hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn which was tremendous. It's a 3 minute walk across the street to the start-line. Expedia.com forced me to register for two nights, but a week before the race I called the hotel and was easily able to cancel my second night. Highly recommend that any out-of-towner stay in this hotel. You can walk to the start line, and walk back from the finish line (two different places). Plus, they had free coffee on race morning in the lobby. Packet Pickup: Easy as can be. Hotel ballroom is small, so it was crowded, but I got my stuff in 5 minutes. My only disappointment was that the 3:15 pace group was cancelled because the pacer had a travel snafu. T-shirt: Nice tech shirt, although a weird sky blue / teal color that I'll probably never wear. RACE MORNING: Race started at 7a. I left the hotel lobby at 6:40 and got to the start area at 6:45. There seemed to be some lines at the port-o-johns, but not too bad. Full and Half all started at the same time. Race started promptly at 7 which I always appreciate. My one comment to the race directors: thank you for the warnings about the loud cannon start sound, but even still...it's WAY TOO LOUD. Even covering our ears, the cannon going off just a few feet from the runners was really excessive. It was so, so, so loud. A nice 'Go' would suffice next year! RACE: We had perfect weather. 39-degrees and clear at the start, warming up to about 48 at the finish. Perfect conditions. The course was everything as promised. It's not dead-flat per say...but you do have multiple miles with almost zero elevation rise or loss. There are a few miles that have slight rolling ups and downs, but overall, this is certainly a 'flat and fast' course. After running 4 marathons in Atlanta, it felt like heaven. For a small city marathon, I thought the crowd support and police traffic control was excellent. At least 15 of the miles are run in residential neighborhoods and it was always great to see neighbors manning the drink stations from their driveways. The Full and Half part ways at the beginning, but fast marathoners will lap some slow half-ers around mile 4. There's a 2-mile stretch where you are weaving through the half marathon walkers. This happens again at the last mile. You run through two college campuses, Albany State and Darton State which are pretty & scenic. Water and Gatorade were roughly every 2 miles, and they had gel stations and some fruit stations later in the race. I grabbed a quarter banana from someone at mile 23 which was a real bonus. The course has multiple spots where you bang out 1-2 miles with almost no turns. But then the last 5-6 miles of the race are quite 'turny' so be sure pick a good line. The last 1/4 mile is slightly different...you twist & turn onto a paved trail, into a park to the finish line. Lots of turns. Finish area itself was great. Great energy and race announcer. Lots of post-event food, drinks (and beer) and the race medal was very cool. And if you stayed at the race hotel, you are only 100 yards from the hotel. OVERALL: If you are looking for a well-organized, fast race in the state of Georgia...this is your race. I give it a 10 out of 10. I ultimately shaved 7 minutes off my PR to get the BQ that I so badly wanted!
Mike Weaver from Carrollton, Georgia (3/9/2015) "One of my favorites, gets better each year!" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Maras COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my fourth year doing the full, and I can honestly say this race just gets better each year. Nice course with just enough rise and fall to make it interesting (not flat as some may say). The support is great - Gatorade, HammerGel, bananas every few miles. Course winds through some nice residential areas with friendly fans. Albany is on my calendar every year!
A. N. from Georgia USA (3/8/2015) "Must run this race" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Maras COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran this race in 2012 did not enjoy it because of the tornado warnings and stormy rain. I came back 2015 and I have done about 70 marathons but this one was definitely in my best list. The course is clean and pristine, good organization.
H. P. from Suwanee, GA. (3/8/2015) "first time in Albany- great marathon experience!" (about: 2015) 4-5 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The marathon was very well run from the hotel,expo, speakers, dinner to the course and water/food/gatorade and bathrooms!The weather was perfect, crowd support great and finish by the water was a beautiful spot to relax and visit with family/friends. I was impressed with Albany and will recommend this race to friends for sure!
J. K. from Georgia (3/5/2014) "Nice Smaller Race" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran the half marathon. This was a nice well organized race. Parking is ample and close to the start and a short walk from the finish. The course is mainly flat with a couple of small rises. This was my 8th half marathon and the crowd support was amazing. Many times I was by myself running and the crowds cheered for me regardless. Great community spirit and a couple of people thanked me for coming to Albany. The course wasn't very interesting but there were some pretty spots and the finish along the river was nice. The only thing I would change about it was the medal. I don't run for bling but it's nice to get something special after finishing a half or full. The medal design has been the same for the last couple of years. I love the turtle design but would have to see colors, sparkles or something bigger. There are so many races to chose from and I am often swayed by the bling. I have been to other races with less expensive entry fees that have great bling. All in all a good race. Not sure I will run this race again. I'm local so if I don't want to travel I may come back in the future. New bling (hint..hint) may sway me to come back.
C. T. from Georgia, USA (3/4/2014) "Awesome race!!!" (about: 2014) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Mara COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first experience running the Albany marathon and it was a great one. Every single detail of this race is well thought out, from the generous goody bag they give you in the expo, to the beautiful shirts, medals, and the significant number of volunteers helping out at the course. The course itself was mostly flat with a couple of small rolling hills to keep the legs feeling good. The weather on this occasion was perfect which made the riverfront finish area a great place to soak up the sun after the race. After you finish the race, you can relax at the little Mardi Gras festival in the small downtown area. As part of your packet, they give you a complementary ticket. It was fun and I enjoyed listening to the band and having a beer. My only suggestion would be for them to offer XS shirts for women as the small is a bit large on me and there are plenty of other petite ladies who run. Overall, a fantastic experience!!!
a. g. from Ocala Florida (3/3/2014) "Great course, Great Start an Finish" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran the 1/2mar. Had a great stay In Albany. The Packet pick up was easy an fast, Plenty of help an parking a breeze. Race morning parking was not even a issue. The convention center parking lot was not even half full. Loved the cannon start. Felt safe running the entire course, they don't use cones but rather barrels on the major roads. The police were out in force an even smiled as I ran past. Can't ever remember seeing that in any other race I ever ran. congrats to the race vol. An director, job well done.
Y. W. from Atlanta, Georgia (3/3/2014) "Friendly, fast and fun" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Mara COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great community support, great weather, fast course. Super friendly, enthusiastic cheering groups...even cowboys (and gals) handing out treats.
S. M. from Blue Ridge, GA (6/28/2013) "Great Event. Well Organized, Flat & Fast..." (about: 2013) 2 previous marathons \| 2 Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Maras COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I ran Albany Marathon in 2010 & 2013, very enjoyable and well organized. After race many events within walking distance of race festivities. A great course to PR as well as nice family weekend getaway.
R. H. from Lawrenceville, GA (3/10/2013) "good overall experience" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Mara COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 organization: Pros: Plenty of parking at the start, well stocked fluid stations, several food & gel spots on the course, easy packet pickup, beer, fruit & Gatorade at the finish, tech shirt, Snickers bars & other Mars food samples, expo is efficient size with anything you may have left at home Cons: the finish area could be closer to the car (I think some recent flooding may have altered the original finish area, but I don't know), only one portable heater at the finish area (the 39 degree temps were too chilly for me to stick around in the cold), I didn't notice any portalets at the start Course: essentially a flat course run entirely on asphalt roads with a few small rises, but nothing bad in my opinion, well marked with plenty of police or volunteers at intersections, clocks at miles 10, 13.1 & 20 (I think 25 also, but I'm not certain), the last few miles run through some nice tree-lined streets Spectatos: the crowd support was very friendly, lively and energetic when you ran by them. It's also nice to run with a friend that gets the crowd involved as he runs. Volunteers: each stop was well manned with Gatorade and water and there was gel and/or bananas and oranges at several points along the course, the temps didn't get over 40 so I am very thankful for the efforts and time these people gave for us

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