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Apr 27, 2024

Hamptons Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Hamptons Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 3.9

Organization 3.9

Spectators 2.6

Number of comments: 28 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

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a. f. from East Hampton second home (12/31/2008) "this course is meant to challenge you" (about: 2008) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I don't agree with some of the rainy day posters here that there was too much traffic and the course was too difficult for runners because of the hills. This course was designed obviously to be a Boston Marathon qualifier. In other words, it is supposed to challenge you. Having run it many times in all sorts of weather, because I live in East Hampton, and having run half marathons, Boston and other challenging courses, the Hamptons Marathon ranks right up there with some of the best half marathon and marathon courses in the country. This course merits its selection as one of the ten best new courses in the country. If you go out too fast, you get a reminder with the hill at mile 1.5 to slow down. The next three miles give you a slight downhill to get on race pace. Don't have a race pace? Yikes! The terrain varies, the wind direction varies, and the surface varies. This is definitely a tougher half marathon course than New York or Hartford, as it should be. As to the hills, if you can qualify here for Boston then you will do well in Boston. That's the secret. The Hamptons Marathon doesn't seduce you into going out too fast the way Boston does, but it is no coincidence that you get three miles of hills beginning at mile 17. That was done precisely to get you a feeling for Boston. This is a prep course for Boston. It's not meant to be an easy, flat, Boston qualifier. The half is used by many runners to prep for NY just like the Cherry Blossom in Washington is used to prep for Boston. As to comparisons with other post-race runner spreads, no doubt Hartford is better, but it has ING as a sponsor. The Hamptons Marathon is doubling in size each year, and it is only in its second year. Give the organizers another year and I'm sure the post-race party will get much much better. My favorite post-race is Bridge of Flowers (you don't like hills!!!), where they give out organic veggie burgers. But the NY Marathon post-race gives you a banana. Who runs New York for the banana? Some of us hardcore New England runners don't even want a banana. It's too bad that someone thought the traffic was bad. Come out here in the summer and you'll see traffic. I have run all of the roads in East Hampton, and if you don't want to see traffic, then the Hamptons isn't the place to be. The Hamptons Marathon is tranquil by comparison to anything that can be encountered out here on any summer weekend. The course is positively rural. When you pass through the fishing village of Lazy Point, there isn't anybody cheering because they've all gone clamming. As to a scenic and historic course, I'm sure De Kooning and Pollock had smiles on their faces, as the griping rainy day runners passed the Green River cemetery twice without knowing they were passing one of the most important areas for 20th Century art (Springs) in the country! That General Store near the finish is where Pollock did his grocery shopping. When it rains some runners get cranky, and I guess they post when they get cranky. You are running in Jackson Pollock's backyard in one of the most beautiful spots in the United States, and you don't know it. Duh. My, my; let's get back to Hartford, Martha - I don't like those guys holding hands over there. Thank God THAT course sticks to downtown and never passes that old, nasty, immortal Mark Twain's residence. Huruff!
C. M. from New London, CT (11/10/2008) "Would not recommend or do this one again" (about: 2008) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 This was not a good race. My husband and I did this with some friends and we all had bad experiences. It started at packet pick-up. It was easily 5 miles from where the race was going to start. The night before, we received an email that pick-up would be closed for 2 hours in the middle of the pickup - are you kidding? When we finally got there, a seven-year-old boy gave us our race bag and then was supposed to give us our bib numbers. He mixed them up. Then, we also got the wrong chips. I think it is great to get kids involved, but really... adult supervision is necessary. Then, we didn't get our shirts. So, we asked and they said, "You already got them." But... we didn't. We finally convinced them we didn't get shirts and then we found out they didn't have my size... so I could have a men's shirt. Now I know why the race ran out of men's shirts. I never understand this - the race had closed months earlier. The directors know the exact number of racers, and the male/female split - and we give our sizes to boot. The shirts were terrible. And all of the goodies in the bag were expired. I thought that was pretty cheap. They advertised "plenty of parking"; when you park up to a mile from the start, there sure is enough parking. It is not the walk to the start that is the problem... it is the walk back. The course was pretty, but the cars were bad. Spectators and volunteers are wonderful... but there was no food left at the end. You HAVE to be kidding. The RUNNER'S WORLD review was definitely fake; no way did they do that race last year. There was definitely no "star treatment." Anyway, the best part was the medal. It was fantastic. I'll be back at Hartford next year.
J. P. from New Jersey (10/27/2008) "Vehicular traffic danger!" (about: 2008) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I have run over 30 marathons and I can tell you this was one of the worst. Runner's World had this race all wrong. The biggest problem with this marathon was the amount of VEHICULAR TRAFFIC that was involved. There were so many cars coming close to runners on the course, even on the dirt path/road portion. It was outright dangerous and put many runners into precarious positions with lots of risk for serious injury. I don't know whether the traffic involved local folks or support teams of runners; but the course never should have been designed to put runners in so much potential danger. The bad weather that occurred only exacerbated the situation. It was not the cause of the problem. The course should have been designed to expose runners to a minimal amount of close automobile traffic. Other minor problems with the race included the post-race party, which required a separate charge. Directions to the party were not very helpful including very poor road signage. A lot of the food was available, but it was swarming with flies, making it very unappetizing. Finally, I thought it was quite discourteous, self-serving, and arrogant that the race was started precisely on time, considering the bad weather. Although it did not affect me directly, I am sure that many other runners, especially from out of town, would have appreciated a few minutes of delay to the start. Every marathon I have been to over the years that had poor weather conditions present ALWAYS allowed extra time for the participants to get to the starting area a little late. The New Jersey Marathon is a great example of an event that goes out of its way for all those involved every time.
M. R. from New York, NY (10/3/2008) "Overrated!" (about: 2008) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 I ran the Hamptons Half-Marathon this year based on the fact that it was rated as one of the best marathons. NOT! Granted, it was pouring rain for the majority of the time that I was running. But the course is NOT AT ALL scenic. Of all of the neighborhoods in the Hamptons, the course went through the LEAST SCENIC ones. There was only one point on the half-marathon course where one could see the ocean/bay, and that was at approximately mile 11, so the view could not be enjoyed. There was NO fan/spectator support whatsoever. I realize that it was raining, but... the course was not well marked and there were at least two instances where I had to ask the police "which way?" The streets were not blocked off, so there were several instances where cars were whizzing by me at at least 40 mph! When I returned home, I sifted through my gift bag, only to discovered that EVERY SINGLE item already had a post-expiration date, so I had to throw everything out. I originally intended to make this an annual event, but I will not be running this half-marathon next year.
J. D. from New York, NY (9/30/2008) "Nice views; not so nice terrain" (about: 2008) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This course has a lot of rolling hills, and is extremely desolate! And because the roads are open to car traffic, you are forced to run on the side of the road, where it slants down to the right - as a result my left leg and knee bore the brunt of the force. It was raining heavily for most of the race, so there were lots of puddles (nobody can help that), however because the streets were open to traffic, cars were flying by over the puddles. My boyfriend who was also running got splashed with muddy water twice on the unpaved section of the route (around mile 19). I agree with the other runner that this race is really geared for the half-marathoners - there were lots of them, and by the time the marathoners finished, there wasn't much left of the "post-race festivities and goodies." Along the course, however, there was plenty of water and Gatorade, and lots of coconut water post-race. In summary, I wouldn't run this race again, not because of the isolation or organization, but because of the course itself, the constant curvature of the road was just too painful for the left leg.
P. T. from Farmingdale, NY (9/29/2008) "Good Marathon" (about: 2008) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 The best part of this race is the course, which is very nice, scenic and quiet. The description of "rolling hills" is accurate, but only for the first 20 or so miles. After that, it's just plain hilly. I can't complain about the lack of spectators (at least this year) since it poured before and during the race; what can we expect? I like the out-and-back parts of the course so you can see the runners in front and behind you. Comments about the poorly marked course and running out of water are accurate though. There were parts of the race where it was very easy to go off the course due to lack of any kind of markers. How can that be? I came back to the finish line around 4 hours and could not find water anywhere. I would definitely do this race again, but there are some very basic things that need fixing, and I attribute this to it being a new race.
J. V. from new york (9/29/2008) "Lovely Low-Key Event" (about: 2008) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran the half and loved it. It was on a wonderful, scenic, peaceful course. They gave us plenty of water, a nice shirt and post-race refreshments - that great coffee especially hit the spot on a rainy day. The medal and ribbon are special. One suggestion: Please try to recycle bottles next year. Other than that, it was a perfect time to be in The Hamptons, and a perfect event! Thanks!
b. c. from New York (9/28/2008) "Poorly planned, and more for the half marathoners!" (about: 2008) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Don't let the beach setting fool you. This is one hilly marathon (and they all felt up hill!). The course is filled with silly out-and-backs too. I, personally, hate running a road that I just ran. This is a half-marathon that allows maybe 300 people to run a full. They don't close the roads (cars zipping by me at mile 23... not a good idea) and most of the stuff is all gone by the time you finish. And I am a four-hour runner, so there still should be at least water left. THERE WAS NONE. The only thing my sister could find was hot tea water and ice cubes. They actually ran out of water and had no food. The gift bag was terrible too. For the amount you pay, you'd think that there would something of value. Cheesy t-shirts too. I ran this race because of Runner's World's review (it was ranked as one of the top 10 new marathons); either something major changed, or the reviewer never went/ran the race him/herself. Also, forget about your "pacers"; mine went out too strong and then started walking at mile 17!!!
M. F. from New York (5/4/2008) "the course was spectacular, but VERY lonely" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 I loved this marathon. The organization was great and the organizers were almost perfect - congratulations Amanda and Diane. One thing that can be fixed is that during the beautiful course of the marathon I, at many times, thought that I was lost. Perhaps drawing lines or having something that indicates the route would be helpful. I will do this marathon again this year and I hope I don't waste any time double guessing which is the right path - so PLEASE do something about the route. The volunteers were fabulous - Thanks ladies and gentlemen. Thank you police officers for being around too. I truly recommend this marathon to others. These ladies were great and they offered great training throughout the summer and did their best to help us all do well and feel great.
C. G. from East Quogue, NY (1/8/2008) "Beautiful, diverse course" (about: 2007) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Hamptons Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This is a great course, with inspirational and diverse views of nature throughout: bays, farms, salt marshes, woods, fields. In fact, half of the course cuts through Napeague Sate Park. If you need people cheering you, look elsewhere, but if you are inspired by nature, it doesn't get much better. Water every mile, Gatorade every other. The organizers were in weekly contact with participants and ran a great website.

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