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May 5, 2024

Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for Via) Runner Comments

Back to Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for Via) Information & Reviews

Course 4.1

Organization 3.8

Spectators 3.5

Number of comments: 82 [displaying comments 51 to 61]

More Comments: [ < 1 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 > ]

L. C. from Atlanta, GA (9/9/2013) "Poorly organized, no fluid, bad trail surfaces" (about: 2013) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 Poorly organized. Not enough fluid stations, some up to 4 miles before you can get to water. This is almost a trail running course. Some parts of the course are so narrow, remote & rocky that if you get injured, you won't even be able to get help for miles. There were runners getting injured left and right during the trail running part. Because the trail is no narrow, there's no space for them to set up water stations, so there's no water. It's a pretty flat course, but the amount of running on trail will slow down your time because you constantly have to watch where you are going, not to mention extremely easy to get yourself hurt. Some parts of the trails are so narrow that barely 2 people can fit & no extra room for a 3rd person to pass. The spectators & relay transition stations are poorly managed, and it hinders the other marathon runners. It's a good casual trail run spot, but not for a race. Our running group all flew over to race because it's supposed to be an easy route. But everyone ran a least 20 minutes slower than their regular time on a much hillier course. A very disappointing race. I would not recommended to a serious runner.
S. V. from St Augustine, Florida (9/9/2013) "Disappointed" (about: 2013) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I was super excited to run this marathon due to prior comments and advertising. The course was absolutely scenic but this should almost be labeled a trail marathon due to the long miles on a canal towpath. Softer for the legs but difficult terrain and footing. At mile 20-22.5 there is a long, steep uphill most of which is small rocks that was extremely challenging for the footing. Not as billed by a long shot. I am a medical professional that ended up in the medical tent. Again, extremely poorly run. I was given IV fluids and left alone long enough that the IV started to infiltrate not to mention that it took 3 attempts to start the IV. Finally, the shuttle buses back to the start was unacceptable. The line was forever long and the busses ran infrequently at best. Waited close to an hour with no bus present before I had to borrow a cellphone to call my family back to the finish to pick my group up and take us back to the cars. My family had already left to begin their hour drive home only to turn around due to the very very poorly run shuttle system. A LOT of improvements need to be made for this race before I would even consider running this again or even suggesting any of my friends (or enemies for that matter) run this race.
L. M. from CA (9/9/2013) "Nice small town race and BQer; but needs more H2O!" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Overall, I would recommend this marathon, with some specific highlights/suggestions for improvement below: Spectators: This is a small town race, so don't expect fans lining every mile. That said, the ones who came out were very friendly and supportive. Course: Mostly shaded and much of it on trail, which made for a pretty sight (and easier on the body). Race also starts early enough that you avoid the hottest of the sun. Really good air quality in the area too. Org: needs improvement. Expo/packet pick-up was small but fine. Trouble started with the traffic on race day. Organizers weren't prepared for the volume and were letting cars/shuttles in single file to start area. On course, there needed to be more water stops. There were stretches of 2 and 2.5 miles without water, and when the high that time of year is 80 (which it was on race day), you've just got to have that. Post-race, 'bag pick-up' consisted of all bags lined up on the sidewalk, and everyone just plucking out there own. Glad I didn't put any valuables in there. Food area was fine, but the shuttles were a disaster. Race is pt-to-pt, and the race promised to provide shuttles back to the start where many parked. However, they only had ONE shuttle for 2000 MARATHON RUNNERS. We waited 30 minutes in the hot sun for the bus to come. Like I said, all in all I'd recommend this race, but management needs to up the logistics game if they're going to host a larger field.
E. J. from New York (9/8/2013) "Problems when a race gets too big too quickly" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Ok, so others have previously commented on the nice course (relatively flat with mostly gentle rolling hills, and varied terrain) and the spectators that came out were great (much of the course is hard for spectators to access). However, the whole experience was tainted by poor logistics by the organizers. Packet pick-up was slow and unnecessarily unwieldy (why a separate line just to pick up the generic race bag?) and the space was tight. On the morning of the race, the parking was a nightmare. There appeared to be no police or race staff facilitating with local traffic and directing. I spoke to many folks (like me) who waited ages to try and park and it caused unnecessary stress and delays. There were far too few porta-potties at the start. At the finish, there was no signage telling people where to get food and drinks I saw a lot of runners hobbling around like zombies trying to work this out. (On the plus side, it was nice to get a free beer and the folks giving it out were friendly!) Final nightmare was the wait for the bus back to the start (this is a point-to-point race). There were no race staff or volunteers there to organize the lines (in theory, there should have been two lines, one for the marathon runners and another for the half-marathoners) and the bus took for ever to arrive (I waited for more than 30 minutes and others had waited significantly longer than that). The final killer was the lack of air conditioning on the bus. We were packed on like sardines (including folks standing), so the ride back to the start was pretty much a sauna (the last thing you need after running a marathon in warmish weather). An ok day overall, but I'm in no hurry to come back next year.
A. N. from Clemson, SC (12/3/2012) "Beautiful, Fast, First-marathon and got my BQ!" (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Amazing race. Super flat, mostly shade, and very easy for spectators. The relay places make for excellent locations for the spectators to go see you multiple times, and the race packet provides stellar instruction getting from place to place. Ran 12 minutes faster than my goal, and my last mile was my fastest by 40 seconds. Never expected to finish so strong, and qualify for Boston in my first marathon ever. Can't wait to make this an annual thing.
S. N. from Central Florida (10/23/2012) "Beautiful Course; Great Organization; Fun Relay" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 One of the best courses I've run, with a mix of trail and pavement. Beautiful scenery and wonderful volunteers. If you don't want to run the full marathon, there's a half and a relay option where the teams wear some pretty fun outfits. A must-do race. Hope the organizers keep it small!
Tom Patton from Virginia Beach, Va. (10/3/2012) "Awesome course with 90% shade" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This race should be a sell out. Best course I have run. About 90% heavy shade and 75% river views. 95% flat smooth trail. Better organized than most large popular races. Gel passed at four locations. Plenty of volunteers.
K. B. from New Jersey (9/12/2012) "Small town charm with first class organization" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This was an extremely well run event with a BQ course. If you are looking for low key, throw back type marathon experience, than this is your race. The overall race logistics were very easy for runners. The shaded, mixed surface course was forgiving on the legs, which I felt was key to my finishing strong. I would run this race again in a heartbeat and the cause is very worthwhile. Kudos to all in who helped make this race possible - especially the RD and all the happy /friendly volunteers. We couldn't have done it without you. Thanks.
A. L. from Brooklyn, Ny (9/9/2012) "Beautiful Run" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 Ran this marathon 2012 and I must say it was amazing. The only hard thing for me was watching my footing on the gravel, but other than that out of 13 marathons I have run so far this was by far the nicest views. Great people, great race, great fun!
S. J. from CT, USA (6/12/2012) "Good choice for BQ in northeast" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Very good course (mostly flat and net downhill). 2011 had lot of flooding challenges in the 2 weeks leading upto the race. Race organizers have done a phenomenal job working day and night(put in new asphalt etc) to get the course ready for the race. They had to change the course twice in last few days and they were able re-certify the course both the times. Weather wasn't great this year (60 deg temp and 85% humidity at start). Fortunately temp didn't go higher than 70. Most of the course is shaded and that was a big help. Don't worry about the cinder trail along the river as it won't slow you down. I ran a smart race by adjusting my pace by about 10 to 15 sec from the beginning and was able to PR by 3 min and BQ. I agree that last min changes to the course added some hills at the end but it wasn't terrible. This race would be at the top of my list if I needed a last minute BQ race in northeast.

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