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☰
Pittsburgh Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Pittsburgh Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.6 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 4.6
Number of comments: 226 [displaying comments 171 to 181]
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D. Y. from Pittsburgh, PA, USA
(5/10/2009)
 "Wonderful race, great city, crappy finish area" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Everything was good on the course and at the start. The finish area needs work. There should've been more refreshments outside the runners' area, and the location of the bag-drop trucks should have been more clearly communicated before and after the race. Volunteers were awesome and the route was fantastic. | |
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S. A. from PA
(5/8/2009)
 "Great race! Well organized!" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I smiled from start to finish in this race. The start was on time and not overly crowded. The hills on the course, with the exception of the one at mile 12, were gentle, with gentle downhills - just enough so that the legs weren't exhausted from either going up or going down. The race committee went out of its way to make this a great event. | |
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J. H. from Stafford, VA
(5/7/2009)
"Good, challenging view of the Steel City" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Glad to see the city of Pittsburgh has a marathon again. I look forward to the race in 2010. There are many positives and a few negatives about the race: Positives: 1) Course that touches all of the city 2) Technical race shirt 3) Number of marathon runners 4) Weather 5) Volunteer support 6) Crowds Negatives: 1) Styrofoam cups 2) Information about race food and drink 3) Finish festival | |
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E. R. from Phoenix, AZ
(5/7/2009)
 "Welcome Back!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I traveled from Phoenix to run this race in the 'Burgh because I heard so many great things about how amazing the marathon used to be - the tremendous organization, the terrific spectators and how "flat" it was. It lived up to every expectation and then some. I also discovered what the Natives consider flat! I would say that it was a very hilly course, but they were rolling hills with every uphill followed by an equally generous downhill. There was a major climb around Mile 11 that wasn't balanced out until the gravity free-for-all around Mile 24. All in all, a GREAT race. The perfect size, an awesome layout that takes you through a variety of interesting towns and plenty of bridges, and supportive fans throughout the course. There were no parking issues, you were able to run right from the get go, and it was a pleasure to finish a block from the start. It made for very easy logistics. Well done, Pittsburgh! And by the way, the "Styrofoam" cups were actually biodegradable and kept with the Green theme. | |
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J. M. from Austin, TX
(5/7/2009)
"Welcome Back, Pittsburgh Marathon!" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The Pittsburgh Marathon was a great experience for me. The volunteer staff was both superb and plentiful. The race organizers did a great job after a 5-year absence. The only exception in my mind was the lack of a staggered start time for the marathon, half-marathon and relay marathon events. Due to a small staging area and congested start to the race, the full-marathoners should have been able to start alone and unimpeded. Instead the runners had to combat the relay teams and half-marathon runners to find their groove. For those of us trying to run a Boston time, this was challenging. We also had to contend with passing the walkers around mile 4 as they started one hour in advance - this only added to the congestion early in the race. Other than that, it was a fantastic event and experience. | |
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A. L. from Pittsburgh, PA
(5/6/2009)
"Best Marathon EVER!" (about: 2009)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Pittsburgh Marathon course was wonderful. The spectators were encouraging and provided a lot of motivation all throughout the course. I felt the excitement throughout the entire 26.2 miles. The volunteers were always friendly. The free shirt was great and I loved the Panera bagels and eat 'n park smiley face cookies at the finish line. It was a lot of fun... I can't wait to run it again next year! | |
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J. M. from Detroit, MI
(5/6/2009)
"Very well organized in a great city." (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon and I was a bit nervous that a 6 year hiatus would make for a few bumps in the marathon organization. However, this was not the case at all. This marathon was super organized, and while I was running, I couldn't think of anything I needed that wasn't provided. Water/Gatorade were plentiful, as were Vaseline, GU, and fruit. The course was beautiful. I'd never been to Pittsburgh and it showed off the city beautifully. The spectators were not always plentiful, but those that were there, were enthusiastic. Great job, Pittsburgh. (My only suggestion for next year is to switch to paper cups from Styrophone cups, as styrophone cups are very difficult to drink with while running.) | |
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Jason Rossiter from Garfield Heights, Ohio
(5/6/2009)
"What a fantastic job, Pittsburgh!!" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 WOW! Pittsburgh did a FANTASTIC job this year. Very beautiful and challenging course (especially the back half), plenty of fluid and aid stations, and loads of tremendously helpful volunteers. Far more spectators, too, than I expected on a day that turned out a bit wet. Kudos to absolutely everyone involved in the planning for the 2009 Pittsburgh Marathon. You made your city shine!! | |
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J. G. from Cleveland OH
(5/5/2009)
"Wonderful First Marathon" (about: 2009)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This race was everything I hoped my first marathon would be. Great course, great weather, great city. The crowds were awesome and really excited and motivating, and there were numerous bands to help me through. Water stops every mile with tons of volunteers handing out fluids. The hills were really not bad at all - they helped break up the race and gave you something to look forward to (even going up was fun). If you are worried about the hills, don't be. I am a first-time marathoner and I was just fine. The city did a great job and really came through to make this a great marathon. No negatives - a perfect race! | |
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J. r. from rochester, ny
(5/5/2009)
"Great event/much better than expected" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great race. Pros: 1) Great course to PR on, with loads of downhill; there are only a couple of uphills, and they really weren't that bad. 2) The expo was better than I expected it to be. I actually bought more here than at Boston. 3) Parking was easy, and fairly cheap. 4) Good refreshments at the end. 5) Crowd support wasn't too bad. 6) Nice shoe bag. 7) Race ends only blocks away from Primanti Brother's - a great place to go after running 26 miles. Cons: 1) They made the shirt kind of ugly, with the Dick's logo right in the front chest, and the sizing is atrociously big. 2) More porta-potties are needed on the course. |
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