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May 2, 2024

Minneapolis Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Minneapolis Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.1

Organization 4.4

Spectators 3.8

Number of comments: 76 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 > ]

D. B. from Minneapolis 'Burbs (6/3/2012) "Lots of fun. Be ready for hills." (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a small-medium sized race that follows the Mississippi River (mostly) through Minneapolis and the surrounding area. The course is mostly on city roads with rolling hills, some of which are more than just bumps in the road. Small parts of the course meander on National Park trails that aren't in great shape. There is a short (3/4 mile-ish) section on gravel, and there is a section of rather tight two-way runner traffic. There is a very serious hill at mile 18. Steepest hill I've ever seen on any race course. The race is well-organized, with packet pickup, the start area, gear check, and the post-race stuff well-set out and clear. Volunteers were numerous and as always, quite helpful. Water stations are more than adequate. My only beef here is that they used plastic cups. Impossible to drink from while moving. Spectators aren't wall-to-wall, but there are many, and they are enthusiastic. Medal and T shirt are nice, but I wish the medal had the date. Small problem, I suppose. I'd absolutely recommend this race to anyone.
A. S. from Minnesota (6/3/2012) "Hilly!!!!" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Overall this is a great marathon. Pros: Packet pick up is easy. Marathon started early enough to avoid most of the heat. Waterstops were well manned. Gorgeous course! Cons: Super hilly!!!!! Would be nice to have waterstops at every mile after 20 instead of every other mile. Last three miles were very crowded from the half. Very frustrating weaving in and out of people at that point! Highly recommend if you are looking for a beautiful course for fun. Not recommeded if you are trying to PR.
A. D. from New York City (8/23/2011) "Challenging course, overall good organization" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The pre- and post-race experience of this marathon were fantastic - well organized fair, nice function shirt and hat, good food supply, fantastic medical staff. The race itself was challenging - despite studying the elevation map I was taken by surprise by the hill at mile 17 and then on the very last mile - that's just painful when you are trying to get into your last mile sprint. The course change led to a 4 or 5-mile stretch on dirt roads - hard to run in flats as you feel every rock. And, the one failure of the organizers - there were no water stops for those miles, and with the temperature in the 80s and 90s, that didn't go so well. The field was comparatively small - under 900 people altogether - which made for stretches of running all by myself - quite nice. The start, however, was at the same time as the half marathon which meant another 2500 people on the same course. Ir spread out rather quickly, though. I didn't make my BQ as I had hoped, as heat and hills really hit me, but ran a PB and overall much enjoyed the race. Great great audience, too.
J. S. from Minneapolis, MN (8/22/2011) "Great first marathon experience" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Team Ortho puts on a great series of runs throughout the year. The swag is great and this course is both fun and challenging. The hill coming out of the river bottom to Ft. Snelling was brutal. Everyone I know that ran this course talks about that hill and the hill just before the finish.
E. R. from New Jersey (7/2/2011) "A VERY good experience that I almost avoided!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I chose to run the Minneapolis Marathon for my MN race as a 50-stater. I had wanted to run Twin Cities but chose Minny b/c I wanted to run a summer race. I had initially avoided this race bc I wanted to see MN in the fall, and I also was a little intimidated by the profile of the large hill late in the race and was looking for a fast course. The hill was a tough one, but not as bad as I thought. The organization was amazing for this race. The crowd really got into it to. There's nothing about this course that I would say was specifically stand-out, but I felt like they had all of the little things figured out for runners. The fact that they re-certified the course at the last minute to ensure that some last minute flooding didn't diminish the value of the race says something about Team Ortho. Ultimately, I picked up my first BQ on this race. I'll always remember it!
T. Y. from Tampa, FL (6/11/2011) "Great Organization, great race" (about: 2011) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is an excellent race. I would recommend it to anyone looking to do a summer marathon.Specifically for out of towners because you can fly right in and catch the LRT to the host hotel, which is where the start of the race is!! The organization is superb. The course is good however I wish they could change that hill coming out of Fort Snelling at mile 17. It was rough. Again I really enjoyed this race and even though I didn't perform the way I expected to I will probably be back again. Great job Team Ortho!!
N. W. from Kansas City, MO (6/6/2011) "Surprisingly Hot and Hilly" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The aid stations were well spaced. The spectators were awesome. The course left something to be desired. No reason to have an out and back course through Minneapolis. There is plenty of places to create loop course. My biggest gripe with this race was the entry fee. Far too expensive for what you get in return. The entry fee should have included a finishers shirt. It was a decent race however.
C. B. from Atlanta, GA (10/1/2010) "Extremely well organized with challenging course" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is one of the most well organized races I've run. The Team Ortho staff was super helpful and supportive. Marathoners will enjoy a bevy of free stuff... finisher's jacket, hat, t-shirt (could use some improvement on the fabric and tight fit) and beautiful finisher's medal (one of my favorites). Additionally, the medical staff was fantastic. I've never experienced such a plentiful and helpful medical staff - especially the ones on bikes who were cruising all over the course and were very proactive about making sure all runners were healthy. The course was mostly beautiful, giving runners a good tour of the city. The first half was great with ample shade and some nice downhill stretches. The second half was not as enjoyable. Around miles 15-16, a heavy rain the day before resulted in a muddy and slippery footpath around the lake followed by a monster hill at mile 17 so steep that neither I nor anyone around me could run up it. The next mile adjacent to a highway was pretty boring, sunny and hot. The combo really knocked the wind out of my sails. The last few miles felt like they were mostly uphill (the price for a fun fast downhill stretch out of the start). Changing the 2nd half of the course would really improve the overall experience. All in all, this was a great marathon, but not a course that facilitates achieving a PR. The best part was the staff, which seems to have had a mission of making runners feel that they were the only thing of importance the whole weekend.
D. D. from Minneapolis, Minnesota (8/3/2010) "Excellent tech shirt, medal, and jacket!" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Minneapolis Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Let's get right to it: Pros: 1. The best tech shirt I have ever received! They even give a nice jacket for finishing the marathon! Medal is cool! 2. Good course. 3. The best website out there. 4. Good post-race food. 5. Awesome work on the part of volunteers and those who put this race together. Cons: 1. I enjoyed the course except for miles 16-19, when you run around a lake. Path is uneven, muddy, and doesn't really show the best of Minneapolis. I would like it if they changed the course to delete this part of the race and had runners go through the University of Minnesota and maybe parts of downtown Minneapolis. After running around the lake there is a killer hill coming up to the river bluff. Wow! If you can run up that, you are truly my idol. I have truly been impressed with Team Ortho races and love running them. Sign up for this race. You won't be disappointed. :)
Jerry White from Brandon, MS (7/8/2010) "Enthusiastic Organizers" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Minneapolis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 No sophmore jinx for Team Ortho's 2nd Minneapolis Marathon! The pros are easy to name... * Best gear giveaways I have ever seen for that level of entry fee (or maybe for any level of entry fees)!! * Very numerous and enthusiastic volunteers * Solid website and use of Facebook, etc. for frequent communication * Good logistics around expo, host hotel, start/finish line location * A very nice medal Only a very few minor "non-pros"... * Post-race food and location thereof was not quite optimum * While definitely scenic, the course changing to multiple surfaces in some areas and seemingly net uphill in last half was somewhat off-putting. Overall, I was very pleased with the experience. Nice job, Team Ortho!

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