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Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 3.4 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 4.2 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 3.5 
 
 
Number of comments: 104 [displaying comments 41 to 51]
More Comments: [ < 1 .. 3 4 5 6 7 .. 11 > ]

 

J. j. from Tacoma, WA (7/1/2011)
"Second half sucks, but great city" (about: 2011)

3 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 3


Liked:
-Shuttle system to start line (thankfully shuttles ran past 6 AM due to traffic delays)
-1st half course and scenery
-Energy while running through tunnels
-Medal was nice

Didn't like:
-If you took the freeway exit by the parking garage, you were in traffic for 45 minutes, and people were pissed!
-Support on course left me wanting, only noticed two of the GU gel packs. Asked the medical tent for a snack, but their gigantic tray of muffins/veggies/pretzels were for volunteers only. Never offered a sponge (to wipe drying sweat)like was in the other RnR I ran
-Bands were often not playing,
-Second half of course had relentless down and back turns, one of which seemed to be uphill both ways ;)
 

B. B. from Pittsburgh, Pa (6/30/2011)
"Great Course" (about: 2011)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 2


Unlike others, I really liked the three out and backs on this course as it helped me to break this run into manageable segments. There was a lot of concrete so those with knee issues, beware. I loved the hills which were fair-even the hill at Mile 25. My favorite section was along Lake Washington. The tribute to fallen servicemen and women was amazingly moving. This course was designed to limit the impact on the non-running public while still providing a scenic and challenging run. Public support was luke warm, except for the neighborhood around Lake Washington, but the aid stations were very well run. Perfect weather. Nice short sleeve shirt and medal. If I lived closer, I would definitely run this again.
 

h. k. from Farmington, NM (6/29/2011)
"Seattle is BREATHTAKING!" (about: 2011)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 5


This was my 13th marathon and my first in Seattle. I was so impressed by the course (there was so much variety in the scenery). The spectators were awesome, the aid stations were well placed, and the tribute to the fallen soldiers was moving. My only small complaint was that the line to get on the shuttles to the start line was crazy long. I arrived as suggested at 5 am and made it to coral 5 about 10 minutes before the race started and the line behind me to board the shuttle was several city blocks long!
 

Keith FitzPatrick from Norcross, GA (6/29/2011)
"One-and-done" (about: 2011)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 1  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 3


As with every Rock-n-Roll event I have run, the organization of this event was very good. We did not have any trouble getting a shuttle to the start and once we got to the start, there were plenty of food, water and restroom facilities. Support on the course was also very good. The only down side to support on the course was that the bands started packing it in early. My wife and I were running close to a 4:30 pace for 2/3s of the race, and while that is not fast, it is about the average time for a recreational marathoner. The bands should not have been packing up so early in the race. Those bands that we did hear were great.

Let me talk about the course for a minute. I have run 8 marathons and this was by far the worst course I have come across. The last half of the marathon consisted of miles and miles of mind numbing, soul sucking, out-and-backs with little to no crowd supports. (Hard to get crowd support when running on controlled access highways instead of neighborhood streets.) This is definitely a one-and-done event for me.
 

M. R. from Phoenix, Arizona (6/29/2011)
"Good, but hilly" (about: 2011)

4-5 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 3


Overall, I enjoyed the marathon, but I would not recommend the full. I should've known when there were only 3500 marathoners compared to over 17000 half marathoners... The first half of the marathon was very scenic and beautiful, but the steep uphills, followed by killer downhills on the quads were very difficult to manage. In the end, there are several out and backs, which can be discouraging as you see the finish line, but realize that you still have another 5 miles to go. Also, the gradual hill after mile 24 is a little disheartening. Be prepared for some tough hills. The organization was okay and the bands were pretty okay, my garmin showed that I had run 26.54 miles, so I'm not sure if that was just a malfunction or not. Also, this is a VERY difficult spectator race, spectators can't access several of the spots. Overall, much to be desired.
 

R. G. from Portland, OR (6/28/2011)
"First half was beautiful, second half was crap" (about: 2011)

1 previous marathon | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 2  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 4


This was my first marathon and the Seattle RnR did not impress me enough to come back next year.

Pros:
-First half of the course
-Plenty of hydration stations
-The medal is pretty cool :)

Cons:
-Second half: 3 out-and-backs
-Limited crowd support in 2nd half
-90% of the course is on concrete
-Post-race area was not very impressive

Overall, I would recommend doing the half but not the full.
 

J. B. from NC (6/28/2011)
"Challenging, but worthwhile!" (about: 2011)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


Seattle is an absolutely beautiful city. This course is not to be taken lightly. The course provides some challenging hills, so be sure to do some hill training. This was my 16th marathon to date, but for this one I followed the Hal Higdon marathon training program and took 17 minutes off of my former PR....and qualified for Boston by over 5 minutes! The first half of the course is much more scenic, but overall was a fantastic experience. The weather was perfect, organization was fantastic, volunteers were enthusiastic....overall a very enjoyable experience! A very good choice for a summer marathon.
 

m. j. from New York, NY (6/28/2011)
"It was a half marathon with a marathon added as an" (about: 2011)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 2  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 5


First off let me say the people in Seattle were wonderful, everyone associated with the marathon did a wonderful job, but the race had one major flaw. 26,000 runners, 3500 of which were marathoners. A combined start with the halfers, required the corral start and therefore some runners didn't start the race for 45-60 minutes. The half marathon is very popular, fine run a half marathon only or let the marathoners start early. For a marathoner, the start and the first nine miles were a nightmare. By the way, the best spectators rivaling New York and Chicago.
 

G. B. from Hickory, N.C. (6/27/2011)
"great destination marathon" (about: 2011)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 2  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 2


great destination marathon, seattle is fabulous area, the expo was excellent, marathon was exceptionally well organized, the course was very disappointing, crowd disappointing as well. For such a hip city the people of the area seemed to care nothing about the marathon, very little advertisement. would i go back? yes, to experience more of the area and probably run the marathon again, hoping for changes in the course.
 

S. P. from Burlingame, CA (6/26/2011)
"Amazing, Challenging, Fun Marathon!" (about: 2011)

3 previous marathons
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 3


Usually I dont describe marathons as 'Fun' but Seattle was actually a great time. This was a destination marathon for me so i loved the entire, beautiful course. Running around lake washington and finishing by Qwest field was amazing!!!

There were a few long gradual climbs in the later miles of the marathon, but overall nothing too terrible. The organization, post race music concert, water stops, crowd support, cheerleaders were all excellent.

My only complaint was at a later mile in the race at the water stop where there was ICE in the cytomax cup that I almost choked on.

Other than that amazing race, expo, challenging course was a fun time. Ill probably be back next year!
 

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