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Apr 29, 2024

Tobacco Road Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Tobacco Road Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.3

Organization 4.2

Spectators 3.6

Number of comments: 66 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

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J. M. from Charlotte,NC (9/12/2013) "Great course for first marathon" (about: 2013) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Tobacco Road Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 My first marathon at age 54. Course is flat with a very forgiving surface. Unpaved portion of trail had obviously been swept the day before, so no debris to go over. Weather was perfect ( low 50's) and course almost entirely shaded.
B. W. from NC - North Carolina (3/23/2013) "Awesome event, well organized, well supported" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Tobacco Road Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is an excellent half and full marathon run on mostly crushed run trail that is fairly flat and fast. The race organizers do an excellent job, it's well supported locally and there is always enough food at the end. GREAT RACE.
B. H. from Chicagoland, IL (3/22/2013) "Great Event! Lots of Crushed Limestone Path" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Tobacco Road Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Really nice race. Parking pass made it VERY easy on race morning-highly recommended. The crushed limestone paths are wonderful to run on-the were well compacted and not rutted. Plenty of water / gatorade & GU on the course. The elevation profile they post on-line is accurate. The course is not flat (has 1000'+ of climb), but everything is gradual and can easily be considered 'flat' relative to other courses in the area. My biggest suggestion for improvement is to make some mini-corrals so that there is about 30 seconds between batches of 200 runners or so. The fact that course starts downhill causes a lot of 'repositioning' in the first mile. It could all be avoided with a bit of a staggered start. Fan support is good-especially considering this race has little road access. Aid stations are great! I will run this one AGAIN!
I. R. from North Carolina (3/21/2013) "Great Race, flat course, no traffic, no spectators" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Tobacco Road Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 First time running Tobacco Road. Very enjoyable course but those slight inclines and high humidity this year made for a tougher than expected flat course. The end of the course in indeed downhill but the 50 meter uphill walk immediately after the finish line was almost comical. It made for a great addition to the memory! The never ending free pizza and beer hit the spot. The race director was actually wlaking around, speaking to all the runners and asking if anyone needed anything. This was quite a surprise and quite welcome. The medal is pretty big and well made. I will do this marathon again. Oh yeah, buy the $5 parking pass. This made the whole experience a breeze. We arrived 45 minutes before the start and got a great parking place!
T. M. from Mobile, Alabama (3/21/2013) "Great and different marathon - loved it!" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Tobacco Road Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Ran this in 2013. My 1st Tobacco Road and 7th marathon overall. Course was through the forest and was a refreshing change from an urban setting. Not too often you get to see tobacco barns, goats and horses while running a marathon! Trail is very shaded, few small hills at beginning/end of course, but basically flat. Plenty of water stops - gave out water, gatorade and some had Gu gels - which helped a lot! Give this one a try - smaller, different - but fun!
S. S. from Anchorage, AK (3/20/2013) "It feels like a nice run in the park" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Tobacco Road Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I ran this in 2013, with beautiful 55 degree weather. I don't think that will happen every time. The course is a two-sided out and back. Overall, the course lacks for visual excitement, but the pine forest lined trails are nice. The trail is very nice with a choice of running on pavement or a hard packed sand which is kept incredibly even. If I had trained, this could have easily been a PR run with the great conditions of that day and the quality of trail. The trail has slight hills, but nothing taxing. The downhills give enough to give you some momentum and the uphills not so much that you want to walk. The negatives on this race are the ability for spectators. The trail is hard for spectators to access and, given the lack of people in areas easier to access, people of NC do not appear to cheer much for marathons. The directions to the sites are ridiculously bad. My wife got completely lost and was not able to get to the sites to cheer me on. Perhaps a local could follow the maps, but when you come out from AK, it is extremely hard.
M. P. from NC (3/20/2013) "Friendly Run Albeit Monotonous" (about: 2013) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Tobacco Road Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Pros: Comfortable charter buses for the folks who didn't pay for event parking located 7 miles away. While M and HM runners start together for the first 3 miles, it never really felt crowded. M runners get to run alone for 10 miles. 20 of the miles are on the Tobacco Trail- out and back. Course is relatively flat and fast for 20 miles. Water/GU stops every 2 miles. Volunteers were plentiful and pleasantly supportive. First Aid officials patrolling course on bicycles. Mile 19 offered a nice spread of high-carb, salty snacks. 20 miles of the course is shaded. Papa Johns gave away leftover large pizzas towards the end of the race. Cons: Porto-Pots did not have soap/sanitation stations built inside. Music played over speakers prior, during, and after event was deafening. 20 miles out and back on a flat trail with basically no turns makes for a monotonous course, no matter the beauty/peacefulness of the tree-lined scenery. Coming off the trail, for the final 3 miles, you run with (not against) busy vehicular traffic with no access to sidewalks or safe public running areas. These roads were closed to vehicular traffic at the beginning of the race. Now mind you, I had a slow finish but finished well under the course time limit. I expected that they would close off traffic until the 7 hour time limit, as advertised. Overall: Would definitely recommend this event as 'must-do' NC marathon. The trail is 'fast', a Boston qualifier, historic, quiet, and scenic (grandiose trees abound!)
J. O. from Sterling, MA, USA (3/19/2013) "A great smaller marathon" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tobacco Road Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I just came back from running this year's event and I can definitely say this a fun and well run marathon. The course: miles and miles of nearly flat railtrail is just the nicest thing to run on and as promised the finish was on a downhill. The course was also well-patrolled with bikes and emergency runner pickup vehicles. I was a very late finisher but the water stops were still well-staffed and very enthusiastic - something which really means a lot when you are jut having a bad day. I am especially pleased that when they ran out of pizzas at the finsh they went out and ordered another whole bunch - thanks much for that!
M. J. from Raleigh, NC (4/30/2012) "fast and hassle free" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Tobacco Road Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is a small, well organized race with good crowd support and a flat, fast course. It's a great course to do a PR, since most of the surfaces are packed dirt which is easier on the feet. There is plenty of water and gel on the course. Most of the course is tree lined and shaded. The race staff gave runers very personnal attention.
J. L. from Columbus, OH (3/30/2012) "Would have really liked this on a cooler day" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tobacco Road Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Aside from it being a little hot and humid for March (this global warning stuff is starting to be a pain), this was a really good small race. No hotels near the start/finish that was true but the expo hotel and several others were only around seven miles away. I bought a parking pass which seemed to be the way to go. On the other hand, I heard that the shuttles were much improved and I didnt hear of anyone missing the start. The expo was pretty good for the size of the race (the special socks were fun). Also, as for the start, there was enough distance between the start and the trail that it wasnt too congested by then. I was more worried about catching the slower half marathoners but that wasnt too bad either. All in all, not a bad place to check off North Carolina.

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