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A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy Runner Comments
Back to A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy Information & Reviews
Course 4.0 
Organization 4.9 
Spectators 4.0
Number of comments: 32 [displaying comments 11 to 21]
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J. H. from North Mankato MN
(4/3/2012)
 "No Spectators, Great Support" (about: 2012)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 Very well organized, not a run if you are looking for crowd support. Plenty of Porta Johns at the start and along the course. The aid stations and volunteers were OUTSTANDING! It was very hot, plenty of water, sponges, GU, Gatorade, banana's, oranges and encouragement. | |
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D. B. from USA
(4/3/2012)
 "Fantastic small-town marathon" (about: 2012)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Coming from the east coast, I found the wind to be as tough as I expected. Wasn't easy but it IS Oklahoma! Also in 2012, it was warmer than usual- but that is also uncontrollable. What WAS controllable was so well managed. I love marathons where pretty much everything is top-notch. Marathon course was nicely separated from the half course to avoid any congestion. Marathon started at a beautiful park with waterfalls and we began our point-to-point journey. Running through a ranch (miles 7-11) was very unique and pastoral. Volunteers were so friendly all throughout the way- it appeared as though they included more aid stations due to the heat. Miles 20-25 were run in a pretty quiet city park and were a little lonely but not bad. After the last turn (into the wind) it made me want to run faster to get the windy warm run over with! Nice finish in a football stadium with plenty of food, drink, and timely awards. Loved the race shirts and age group awards. The race director exudes passion for the event- I saw her many times throughout the weekend, talking to runners and making sure everything was running well. The marathon benefited the local cancer center and it was a good way to put the run in perspective. To the RD's credit (along with all the volunteers!) it DID run well. Nicely done, Ardmore! I would most definitely recommend this marathon to someone looking for a great Oklahoma marathon for 50 states, or simply a small, well-organized marathon. I can think of some larger marathons that could learn some lessons from the folks at Ardmore. | |
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Z. B. from Round Rock, TX
(4/2/2012)
"Great organization" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is a great race. The support that the town shows for this event was excellent. It was a hot and windy day and they did a great job of adding aid stations and keeping a close eye on the runners to make sure everyone stayed safe. I highly recommend this race! | |
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G. R. from Daly City, CA
(3/29/2011)
"Ardmore Knows Marathons" (about: 2011)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Yes, the wind and warm temperatures were brutal, but I loved the community support. I felt very safe. As I was recuperating in the medical tent, this cute little girl kept making sure I was hydrating myself. I loved the shirts, but I wish they had the distances listed on them. The medal and ribbon were nice. The race director has a natural gift for organizing this race. In the future, I hope to pass through Ardmore, OK and run it again (hopefully, with a tailwind). | |
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K. T. from Minnesota
(3/27/2011)
"Oklahoma where the wind comes :-)" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Yes, it was brutally windy, but that was the only downer of this race. This was a fantastic experience! The race is very well organized from packet pick-up to finish line. The volunteers and everyone around the community really comes out to support the participants. People were very kind to my husband and two small children as well. Special thank you to every volunteer, Ardmore Chamber and Jud Little Ranch. I signed up 2 weeks before the race when my family travel plans were going to have me traveling through OK and I wanted to run. We couldn't find a hotel closer than 45 miles away so the Chamber and volunteers helped us. We stayed at The INN at Treasure Valley Casino in Davis. Nice, clean place just 7 minutes north of the start. Make sure to go to The Cliff Restaurant for southern fried chicken! The course is really pretty! Loved running through the ranch and the Ardmore Park. Lot's of horses, cows and other stuff to look at. Awesome volunteers had water stations every 1-2 miles. This is a net downhill; however, I would describe it as rolling - not flat, but not difficult either. If there is a tailwind, it could be pretty fast. Really liked the short-sleeve participant tech shirt and beautiful long-sleeve finisher's tech shirt! Nice medal. Finish is one loop around the track. Thanks to the two guys working at the last chip mat who cheered me to finish strong. I was pretty shot after those winds and these guys helped me bring it in. Nice to have the massage too. Unfortunately I had the rare experience of needing medical support, but Tom and the other folks really took good care of me! I loved this race - wind, IV's and all - and I would do it again! Thank you, Ardmore! My kids keep asking when we can go back to Oklahoma! | |
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Kami K. from Corpus Christi, TX
(3/23/2011)
"The WIND!" (about: 2011)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Arbuckles to Ardmore (A2A) Marathon Ardmore, OK Sunday, March 20, 2011 8:00 AM First of all, I love small-town marathons. Folks do all they can to showcase their community and welcome the runners. The A2A Marathon, born in 2010, was no exception. Packet pick-up was on Saturday in Ardmore's Convention Center. Each runner received a short-sleeved technical shirt, a water bottle, a bag of peanuts, a ticket to pre-race pasta dinner, and a few other items. The finishers received a nice medallion and a long-sleeved technical shirt. There was also a Health and Fitness Expo. The dinner was very good. At 6:30 a.m., busses began transporting the runner from the finish area in Noble Stadium to the start line at Turner Falls Park. The point-to-point, north-to-south route was mainly on Highway 77, parallel to I-35. It was fairly scenic. At mile 7, we made a left turn and ran out and back through a nice-looking ranch for nearly 4 miles. At mile 20, we made a right turn and ran out and back through a park for nearly 6 miles. The finish was inside the Noble Stadium, which included running a lap before crossing the finish line. The course was hillier than it had been advertised on the A2A web site. There were plenty of rolling hills. Save yourself for the last 10K. For the first hour of the run, it was overcast and the wind was not too bad. Then it became sunny and quite warm. From mile 11 to the finish, we had to deal with a very strong headwind and I am not exaggerating. In short: rolling hills + warm weather + strong headwind = TOUGH marathon. There were plenty of water/sports drink stations, staffed by a large number of cheerful volunteers. There were sports gels, fruits, and wet sponges in some of the aid stations. There were mile markers. Traffic control was excellent and the route was being monitored by cyclists. As expected, there was no crowd support, as we were running on countryside. There were some horses and cows, though, who served as spectators! We were chip-timed at mile 9 turnaround, mile 23 turnaround, and the finish line. There were plenty of recovery drinks and food items at the finish area. I salute the race organizers, volunteers, and sponsors for a first class running event. There were 138 (93 males, 45 females) marathon finishers in the average time of 4:44:48. There were 502 (269 females, 233 males) half marathon finishers in the average time of 2:18:28. There were 695 (459 females, 236 males) 5K finishers in the average time of 38:14. | |
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D. T. from Caddo, OK
(3/21/2011)
"Good Experience" (about: 2011)
3 previous marathons
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Enjoyed the event. A little hard running into the wind the whole way. Excellent support from the community along the course. Well run - plenty of water stations, and good food at the end. I thought the buses got us out to the start a little earlier than necessary. | |
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J. S. from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
(3/21/2011)
"Great small-town marathon" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Sure, there was a brutal wind in your face for 20 of the 26 miles, but that just makes it memorable. Otherwise, this was a great race. Extremely well organized and very runner-friendly. Volunteers were super and enthusiastic. Very few fans, but what would you expect on the Oklahoma prairie? The course is predominantly rolling and very fair. | |
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D. R. from Dallas, TX
(3/20/2011)
 "Town comes out for this event" (about: 2011)
50+ previous marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The 2011 A2A Marathon was a BRUTAL race, as it is a point-to-point race and the headwinds we so strong that at times you felt you were running in place. But this race shows a lot of promise. It certainly is not the most scenic venue, but the town of Ardmore goes to great lengths to put on this event. Not only was the organization top-notch, but the people of Ardmore were very supportive and friendly. I don't know if anything can be done to improve the course route, but one suggestion I have is to change the finish so that instead of having to do a full loop around the track at the finish, just do a half loop (or less). After running 26 miles, you get to the stadium thinking you are done, but you still have to do a boring loop around the track. Otherwise, great job, Ardmore! | |
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Todd Blakley from Ardmore, OK
(3/19/2011)
 "Well organized! My first full marathon." (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 A2A Arbuckles to Ardmore Race for Mercy
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first full marathon and I had a great time. I will be running again in 2011. See you there. One comment: I think that A2A should be advertised on a billboard on I35. I think we could raise a lot more money. |
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