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May 2, 2024

Vancouver USA Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 3.7

Organization 4.4

Spectators 3.4

Number of comments: 29 [displaying comments 21 to 29]

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B. K. from East Coast (6/23/2011) "Great start for an inaugural event" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 It was obvious from the updates on the event site, as well as the facebook page that the event was extremely well-planned. This is a logistically easy marathon, as you can fly into Portland and stay within walking distance of the start/finish. The expo and post-race events were incredibly well run (other events could learn from this one,) and the volunteers were great. As others have noted, the shortcomings were the transitions to and from the sidewalks. From the course map, I (and probably most people) figured we'd be running on the road, or possibly on the shoulder. It was surprising to find out that perhaps 1/3 of the course was on sidewalks. Not only is hopping off and on the sidewalks slightly distracting during a race, but the cracks in the sidewalks, and overgrown weeds on the sides added a bit of weirdness to the course. I'm guessing crowding was probably a real problem for some, as the sidewalks are quite narrow. In addition, I know that the half marathon/full marathon traffic jam was made worse for some by the narrowness of the course. On the positive side: a well-run event otherwise, and the course seemed to be well marked with accurate mile markers (a rarity sometimes,) and many, many aid stations. The tech shirt is pretty nice, and it's a logistically easy and inexpensive event. As I mentioned earlier, you get the idea that RD Brian and his team (including volunteers,) really poured all kinds of time and effort into the event, and I'm sure it will be a great marathon in the future.
D. W. from Illinois (6/23/2011) "Great Event For a Small Marathon" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my 4th marathon in four months and for the most part I found the marathon enjoyable & it is a relatively small marathon (less than a thousand runners) but the course did overlap the half marathon course during the second half & the course is relatively flat except for a killer hill at mile 20 (Approximately 160 foot incline over a half of a mile on the course)& who came up with that idea??? The weather cooperated (overcast with temps in the 50s with a nice breeze)..For a small marathon, I thought the number of spectators and volunteers were great & I did set a PR by 16 minutes since my last marathon&In addition, I enjoyed the opportunity to meet and chat with Bart Yasso. Of course there are a couple things that this marathon course needs to correct. First, there only existed chip readers to record your running time at the beginning and end of the marathon & there existed no chip readers at any point during the race&True, this is not Chicago, Boston, or New York, but many of the course miles overlapped and this was a Boston Qualifier. For the obvious reasons, this needs to change & second, either the mile markers were off or the course was actually 150-200 meters longer than an actually marathon&Once I passed mile marker 26, I thought there was only .22 of a mile left to the finish&It turns out this was not the case&If you were gauging your running time by these mile markers and attempting to beat 3 hours, 3:30 or 4 hours and you were on target throughout, you may be disappointed when you do cross the finish line..I have an e-mail into the race director (Brian Davis) regarding these matters who has yet to respond.. However, despite than the issue above, I did enjoy this event & the people were great, I beat my PR by 16 minutes and had a chance to meet and chat with a running legend & how cool was that???...Very Cool
P. M. from Seattle, Washington (6/22/2011) "Nice job for a first-time marathon" (about: 2011) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I tend to prefer smaller to mid-size races anyway, and this one didn't disappoint; as others mentioned, it's clear the racer organizers did their homework, and even delayed the first race by a year (I believe) to make sure they got it right. The first half of the course which heads west of the city is quiet, flat farmlands, with a nice view of the Columbia River at the turn-around; if it had been clear and sunny, I am sure the view of Mount Hood would have been great. No spectators out here apart from the aid station volunteers, but in the first half of the race you don't really need crowd support anyway. A few modest uphill slopes as you had east back through town about halfway through the race, but there are more spectators by now. The second half does have a noticeable hill from mile 19 1/2 to 20, and shortly after that a short but sharp drop back down to the river (one person chose to walk backwards down the hill, to save her quads) There's a railroad crossing at the bottom of the hill, and although there weren't supposed to be any trains, there was. And it stopped, blocking the crossing. Eventually a group of us walked down the tracks, around the end of the train, and back to the course on the other side. Everyone seemed to take it pretty well, no real grumbling. Kind of a fun anecdote to embellish the story when telling friends about the race. Only suggestions I might have... in the first mile when we go on the trail by Mill Plain, there are cement posts in the middle of the trail at cross streets... on an overcast day, they weren't easy to see, especially since the runners were still in a large pack; perhaps an orange cone in front of them? And at the aid stations, water and Gatorade were served in half-full Dixie cups. Luckily it was cloudy with a light breeze, to cool us off. If it had been a sunny and warm day (it is possible in June in Washington), this could have cause some problems - heat exhaustion, dehydration. Bigger cups, maybe? Otherwise, a really nice first race.
J. E. from New York (6/21/2011) "Needs A Bit of Fine Tuning" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Course is mostly flat. The hills at Mile 19.5 and the last mile look a lot tougher on paper than in reality so don't fear them. The things that didn't have to do with the race itself were well executed such as the expo and pre and post race setup. The free beer at the end was appreciated. However, what was lacking a bit was the race itself. A good part of this course (in my estimation 1/3rd) is on narrow, concrete sidewalks. Most of the other part is on asphalt roads and a small portion was on a paved trail. Hopping on and off sidewalks is a bit offputting and tiring. The problem is exacerbated if you are a marathoner slower than say 3:30 as you will run into a stream of half marathon walkers who start 1 1/2 hours after the marathon. The course simply isn't wide enough to easily accommodate marathoners and half marathon walkers. If you look at the half results, a good portion of them were walkers and many of them were walking side by side creating human barricades. Overall, I do feel it was well organized. The volunteers were fantastic and the logistics are pretty easy. I do disagree with some previous posters as I didn't think the course would be classified as scenic but then again, that is not why I would choose to run a race. A small portion of the course had to be rerouted due to flooding. We also lucked out with cool weather which was cool even for Vancouver on June 19th. (start 57 degrees and ending in the low to mid 60's) Pros 1) Easy logistics 2) Great volunteers 3) Nice post race setup with marathoners and half marathoners getting their own finish chute and free beer! 4) Relatively inexpensive with reasonable registration fees and affordable hotel options. 5) Nice city and also a stones throw away from Portland Suggestions to Race Director 1) Have to find a better way to accommodate both marathoners and slower half marathon runners/walkers. I realize you can't start everyone at the same time due to the course can't accommodate it so maybe start the half marathon 2 1/2 hours later and cut the half marathon time from 5 hours to 4 hours. 2) Too much of the course is on sidewalks. Hopefully this can change a bit to show off more of the city. 3) The cups given out at the hydration stops were too small. They were the size of bathroom dixie cups. In addition, it would be beneficial if there was a banner or a volunteer say 100 feet ahead of the hydration stops alerting runners of them. 4) Try to move up the race a bit earlier in the year as we got lucky with the cool weather. Also having the event on Father's Day makes it tougher for some to run it as well as getting enough volunteers.
h. n. from Seattle, WA (6/21/2011) "Great course+good organization=happy" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is the one great marathon race with good organization. A small and intimate marathon (~800 marathoners & 1400s 1/2). The course is very scenic and fairly flat except a couple of hills. There are a few little shortcomings for the inaugural. (1) They announce gels available just a couple weeks before the race and did not designate gel stations. Only one station (M13) actually hands out gels and I saw just one other station (18?) have gels on the table. (2) running out of gatorade at mile 20 and after. (3) Food after race are so-so: Costco bagel & PB, orange slices, gatorade, Jamba juice.
Dan Lenski from United States (6/20/2011) "Well-run race, tough second half, lots of fun" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my third marathon. I was going for PR around 2:45, and got 2:46 to come in 2nd. There was not a lot of competition below 2:50, except for #3 who came back quite strong in the last mile or so. The first half of the course was flat, scenic, and mostly out-and-back around Vancouver Lake. The second half was tougher, with a bridge around mile 15, and a big 'heartbreak hill' followed by some rollers around mile 19-20. Punishing but exciting, as I was able to push ahead from 4th to 2nd after the hill. Friends with GPS watches thought the course was 2-3 tenths too long. There were a decent number of spectators at a few points downtown, but otherwise quite a sparse crowd. The post-race refreshments were the typical stuff, handed out by friendly and generous volunteers, and the race T-shirts are simple and attractively designed. The aid stations were pretty well-placed, but volunteers did not indicate clearly whether they were holding water or Gatorade. Overall, a great first marathon for the city of Vancouver, and I expect the race will only get better to run and watch next year.
J. A. from Minnesota (6/20/2011) "Wonderful first year marathon" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 It was clear from the beginning that the race directors had done A LOT of planning for this race. I signed up for it as I was going to be in WA and still needed it in my 50 state quest. The course is very flat particularly over the first 19 miles. There is a pretty big hill at about 19.5 and another shorter one at 25 (probably seems bigger than it is). There were lots of water stops, at least every 2 miles. They could have used a few more volunteers at some of them, but I had no trouble just grabbing a cup off the table. My suggestions: (1) in the early miles, the course is on the sidewalks rather than the roads. If this race gets any bigger the sidewalks will not be big enough. Also the cement is much harder than asphalt. (2) At the expo, don't make us walk through all of the booths to get our bibs and goody bags. I felt like a rat in a maze. Overall I'm glad I chose this race. Great job and best of luck next year.
m. h. from hillsboro mo (6/20/2011) "excellent inaugural marathon!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 just wanted the organizers of this event to know what a fabulous job they did with a first marathon. The course was beautiful and fast. the aid stations were very well handled and the people were very enthusiastic. As a 'fifty stater', I highly recommend this marathon and would love to do it again!
J. C. from Southern Oregon (6/20/2011) "excellent for an inaugural marathon" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver USA Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 for an inaugural marathon, this was very well done. the expo was amazing, well organized (although a touch loud), and the swag (sponsored by puma) was quite nice (i may have spent my allowance and then some!). the course was pretty good, it got a bit narrow at times, especially after the half marathon runners joined the course. there were also a few points where the aid stations were a bit understaffed, and not too far away were cheering sections of other volunteers - i'd recommend bulking up the stations so it wouldn't be as hard to get water at some of them. however, overall, i think for a first time marathon this was an awesome course, i had a great time and would highly recommend it. it was by far better than some of the well established marathons i've run in my life. i highly recommend this race, and am already confident they will improve in future years.

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