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Apr 27, 2024

Charleston Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Charleston Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 2.9

Organization 3.3

Spectators 2.8

Number of comments: 90 [displaying comments 81 to 90]

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L. S. from maryland (1/17/2011) "Disappointing" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 I was disappointed that the course was mostly through. I finished in five and a half hours and there was no "festival" to be found. More port-a-potties are needed at the water stops and the start of the race. The expo was small, and the walk from the parking lot to the tent was not lit! The volunteers were fantastic though. The kids playing music along the course were fabulous. The Gatorade was NOT watered down! Thank you! This race has potential and I suspect that it will improve in years to come. Please change the course to reflect Charleston's beauty and this could become SC's premier marathon.
J. O. from Lake Wylie, SC (1/17/2011) "Had fun, course needs lots of improvements..." (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I love Charleston and visit quite often. I ran the marathon and had fun - and I even got a PR - but I have to agree that the course was NOT scenic in the least. The first 3-4 miles through Charleston were very nice; after that, it did not show off the city at all. Really, if it were my first time visiting Charleston, I would not have the best impression of the city. There are so many possibilities for a beautiful course that they did not take advantage of; I hope that they will make significant adjustments to showcase the city (and PLEASE get rid of the last out-and-back for the last 5-6 miles of the course - that was truly horrendous). On the positive side, I thought the organization was TONS BETTER this year, the water stops were great and predictable, the long-sleeve tech shirt was nice, and I did have a fun time. Food and atmosphere were great after the race too - A LOT of people hung out for quite a while, which made it fun. I am sure I will run it again in the future because I love to run races and I do love Charleston....
M. W. from Cary, NC (1/17/2011) "Hope to see this race make it!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I had the pleasure of pacing the 4:30 group on Saturday, and this was #49 of marathon or beyond for me. This race really feels like a junior Myrtle Beach race to me. It's low-key, and not some over-the-top commercial race. I like that. You could tell the people cared. The course for this year was a bit industrial (it is getting very hard to get municipalities to work with races), but I hope the success of this race will convince the city to let them incorporate more and more of the nice parts. A few technical glitches like GUs a little late, and initially offering only espresso-flavored ones, and a congested out-and-back, but not too bad. I enjoy races like this, and I hope this one makes it. In a few years it could be one of the best in the south, with some upgrades.
J. W. from Illinois (1/17/2011) "A nice foundation for organizers to build upon" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 First, congrats to the organizers for successfully staging the initial running of this marathon. Organizing an inaugural event is a daunting task, in that everything had to be built from scratch, including the big things like securing a large pool of local volunteers to draw upon and little stuff like mile marker signs and basic procedures for how and where to distribute packets. I'm sure the granularity of the nitty gritty details is much more detailed than most runners (myself included) realize. Given that this was a first-year event, I don't judge it with the same critical eye that I would a more established race. If it were the 18th annual running, I would expect that everything runs like clockwork. For the first annual running, it is more a case of putting on the show with minimal challenges, and learning what can be improved in the future. From reading about the organizer's efforts in getting this race up and running, it seems that getting the various local municipalities on-board with staging the race was a bit challenging. While there is opportunity to draw up a course route that winds through more of the scenic and historic parts of the area, my sense is that the organizers did the best they could with what local officials would allow. That's a miss, but not on the part of the race officials. Preamble aside, this was a fun race. It was a bit chilly at the start but we couldn't have asked for a nicer day to run - temps were around a crisp 50 F once we got a couple of hours into the race. While the crowds were pretty sparse, the volunteers (who were great) and musical groups along the route were very energetic. On-course support was terrific, aid stations were plentiful, and the shuttle bus system after the race seemed to work well. Some suggestions to enhance future runnings. This is all minor stuff so it may look like a laundry list of complaints, but really it's more of a list of "do this better to go from good to great": - Consider holding the expo in downtown Charleston. That's where the majority of the hotels are, so that would likely be a more convenient location for many participants. I chose not to rent a car, which made it impractical to wander up north for the expo. - There's an opportunity for better signage near the starting line (I found it by following the crowds) and the race day packet pickup location. - The PA system at the starting line was not loud enough to cut through the din. I started mid-pack, and if there was any sort of countdown prior to the air horn, nobody around me heard it. You should get the model that goes to eleven. - Need more overtly-labeled garbage cans near the start for the bottles, gels, etc. that will be discarded. - I assume this will happen, but please field a post-race survey and attempt to quantify the impact of the race on the local economy. I can't begin to guess at an accurate number, but I know I dropped somewhere in the range of $600 between hotels, meals, and local activities/excursions. Putting a tangible number in front of the local poobahs might engender a more receptive attitude toward future runnings. Would I recommend this race to others? Yes - it's a well-organized event in a city with a lot of history to offer, and as the logistics get tightened in the future, it's bound only to get better.
H. T. from Florida (1/16/2011) "Transportation to the race start line was slow" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Course allowed a realistic view of varying living conditions of the area. I felt safe. Organizers should put more interest in the transportation of the participants.
J. T. from Raleigh, NC (1/16/2011) "Abandoned all runners slower than 6-hour pace" (about: 2011) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Even though this was advertised as a 7.5-hour race, the course was aggressively closed by police and organizers, leaving numerous marathoners on the course with no support or directions.
E. C. from Durham, NC (1/16/2011) "Very disappointing race course" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This is my 11th marathon, and I would have to rate this course the worst I've ever run. Sure, it is flat, but it is UGLY! With the exception of the first 3-4 miles, you are running through the blighted areas of North Charleston for the majority of the race. Not only is it ugly, but it is depressing. We ran past a strip club, numerous liquor stores, and boarded up houses. This should not be called the Charleston Marathon as the majority is in North Charleston. There are so many beautiful areas of Charleston. It is confounding as to why the organizers would have us run through this area. It shows Charleston in its worst light and does nothing to promote the city. As for organization, it was below average. The expo was chaotic. There were no directions to the start or porta-potties when getting off the buses on race morning. Everyone was stressed. No corrals at the start. If there were announcements, you could not hear them. No timing mats anywhere except start and finish. Also there were supposed to be water and gels at every mile from 20 to the end, but this was not true, they were still two miles apart. Something positive: the shrimp and grits at the end were delicious. The volunteers were enthusiastic and the water stops were well-staffed. The police did a great job at the intersections. Overall, I would not recommend this race unless the course is drastically changed. It is a fast, flat course, so maybe if you don't care about scenery, and are gunning for a PR, you might be ok. But otherwise, I cannot recommend it.
h. m. from atlanta, georgia (1/16/2011) "Disappointing" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Having traveled from out of state, I was disappointed by the race. I ran the half-marathon. The City of Charleston is beautiful and the people are very friendly, but the course did not show much of the city. Most of the route was along unpopulated (industrial) roads along a train track. The biggest fiasco was the transportation. The start and finish lines are in different places. They charged (in advance) for bus service from the finish back to the start. People waited for an hour or so just to get on what appeared to be only bus they hired. Finally, they "called in" for another bus at the last minute to accommodate hundreds of waiting people. People didn't know where to catch the bus, or where the bag pick up was after the race. I understand it is their first attempt at organizing a race, but you couldn't find anyone after the race who could answer questions. Visit the city; skip the race.
B. B. from Texas (1/15/2011) "Good - especially for the first one" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I had a very enjoyable race, which helped me BQ and AG again. This was my 26th 26.2, and 24th state, so I guess I know a good race by now, and Charleston was fine, and overall more than the 3 1/2 stars it gets with these rankings - more like 4 to 4 1/2. No one would have known this was their first full - all the details were taken care of and the runners' needs met. It was small and fun, in a great little city. And there are only a few others in January - and I really didn't want to go to Jackson or Mobile (and was glad, since they got hit by the ice/snow last week) and have FL done so Disney was out. I would definitely recommend this race. Pros: Flat course with only a couple of minor hills; great weather (34 at start with light wind, and it warmed to 46); more than adequate course support, including GUs starting at 20, and plenty of nice volunteers everywhere; closed to traffic streets; no relay (it is so annoying to get passed by speedy guys only running 6 miles); long-sleeve tech shirt and carrying bag; easy to use web page and pre-race emails; free parking at start; lots of good hotels within a 15-minute walk of the start (I stayed at the French Quarter Inn, which I loved); good restaurants every where; Charleston is an excellent destination with a proximal airport, and the expo (also the finishing tent) was on the way in from the airport so it saved a separate cab back out there; expo is small and well organized; bag check worked fine; a few bands on the course to perk things up; excellent finish area with plenty of the food you want, including bagels and peanut butter (a first for me), beer, and shrimp and grits, which I didn't eat since I'm a vegan but others praised, and other food if you bring some cash (plus a good announcer at the finish who read as many names and cities as he could); only $3 to ride bus back to the start; etc. Lots to love. Cons: I'm not a big fan of point-to-points, but Boston and NYC and other famous ones are, and the course wasn't memorable, and often boring/ugly, several out-and-backs, (but the first 2 miles through the historic downtown were nice, and hey, most of NYC, Chicago, Boston, and most of the other city races I've run aren't that pretty, but what cities have 26 miles of beauty?); very few fans; the half, but that was not really a problem since it wasn't that full and there was plenty of room to run; and the final 10K were final. These are just some picky points, and nothing to stop you from coming.
C. C. from Charleston (1/15/2011) "Charleston is beautiful; this race is not" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Charleston Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Run through the ghettos of Charleston. Wow! Could have been in Detroit.

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