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May 17, 2024

Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon Runner Comments

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

Course 3.0

Organization 3.1

Spectators 3.7

Number of comments: 66 [displaying comments 31 to 41]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 > ]

C. S. from Miami, Florida (5/30/2012) "Needs improvements" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The organization was not that great. I spent about an hour in a huge jam trying to get to the expo. The course was boring and I did not even see the famous fountain shown on the medal. The last few miles were on a highway with nothing to see. The food at the finish line was poor and cheap. The medal was not what I was expecting from a highly priced Rock and Roll event. The bus driver that brought me back to my parking spot did not know how to get back to the shopping center. She had to wait for another bus and then followed it. I will not recommend it. Go run the Georgia Marathon in March instead.
J. C. from Florida (4/24/2012) "Ok,but needs work" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Savannah is a charming town to visit,however the race needs work.I would not run it again unless they changed the course. pros:1)beautiful town 2)the energy of a big race 3)bands on the course 4)the volunteers at the aid station had a lot of pep and were energizing to me as a runner 5)gu on the course 6)runner tracking available 7)corral system worked well 8)Great expo-lots of vendors cons:1)expo/packet pickup on Friday was easy. expo/packet pickup the day before the race was a traffic nightmare.People spent over an hour trying to get to the expo.2)not enough shuttle buses and the shuttle drivers didn't know the route 3)crowd support was so-so. a lot of people out just watching,not cheering 4)The course was a HUGE let down. the website promised scenic. Very little of the course was in the beautiful parts of Savannah. Long stretches of interstate-which were ugly & lacked crowd support. 5)There were virtually no pictures of me available for purchase 6)no post race massage 7)unimpressed with post race food 8)a lot of the bands were not actually playing when I ran by.9)needed more prerace portolets
L. B. from New England (4/1/2012) "Great Organization, Boring course" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 We LOVED the town of Savannah. Wish we had seen more of it on course! We spent too much time outside of town on long stretches of boring highway.
Howard McLaren from Savannah Georgia. (11/30/2011) "Needs Work" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I live in Savannah so did not experience the same problems out of towners suffered such as water taxi's etc., although I did advise some runners beforehand not to use them and get to the expo early due to known traffic problems. However, from my point of view: 1. Course needs to be really improved. However, for those runners who wanted a more picturesque race you have to be be realistic, they are simply not going to shut off a blocks of residential downtown squares for runners. I run these squares and I can tell you they are a PAIN. The roads are narrow and you are constantly turning, really slowing you up. Trust me you see nothing just a series of right angled roads. 2. Lots of parking away from the start. I parked close to the finish at 5 a.m. and walked two miles to the start. Noticed lots of available street parking on my way. 3. Bag drop off and pick up was well organized. 4. Start was confused. I was in corral seven and we finally ended up mingling with 5 & 6. The pre-race announcers were hilariously pathetic. 'where are we Chuck?' 'well Gertrude we're at the Savannah marathon' 'wow Chuck that's great!' CHRIST!! please go back to doing ads for local undertakers. The start should be someone to rev up the runners and make it exciting not a couple of idiots who should be working at a mall stand selling hairspray or something. 5. Lots of porto-potties GOOD! 6. The race food was the cheapest and worst I've EVER encountered. It would have put a 5K to shame. 7. The spectators in what others have called the low income residential area were the best! and the little cheerleaders outstanding! Downtown was a bit muted. 8. Lots of cones in the road within the first mile of the start BAD! Obviously that mistake was organized by a non runner. I saw a few people collide with them and one person go over. And a wayward driver actually drove onto the bay street extension (just after the bridge) causing lots of problems to the waves of runners coming over the brow. This area needs more policing to prevent this from happening. Could have been a nasty accident. 9. A photographer should have been placed just over the bay street bridge to capture the first tidal wave of runners as they crested the bridge. Would have made a awesome shot!
A. B. from Boston area, MA (11/21/2011) "If problems fixed, could be good" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 Knowing this was an inaugural marathon I knew there would be issues. I just didn't expect there to be so many of them! Even before the race started, I knew that allowing 23,000 runners in an inaugural race in tiny Savannah was the biggest mistake (by far); the Competitor Group should have greatly reduced the #s (probably to 10,000) so they could work the kinks out. But they seem to be driven by money and take a 'make mistakes now, apologize later' attitude. The many problems have been outlined in other posts on this site; what bothers me the most is that the Competitor Group has run many, many races yet they act like they are newbies. To all of the criticism they say 'sorry, it was the inaugural; we learned some things and will change them next year.' That just doesn't cut it coming from an experienced company. Many of the problems could have been eliminated if they didn't allow so many runners for the 1st time in Savannah. Rather than reiterate all of the comments here, I will highlight a few: Pros: -miles well marked -Savannah residents top notch -overall, on-course bands were good -excellent Facebook page -decent expo Cons: -nickel and dime you for everything, including shuttles and runner tracking -no basic medical equipment at medical tents (including finish!) such as blood pressure cuff -much more focused on the half marathon -major shuttle issues -hotels price-gouge (250+ bucks per more to stay near start) -baggage check WAY in back of corral area -Brooks VIP area NEVER materialized I could go on and on about what needs to be fixed. I cannot recommend this race until they make major changes. I am really disappointed with the Competitor Group as all they seem to care about is making money.
S. S. from Atlanta, Ga. (11/19/2011) "Has potential, needs work" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Good: 1. Nice city 2. Crowds and volunteers excellent 3. Nice, flat course for the first 20 miles 4. Good water/sports drink/gu stops Bad: 1. Horrible decision to put expo/race number pickup on an island, especially when there are other much more accessible sites available in the city. Waited almost an hour for a ferry to take us to expo, so our feet were sore the day before the race. 2. As others have said, miles 20-24 were on a highway where there were very few crowds. The road was slanted for better drainage at points and running on it left me with a sore knee for two weeks. The highway added some hills, but it was a questionable decision because Savannah is a nice town and it seem silly to throw highway running into the race. 3. Event had a beer sponsor, but MGD64 is not a real beer. We burned 3,500 calories running a marathon. I for one would prefer a beer with a few more calories that doesn't taste like dishwater. 4. Hotels in the area of the race start/finish are expensive and hard to get. We registered five months ahead of time and couldn't get anything near the race area, no matter the price. Savannah hotels are known for nailing visitors with ridiculous rates when there is a big event in town, so high prices weren't surprising to me, but I would imagine it's hard for people who didn't expect to have to pay $250 to $300 a night for average hotels. Overall, I think all the problems, other than the high hotel rates and lack of availability, are easily fixable. Have the expo/race pickup either at the Civic Center or one of the big hotels in the city, change the course so miles 20-24 go through the city (downtown maybe?) rather than onto a highway, and get a better quality beer.
B. R. from Charlotte, NC (11/16/2011) "Definitely needs some improvements, but still fun" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Ok, as you can read from previous comments there were definitely things that need to be worked on... The shuttle situation was horrible- I've never run a race where they charge you $35 to take a shuttle to the start, especially when that's about the only way to get there (granted, they did offer free ones, but that wasn't until the week of the race that those were mentioned). The Expo was hectic- getting to it, and getting through it. Now for the good- the course actually wasn't as bad as some would make it out to be. Yes, you ran through the ghetto- it's hard to get 26.2 miles in a town the size of Savannah and not go through some less than desirable parts. The people in those neighborhoods were wonderful- so many out saying good morning and thanking us for running through their city. Yes, you ran on part of a highway- most marathons I have done have had to have at least one part on a less than desirable or scenic road, so nothing different than most races. The wind- you can't predict the weather, so I don't see that as an issue at all. Overall, the race was well done- probably one of the best/easiest starts in a large marathon. It was well marked, you knew exactly where to go. The spectators that were out were all enthusiastic. At the end of the day, Savannah is not a huge city and it's hard to take on a race this size. It's never going to be something like Chicago, but it was fun nonetheless.
g. b. from CT USA (11/14/2011) "inaugural...needs a lot" (about: 2011) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Just adding to more detailed comments I already see. Have done other R&R, they were all better. Event needs work, a lot of logistic problems getting to expo and shuttles to start and from finish. Course itself no prize, not very scenic considering possibilities in area. Aid stations very good, could have used more music. Brutal stretch on open highway uphill into the wind from about 21 to 24.5 miles
M. P. from North Carolina (11/14/2011) "Very Disappointing" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon and unfortunately was very disappointed. Savannah can not handle 23,000 runners plus spectators. Shuttles were a NIGHTMARE. Parking at the Expo was a NIGHTMARE. The only thing good I can say about the course is that it was mostly flat. I was hoping to see some to the beauty that Savannah is know for but that didn't happen. Instead I saw low income housing, industrial and 3 straight miles of freeway. Also, the fountain that was showcased on the medal and on the homepage of website was not even on the course. Volunteers and spectators were awesome but other than that, this event was a huge let down. I do not plan to be back next year.
p. n. from SoCal (11/12/2011) "enjoyed my 33rd marathon!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 33rd Full, plus 18 Half Marathons, and first visit to Savannah. Many didn't like the course, but I'm a city person & actually liked it going thru the 'hood as well as other parts of beautiful Savannah (expect the boring highway). More fans cheered in the 'hood, even tho' that was the earliest hour. In the beautiful tree-lined neighborhood, where were the fans? Worst part was having the expo in an inconvenient location, which gridlocked the whole city. Then charging $35 for race day shuttle from near the airport, of course we took the free one from the Mall. There were enough shuttles, but drivers were told not to open their doors early, thus loading very slowly two buses at a time; finally at 7am, the 10 other buses waiting to load, all opened their doors so there was a free-for-all, but much quicker loading. Who knows what route drivers were given... what should've taken 15 minutes took 1 hour of pure driving. The start line corrals moved well; in RnR San Diego, I waited an hour in my corral at the start line & there were still many more after me. Full marathoner cons: Doing double the Half, it should merit a different shirt. Adding insult to injury, giving the exact same medal (okay, it did say Marathon, but Half even got a better color!) is even more unacceptable (first time I've seen that happen!). RnR/Brooks, thank you for a ladies shirt & where the neck isn't cramped anymore! Overall, Savannah made me feel very welcomed as a runner!!!

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