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May 9, 2024

Brooklyn Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Brooklyn Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 3.5

Organization 3.9

Spectators 4.1

Number of comments: 43 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

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J. M. from Connecticut (1/16/2013) "Needs Some Work" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Brooklyn Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 I've rated numerous Marathons on this site and until now I have never submitted a negative comment. I'm all about the race. A good course that is accurately measured, easy access to water stops, and a course that is at least clear of pedestrians. I have been involved in organizing road races including a local Marathon in my area so I am aware of the difficulties faced with organizing an event of this caliber. I don't think this group is ready to handle a larger sized field. The Pro's: 1) I didn't mind the elevation changes on the course and really did not feel the hill that we ran on the loop was a really big deal. It was nice to know what laid ahead on each loop of the race. In my opinion the course choice is outweighed by the negative aspects as described below. 2) The finisher's medals were probably the best I've ever seen. 3) The volunteers on the course were very supportive. Having volunteered for many events myself I thought they did a terrific job and were not at all resposible for the problems with this race. They are the one reason why I have been reluctant to write this review. Con's: 1) I was OK with the idea we would be passing many runners on this course during the six loops but I never imagined there would be a lot of people (some with dogs on long leashes) walking toward us during the race going on their daily walk! Because of the loops you would sometimes run into the same people more than once. They even walked through the water stops. They were as irritated with the runners as we were with them. If I knew about this ahead of time I would have never made the trip. If you can't provide a course that is somewhat free of pedestrian traffic of people not involved in the race then you should limit the field dramatically. 2) The course can not handle in my opinion more than 200 runners without it having a negative impact on the quality of the race. There were nearly 500 on the course in 2012. The race director a couple of weeks prior to the race was pushing to get permission to expand the field to at least 1,500. This would have been a disaster. 3) We were told before the start that the course had been re-measured from the prior year and it was found to be short. Because it took way longer than usual to go from 26-26.2 I'm assuming the mile markers were never adjusted to the new measurements 4) The course and packet pickup location are not very convenient for those who are not local and don't know there way around the New York City Transit System. If this were a great race these inconveniences would be worth it but this is not the New York City Marathon. 5) There were age divisions in the race but so far no prizes two months after the race took place. We were told after the race they did not have anything for age group winners but they would send something in the mail. After a couple of weeks they asked us to E-Mail them if we won our age division so they could send the prizes to us the following week. I haven't heard anything else from them since other than numerous E-Mails asking me to give them high rating and plead that they be allowed to open the race up to the streets so they could get more runners. I am not an elite runner but I do invest a lot of time in my training. Marathons are not like 5k's to most of us. I only have a couple of these efforts in me every year so I'm a little more demanding then I would normally be for a regular road race. In my opinion New York City Runs has some work to do in providing a quality event and the race director should be concentrating on puting a well organized race together and less about the bottom line.
c. r. from N-NJ (12/5/2012) "I was pleasantly surprised. A great small race" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Brooklyn Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The Hill, The Hill, The Hill... That's all I heard about the Prospect Park course. OK, it was a hill, but not a significant HILL. I guess because you run the hill 6 times, it can become an issue. But... Pros: .. Running a loop takes a lot of the mystery out of the course. You know what to expect. To paraphrase Yogi, 75% of the race is physical, the other half is in your head. .. Really good crowd support .. There were 2 water/GatorAid stops per loop, approx. 3K apart. .. Prospect Park is beautiful. Thank You Mr. Olmsted .. It's in Brooklyn!!! - whodathunk Cons: .. Parking is tough .. No Gu or other gel at water stops .. For those that dislike loops, it's a 6X loop. .. I know it's 'their park', but there was just a little bit too much other traffic on the course. Most of the walkers were great, especially the seniors, staying to the outside lane and cheering the runners on. Even the horse back ridders were great. Yeah, that's right horses. But some of the 'owners' walked 3 and 4 across on the course. Their attitude was the only true negative about the race. I will definitely run this race again.
K. G. from New York, NY (11/30/2012) "Well organized with a challenging loop course." (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Brooklyn Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Really well organized and they had great pre-race communication with the runners. This was my first 'loop' course and I was dreading it, but the park was beautiful, and the sweet spectators made it fun. It's a hilly, intermediate/advanced level course, but I would recommend it for a fun challenge!!
Danielle Hansen from Messy bedroom in Brooklyn - I'd rather run. (11/29/2012) "Sparkling Verrazano Bridge Medal !" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Brooklyn Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 It was a beautiful day! No waiting at the start, hardly any waiting at bathrooms. I ran with a friend. We talked and ran, shared healthy gel snacks like they were candy, ate home-made brownies ( DELICIOUS!!!), drank soda, ran some more, made friends with a lovely woman spectator who ran up the hill with us on our 5 th trip up to give us some strength, which she did! ate more snacks, got cheers from all PPTC er's. I enjoyed the race so much ! I finished the race and walked away with my Brooklyn Marathon Medal, did not realize that the bridge lit up until I got home! Cool!I usually lose weight during a marathon, feel sick and tired at the end- not this one. I felt very well taken care of. Thanks. It was really fun and well organized!
S. B. from Brooklyn, NY (11/29/2012) "Spectator Friendly Brooklyn Course" (about: 2012) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Brooklyn Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The race was very well run, the organization was fantastic. The field for the race was relatively small, which allowed some of mistakes and confusion with numbers, lap counting, and post race food. However, the spectators were great, and got to see the runners multiple times! Great cheering in Brooklyn :) The course is simply around the park for loops on end, which can be very mentally taxing or very mentally motivating depending on your mindset. Great race! I would do it again!
A. C. from Staten Island, NY (11/28/2012) "As far from NYCM as you can get (and that's good!)" (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Like 47,000 others I was supposed to run the NYC Marathon this year. I wasn't sure about running a make-up race, but my running club gave me the opportunity to claim one of the few remaining spots in the race, and having heard good reports about last year's inaugural race, I decided to sign up. This is a very different marathon than NYC. It's a low-key race but one that has big aspirations for the future. 500 runners on a course of 3 lower- and 6 full loops of Prospect Park. Keeping track of the loops was easier than it sounds, thanks to well-placed mile markers at the side of the road. Water stations were capably staffed by volunteers from the Brooklyn running clubs, and doubled up as cheering stations: in this race you're not going to get the rock star feeling of running past thousands of screaming spectators, but you will find enthusiastic and genuine support, especially where you need it the most, at the top of the big hill at the north end of the park. This marathon has a reputation as being a difficult course, but I can't say I agree. Control your pace up the 1/3-mile long hill, and you then have a long flat/downhill to look forward to for a couple of miles afterwards. In my experience, this makes Prospect Park a faster course than Central Park. I normally race without music, but made an exception for this race, thinking I might need a little extra help to get me through the many loops. Given that I ran alone for most of the course (as expected, given the low number of runners), this proved to be a good idea. If I had to come up with a couple of small quibbles, as a faster runner the last 18-20 miles were spent continually passing people, making it hard to run the shortest tangents. On the other hand, psychologically this can be a good thing, especially in the later stages of a race. You might be slowing, but it doesn't feel like it if you're passing runners! Also, it should be noted that the park remains open to non-runners out for their regular daily walks. These are minor concerns, though. Keep your eyes on the road ahead and you should be able to anticipate the best path through the traffic. Only once did I have to come to a near-stop due to being blocked, and that was after the 20 mile mark, at which point anything other than moving straight forward is a bit of a struggle for me. The marathon must-haves: The t-shirt and medal were great. NYCRUNS (the organizers) clearly have some graphic designers who know what they're doing. Baggage check was simple and efficient, as you'd expect at a small race. Good supply of post-race food and drink. Both the usual (bagels, fruit) and, in a Brooklyn twist, a generous slice of Cousin John's Bakery cheesecake. While a marathon like this isn't for everyone, I can honestly say I have only good experiences to report. Right now it feels like a small community event, but you can tell from the professionalism of the organizers that their aspirations are greater. This deserves to be a bigger race and to go out onto the streets (they're working on it, and given the relationships they're forging with the Parks Department and city officials, don't bet against it happening soon), but even now, it's well worth running.
R. S. from New York (11/28/2012) "Challenging course. WONDERFUL people" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Brooklyn Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Come to Brooklyn for this terrific race. The multiple loops offer great spectating.
E. S. from Brooklyn (11/28/2012) "A fine race but the loop got me dizzy." (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Brooklyn Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Great race. Well-organized. A fine, little marathon. The loop was a tad frustrating for the faster runners who had to deal with getting around the slower athletes. Perhaps two lanes would fix this. Otherwise the race was fantastic. Shout out to Steve Lastoe and NYCruns. Great local organization.
B. S. from Brooklyn, NY (11/28/2012) "Scrappy marathon with a lot of heart" (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Brooklyn Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I looked at the course description and thought 'this sounds awful.' But it's a very fun race. By doing loops, it's like you're multiplying the number of spectators and you even develop relationships with them from lap to lap. I thought I would get bored, but it was pretty fun.
c. p. from Durham NC (11/28/2012) "1st marathon and alone at the end- not to excitin" (about: 2012) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Packet pickup was very simple- just in/out nothing personable. No 'thanks for comin' , 'good luck'. Handed a shirt and number and that was it....Also, there was no nutrition offered,it was not advertised that no food so i was not prepared with enough gels ect. at end had no blankets left- I froze walkin to the car. BUT I finished and felt great.Happy to have been there. THANKS for everything.

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