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May 18, 2024

Mayor's Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.3

Organization 4.3

Spectators 3.6

Number of comments: 127 [displaying comments 71 to 81]

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E. B. from Central Florida (7/1/2006) "Great organization, peaceful running." (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 The race organization is excellent. The most impressive part is they shuttle everyone from their hotels to the start line from about 15 or so locations around Anchorage on cruise-ship motorcoach buses (that's what we had from our hotel at the race headquarters). Then they give you a ride back after it is over on city buses. The "ask help" folks (Maria and her husband) dressed in race-bib outfits were also real helpful as well. I saw them at the expo and cheering everyone at the start. The race starts at a high-school on the east end of town, near the mountain foothills (which it goes through the first 18 miles or so) and ends at another high school on the west end of town, near the Pacific Ocean. Most all the running is on paved or unpaved trails through the woods. As for hills, I think we climbed about 600 feet total. The last 8 miles run through a university and a park that cuts through the middle of Anchorage from east to west. The most densely "urban" area you run through is the University of Anchorage Alaska campus, which is heavily wooded as well. We did not run through downtown Anchorage or any major city streets in the urban core. As with most smaller marathons I have been in (to me 2000 or fewer runners), the water stops in the last 6 to 8 miles are spaced pretty far apart. If you like to sip you water along they way slowly, don't forget your bottle. I did! I ran Park City, UT 26.2 this time last year, and the two races are similar, except Park City runs through Park City at mile 17, at the high point after you climb about 900 feet and the "highlight" of the race. Also, Park City is at elevation 6,500/7,000 feet and Anchorage is at sea level to 800 feet or so. Other than finding it hard to sleep because it never really gets dark during this time of year that close to the Arctic Circle, I had an excellent time. If you've never been to Alaska, this is a good city to visit and take additional journeys to see the state. Everyone in the town is really welcoming and the local press covers the race pretty well. When I was finishing on the high school track, over the PA system, they called my name out and the city I was from and thanked me for coming all the way from Florida! That's NEVER happened in the other marathons I have done around the country. I think maybe once at the Hops Marathon in Tampa they called my name out. Like I said, everyone is really welcoming.
G. Y. from Berkeley, CA (6/27/2006) "Scenic and Tough Course" (about: 2006) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The course was very scenic. There were beautiful mountain ranges and lots of trees. We saw a moose less than 1 mile into the course. The moose was not actually on the course, but off to the side, which is a good thing, more on this later. From mile 7-15, it's trail running. Most of the trail running portion was on dirt with embedded rocks, so the trail was pretty much smoothed out, but you still have to watch out for rocks and other tripping hazards. In the 8 miles of trail running, there were about 1-2 miles where we were running purely on rocks/gravel. I had to really watch out to avoid tripping and twisting my ankle. I wore regular road running shoes, so not sure if wearing trail running shoes would have helped. I noticed most people ran with regular road running shoes. I was so happy to be out of the woods literally. Since we were pretty much in the backcountry, there was a chance that we could encounter moose or bears. The volunteers at the expo gave us a lot of tips on what to do if we did see animals on the course. Thankfully, we did not encounter any moose or bears head on. Also there were enough runners and volunteers throughout sections of the course that they probably scare the animals away. So, you don't have to be concerned about being attack by a moose or bear. You need to worry more about being attacked by mosquitoes. I wore shorts and short sleeve to run. It was pretty warm on race day. I applied Ultrathon insect repellent that was sweat resistant. The repellent worked really well for me and I didn't have to reapply the repellent lotion. The rest of the course was mostly on a paved bike path with lots of rolling hills, so be prepared for hills. The bike path for the first 4 miles were about 3 body width apart, so you had to navigate through groups of people running together. After that it was easy to pass. There were a lot of Team in Training runners and spectators. I would recommend wearing your name on your shirt. TNT supporters are good about cheering non-TNT runners. The volunteers were helpful and enthusiastic. There were plenty of water stops and porta potties(this is coming from someone who goes quite a lot) along the course. There were plenty of food at the finish area. Spectators will need a car to get to viewing spots. We got to the race start via car. The start was easy to find and there plenty of parking when we arrived around 7am. Make sure you double check the chip that you receive. I was given the wrong chip at the expo. The chip in the chip envelope only had a bib number on it and not your name. After the race, I noticed my name didn't show up in the results page of their website. I emailed the race contact and it's been corrected, but my city and State is incorrect on their results page and now you guys(Marathonguide.com) will probably not have my result in your database. Bummer:(! I'll remember to double check next time. Overall it was a great race and vacation destination!!
C. G. from Texas (6/25/2006) "Marathon Relay" (about: 2006) 2 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 First off, this was our first trip to Alaska and it was AWESOME all around. Our team did the relay and I just have a couple small comments to make that could help, but the overall experience was so fantastic that it really didn't matter! The first is that the website stated marathon relay was 4 x 6.5, when in reality it was more like 7.1, 8.5, 5.6, 5. That was apparent when you looked at the relay points on the course map, but even when I sent an email to verify, the answer didn't clarify. The second small thing was that getting to a couple of the relay points was actually a little difficult. Relay point 3 included a 3-mile hike into the relay point if you didn't get there really early. And for those of us doing the 2nd leg, it was an incremental 3 miles to get out. I know, no big deal - it was a marathon! But for us out-of-towners, it did make it difficult to get everyone to the finish line to cheer on the final team member. The course itself was gorgeous! (The night before the run we saw a bear along the road where the 1st leg would run and race morning they saw a moose at the starting area!) Team in Training was out in full force and their cheering squad always were there for the rest of us, cheering everyone on. And I have to admit, the 1st relay pit crew was the best. They were all dressed up as Wizard of Oz characters! It was great!
L. O. from Arkansas (6/24/2006) "The Challenge Makes the Reward Even Better!" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was an incredibly beautiful marathon as far as the scenery goes, but for first-timers I think it is pretty tough. My friends had told me there would be a couple of miles of gravel - so I trained for that. However, the "tank trail" as they call it ended up being 9 1/2 miles! I ended up with a serious stone bruise that just about put me down - but I finished the marathon. The plus side is you get back on the paved road (get your form back) and have beautiful scenery for the rest of the run! I think a lot of people were concerned about the hills, but they ended up not being too bad at all. The scenery was so great it took your mind off the grade. The weather was awesome too! It was supposed to be 40 and raining; it ended up being 60 and beautiful - perfect running weather. The finish line was pretty uneventful, so if you're looking for inspiration plan on having someone there waiting for you! The volunteers at the water/food stations were super! Very encouraging! Take your own fuel belt unless you like the taste of warm Ultima. Plenty of food - the only thing lacking might have been bathrooms along the way. Bottom line: Everyone needs to experience Alaska at least once! Beauty overrules the beast!
T. O. from Michigan (6/22/2006) "Mayor's Midnight was GREAT" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Mayor's Marathon was great - the people that we raced with, the people that helped out, and even the people that lived there. Alaska was really cool to run, and I would tell anyone to run there.
K. E. from St. Louis, MO (6/19/2006) "Beautiful course" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was the most beautiful, interesting marathon course I have ever run--I would give it 6 stars if I could! I saw 2 moose while running the course, and there was a beautiful mountain backdrop almost the entire way. A substantial part of the coarse is off-road--about 7 miles of gravel/dirt road through beautiful forest and over creeks with wooden bridges PLUS about a mile of easy dirt trail interspersed throughout the paved bike trail in the later miles. The course is moderately hilly, but except for a big uphill about mile 25.5, it is basically downhill from about mile 17 on. The expo was small but the volunteers were extremely nice and helpful. Organization during race was fine but I don't understand why they bother with chips. There is no timing mat at the start and thus no net time. Some finishers' names were announced at the end, but mine was not (my bib was clearly showing and chip in place, although I did finish during a rush when both 1/2 and full marathoners were finishing). There are not many spectators (Anchorage is a pretty small city), but they are enthusiastic, especially those from Team in Training. I'd guess about half the participants and 3/4 of the spectators were from TNT. There is an extremely generous time limit (8.5 hours), so it might be a good event for walkers. The walkers and runners did not seem to get in each others' way, at least in the marathon. I would recommend staying at a B&B in Anchorage; we stayed at Gourmet Fleurs which had delicious gourmet breakfasts, a private kitchen, and advice and help booking nearby outdoor events like sea kayaking and bear watching. It was actually cheaper than a hotel (less than $200/night for 3 people). I'd definitely recommend this race for someone most interested in a scenic, interesting course, perhaps combined with some fun outdoor vacation time!
Rich Johnson from Ft. Richardson, AK (6/19/2006) "Great Experience" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Ran my first marathon this past weekend and it was a blast. The course was awesome and got us out of the city for more than half of the course - and the last hill was definitely a surprise, but a good challenge as well. The only thing I would change is that I would train more for my next marathon! I would highly recommend this marathon to anyone thinking about running it. The state is a great place to visit and the experience of running the Mayor's is very memorable.
Michael Kueckelhan from Chugiak, AK Moved to Johnstown, Colorado (10/26/2005) "first marathon: great race; cool, rainy, helped me" (about: 2005) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Loved the excitement, pushing to the end of myself. The rain and cool weather helped me finish I think. I have a tendency to start too fast. Good things so many runners were on the path early on beside the Glen Hwy. Trained for almost 5 months. Felt good and kept my 10 min per mile goal for 20 miles. The last 2 were killer but realizing that short of a show-stopping injury I was going to finish kept me stoked. A major milestone for me being my first marathon: 45, 222 pounds and having had a pulmonary embolism and several blood clots within the last 8 years AND hernia repair surgery the year prior. If I can do it... well.
Jamie Booth from Wayne, NJ (8/11/2005) "Wonderful Alaskan Experience!" (about: 2005) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran this marathon while participating for Team In Training, and I had a blast! The scenery is gorgeous, especially the first couple of miles, and the air was so crisp and clean. It was nice to get into the woods and run on some trails during the middle of the race, although the spectators are few and far between at this point. Some areas on the trails have only room for one person, but it was awesome to see all parts of Anchorage. There are a couple miles that are continuously uphill throughout miles 11-16, which could catch you off-guard if you're not ready. Toward the end, you head to the finish, and surprise! There is a huge incline just prior to the 26-mile point. Wow! My parents were there, and they probably wouldn't have been able to see me as often as they did if they hadn't been able to ride with a friend who rented a car. There really isn't a shuttle, or any helpful means of spectators to move around from mile to mile. However, those spectators that got there were wonderful! The food and drinks were great, and the water stations and restrooms were abundant enough along the course for me. I loved Alaska, and the race was a wonderful experience; I recommend running this marathon, as well as taking some tours around the beautiful land!
K. M. from Anchorage, AK (7/14/2005) "It's a good race!" (about: 2001) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Mayor's Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The initial 4 miles are along a bike trail next to the highway and miles 18-19.5 are along a major city road. Other than that, the course covers 9 miles of backcountry dirt trail and 12 miles of gorgeous city roads and bike trails. The mountains are consistently in view to the east and a small portion of the race has a view of the inlet to the west. If you'd like to see beautiful scenery while running I'd recommend this race.

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