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Columbus Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Columbus Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 4.2
Number of comments: 333 [displaying comments 291 to 301]
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E. F. from Columbus, OH
(5/14/2003)
 "Great 1st-time marathon" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 The Columbus 2002 Marathon was my first marathon. I am from Columbus so I was very familiar with the course, and thought it was great. As advertised, it was 'FAST, FLAT, and FUN' (although I think that slogan could use some work:-)). I agree with the person that said you need to know about the hill at 25.5. It's pretty tough at the end of a long race, but as long as you know that it's less than a 1/4 hill, you should be fine. Only thing that I was disappointed with was the finisher's area. It was very congested and difficult to find the family area. It seemed like you had to walk a long way to meet your friends and family at the end. I'm sure it didnt help that I had just run my first marathon (in less than 4:30, i might add :-)), but I did think that part could have been organized a little better. Great race for qualifying though! Shouldn't have a problem on this course. | |
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V. N. from OHIO
(5/12/2003)
 "NICE COURSE AND GREAT SUPPORT" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was an ideal race ? fall in Ohio is beautiful. Weather was great and the crowds and all the volunteers were spectacular. It was nice to see a lot of people I knew both running and supporting the runners. Would love to run again. | |
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B. D. from Flint, Michigan
(4/11/2003)
 "Recommended for faster runners only" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon, and I was very upset when they opened the roads much sooner than scheduled. There were many of us who had to run on the sidewalks along side of pedestrians and deal with traffic. I was very disapointed in the lack of concern that was provided to me. | |
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J. C. from Columbus
(3/22/2003)
"Finisher's Certificate....Could we use spellcheck?" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Just received my certificate of completion. Suitable for framing. Except Official Time is Offical Time. Classic! | |
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Third Time Running from Columbus, Ohio
(3/13/2003)
 "Pathetic Finisher's Medal" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 2002 was my third year running the Columbus Marathon. The course is flat and fast. The view at the start is magnificent! The fan support is great! My only gripe is with the finisher's medal. The 2002 finisher's medal was and is a total embarassment. I think the organizers forget how important the finisher's medal is to a marathon finisher, especially those running for the first time. For most of us, the medal is the topper of the race, giving the bearer a sense of joy, pride, and accomplishment. The organizers could improve the overall experience of this marathon by putting a few more dollars of the race entry fee into improving the finisher's medal. | |
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G. G. from Minneapolis, MN
(1/9/2003)
"A Great mid-sized marathon, perfect for BOS qual." (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was marathon 5 for me and was my 1st Boston qualifier. The course was nice and generally flat. Others have written about the hill at 19, which was there, but I found the hill at 25.5 a little more challenging. If you don't know its coming it could be disheartening. (I try to make it a habit to check out as much of the course as possible prior to race day.)Great crowd support thruout and fellow runners were open to forming ad hoc support teams. The course layout was great for family that travelled with me to see me multiple times on the course. Only two minuses: 1st-- The staff of the convention center were less than friendly and accommodating as we were trying to find the expo. We wandered into an area where another event was occuring and the staff was rude and unhelpful in steering us to the correct area. 2nd-- Some Water Station set-ups. We HAVE to love the water station volunteers, BUT PLEASE have water, NOT just the sports drink (which was horrid)at the end of the station. To avoid congestion its good to go towards the end of a station, but its bad when all that's avail is the drink (please try a new brand). Also someone was passing out the GU pack at the end of the GU H20 station when there was no more fluid to take it with. Whoops. OVERALL...GREAT EVENT. | |
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A Runner from Fort Wayne, Indiana
(12/2/2002)
"Great as a Boston qualifier" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my third time running this marathon, and the weather has been ideal every time. I ran this one this fall to qualify for Boston. I liked my odds in Columbus, because it is pretty flat, well supported by spectators and water stations, small enough that there is room to run after a mile or two, and because they have pace groups for the Boston qualifying finishing times. It worked for me, and I will probably keep returning for most of the same reasons. Of course, being an OSU alum didn't hurt either. | |
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Richard Roberts from Mansfield, Ohio
(11/19/2002)
"Best Mid-Sized Marathon There is" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 2002 was my 2nd time running Columbus and again it was a great experience. Columbus always picks a cool time of year to run the race and a relatively fast course, which is very inviting (versus a June marathon in Phoenix, for example). I don't mind the noticeable hill toward the end of the High Street 5-6 mile straightaway, but I just wish the last 6.2 miles were all downhill as advertised. I found there to be some rolling hills. I say keep the course the same, but don't advertise the last 10 kilometers as all downhill. The water/sports drink stations were run pretty well, although I think if a runner is approaching and out of reach of someone handing out fluid, the volunteer should come out and hand it to the runner, so the runner can run in a straight line and still get proper hydration. Other than that, I had no problems with the race organization. The spectators were awesome. At mile 10, I was running through by myself and this whole crowd of people who didn't know me cheered me like I was on pace for a world record. To generate enthusiasm like that for someone you don't even know is outstanding. In closing, I recommend this course to anyone looking for a fast marathon course but doesn't want a too small or too big field of runners at the start. I plan to try a bigger marathon next fall, but I'm certainly not leaving Columbus because it was a bad marathoning experience! Keep it up Columbus! | |
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Richard Roberts from Mansfield, Ohio
(11/19/2002)
"Best Mid-Sized Marathon There is" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 2002 was my 2nd time running Columbus and again it was a great experience. Columbus always picks a cool time of year to run the race and a relatively fast course, which is very inviting (versus a June marathon in Phoenix, for example). I don't mind the noticeable hill toward the end of the High Street 5-6 mile straightaway, but I just wish the last 6.2 miles were all downhill as advertised. I found there to be some rolling hills. I say keep the course the same, but don't advertise the last 10 kilometers as all downhill. The water/sports drink stations were run pretty well, although I think if a runner is approaching and out of reach of someone handing out fluid, the volunteer should come out and hand it to the runner, so the runner can run in a straight line and still get proper hydration. Other than that, I had no problems with the race organization. The spectators were awesome. At mile 10, I was running through by myself and this whole crowd of people who didn't know me cheered me like I was on pace for a world record. To generate enthusiasm like that for someone you don't even know is outstanding. In closing, I recommend this course to anyone looking for a fast marathon course but doesn't want a too small or too big field of runners at the start. I plan to try a bigger marathon next fall, but I'm certainly not leaving Columbus because it was a bad marathoning experience! Keep it up Columbus! | |
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A Runner from Washington, D.C.
(11/13/2002)
 "Change of heart - the *very* bad." (General Comments)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 I posted my comments earlier basically defending this marathon, especially as a PR course. Since then I found out that my chip time never registered at the starting mat, so therefore it doesn't count. How could it with no record? The only record I had (past tense) of my new PR was the time on my watch. I've run dozens of chip races all over the country and NEVER had this problem. It's completely unacceptable. I'll never know why this happened and I realize it's waste to try to place blame, but here are the three scenarios: (1) I purposely took a gigantic leap over the starting mats because I was eager to run a PR and didn't want to waste any time, (2) I cheated and didn't enter the race at the start (hmmmmmmm - didn't think of this until now), or (3) something was wrong with the mat or chip. Fortunately, I still have a gun time that qualifies me for Boston, but I will NEVER run Columbus again, nor can I recommend it to anyone. |
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