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☰
Seattle Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Seattle Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 3.9 
Spectators 3.1
Number of comments: 182 [displaying comments 71 to 81]
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E. B. from Central Florida
(11/28/2007)
 "Eclectic course, just like Seattle" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 The course is nice and varies from city, to highway, to suburban lakeside and park (the arboretum), and back to city running environments. The views of the city and the waterfront are excellent. The volunteers on the course and traffic control were excellent. Restrooms were ample - it is the first marathon I've seen where they mounted the mile marker on the huts. Great idea! Running into the stadium at the end is a nice touch and they called out your name as you finished. That rarely happens at any big-city marathon I've ever run (about 10 to date). There are benefits to finishing in over 5 hours! Yes, I missed the food just like many of the faster marathoners, but you get over it. Thanks also to the two lady TNT supporters who had oranges and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at mile 22 - the PB&J saved me. However, there were no bootleg beer providers on the course. That's surprising. Every race I've run in California has always had this. :>) Having to go up in the bleachers to retrieve your bag after the run was a bummer though! The crowd support is not great at this one, but the more marathons I run, the less this seems to matter to me. Seattle compares to San Francisco - great views, hills, parks, etc. The marathon is going on, but not too many in the city seem to care. This marathon had lots of serious runners and not many slower runners and/or walkers who seemed to be running for charity. Regarding the issue about the marathon organizers not donating loads of money to charity, who cares? When you signed up it did ask if you wanted to donate to the U. Wash. Med Center Housing Fund. They never implied or said that any of your entry fees actually went to the cause. I think most people sign up for the challenge first, the city it is in second and charity last. There are plenty of other marathons for the masses where you have the opportunity to raise money for a cause. | |
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M. S. from Seattle.
(11/28/2007)
 "A firm favorite. Demanding without being too hard." (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 4-5 Seattle Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is my local race and I've see it in sun, rain and even snow! The course is moderately scenic; the best views are out over Lake Washington and around Seward Park. There are some tough, long, steep hills with one nasty dip under Highway 99 right at the end that can have the legs of those not expecting it turning to jelly. Organization is very good, with lots of lemon/lime Gatorade (avoiding the vomit inducing cherry) and selections of energy gel plus time callers at regular stages. This is a world-class race with great support, but it is expensive to enter unless you get in almost a year in advance when it's much cheaper. | |
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S. C. from Federal Way, WA
(11/28/2007)
"Beautiful course, but brutal ending" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 When we first got there, we spent 20 minutes trying to find the gear-drop spot. We must have asked 5-6 volunteers and nobody could tell us where to go. Finally another runner pointed us in the right direction. The course was beautiful, but the hills at the end were far harder than I had anticipated. The volunteers at all of the water stops were amazing. It did seem as though the half marathoners took care of most of the post-race food though. All I could find was a banana and a cup of coffee. | |
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S. L. from Tacoma, WA
(11/27/2007)
 "Great Course" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Seattle Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This was my 19th marathon, and 2nd Seattle Marathon. I really enjoy the course finding it challenging but not brutal. I only have a couple of complaints with the organization. The lack of finish line food was a surprise. And having the walkers scattered all over the last few miles is unacceptable. I agree it was an improvement from the 2005, but still a problem they need to figure out. I'm not sure the organizers know what it is like to weave in and out of traffic with twenty-some miles on your legs and mind. Also, they advertised a military award division; does anyone know who won that division??? | |
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Kami K. from Corpus Christi, TX
(11/27/2007)
"Tough Marathon in a Beautiful City" (about: 2007)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Seattle Marathon Sunday, November 25, 2007 8:15 a.m. It was a gorgeous day to run a TOUGH marathon on a scenic course on a beautiful city. Temperature was in low 40s, sunny, and the light wind was not a factor. The hilly portions of the route were marked in orange (slight upward slope) and red (upward slope) on the course elevation map, and there was a fair amount of orange and red on the map. The point-to-point course started and ended in Seattle Center. Miles 4.5 to 8 were out and back to Mercer Island via I-90 Floating Bridge. Then out and back to mile 17 alongside Lake Washington, which included a 2.5-mile loop in Seward Park. The last 10K was indeed challenging, as there were several hills and I felt the pain in my bum knees while running the sharp downward slopes. We could see the Space Needle from about mile 24 to the finish, which was indeed eye-catching. This was a well-organized race. Packet pick-up was efficient. The expo was pretty good. The long-sleeved high tech race shirt and finisher's medallion were nice. The sporadic crowd support was good. There were water/sports drinks stations at every other mile, and sports gels at two locations. The course was well monitored and the race volunteers were cheerful and helpful. The splits were provided at every mile and mile markers were posted on portable restrooms (called Honey Buckets!). The finish line was inside the Memorial Stadium. We had to take a large number of stairs to the upper deck of the stadium to pick up our sweat bags, which was not an easy task. There were plenty of hot and cold drinks at the recovery area but no solid food, which did not surprise me, because it was not the first time that I finished a marathon, which also had a half marathon, and no food had been put aside for marathoners. I stayed in Best Western Loyal Inn, which was within a short walking distance to start and finish of the marathon, as well as the city center. Seattle is indeed a neat place to visit. I am a 50-stater and this was #32. | |
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S. D. from Mount Vernon, WA
(11/27/2007)
"Probably my last time running this" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Seattle Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 I wasn't going to run this year but got talked into it. I'm happy that they took care of the problem with the walkers blocking the road on I-90, but there is still a big problem from the end of the arboretum to the finish, with walkers completely blocking the road. Not sure what can be done about this; maybe post signs reminding people to leave a passing lane. They ran out of food this year. The big reason I won't run this again is the requirement to come down to Seattle twice - once to pick up your number and then again to go to the race. I spent $46 over two days in gas and parking fees. What a waste to spend an extra $23 (on top of a $100 entry fee) just to pick up numbers. However, the course keeps getting better every year as more pavement gets redone. Very smooth surfaces this year. Disregarding the crowding problems, the course is nearly perfection. Unless you're not in shape, the inclines should be a breeze. | |
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D. N. from Seattle, WA
(11/27/2007)
 "Not quite living up to its potential" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I ran the half marathon this year. Overall, I think this marathon has a lot of potential, considering its popularity and high entry fee; however, it's full of problems. Firstly, the race falls on an absolutely terrible day. The weather in Seattle at the end of November is downright ugly. This year it wasn't raining or snowing, at least, but it was about 35 degrees at the start, which kinda sucks. Consequently, there are few spectators, because they have more sense than to go outside. Secondly, they really skimp on the food at this race. I know GU was supposed to be out on the course, but I didn't see it. Also, in the recovery area the traditional runner foods (like bananas) were scarce to begin with and gone by the time most marathoners finished, although there were plenty of calorie-free items like Talking Rain flavored water and tea and stuff. I like these items and I'm glad the companies sponsor the race, but it would be nice to mix in some bagels or oranges or ANYTHING with calories. People just burned a few thousand of them, after all. One major exception to my complaint: there was some beef company handing out free samples of steak and it was quite possibly the most delicious thing I have eaten... ever. Kudos to them for existing. Most importantly, I think that the half marathon (the larger of the two races) could have used some sort of seeding or wave start. I'm a front-of-the-pack runner, but it was impossible to actually get to the front before the start. Because of the crowdedness, it took about 3 miles to get up to my running speed. Seattle can do much better than this. On the other hand, the course is scenic. Finally, if you're interested in running for a good cause, this is not the race for you. Right after the race an article was published revealing that exactly zero dollars from the giant race fee go to charity, even though runners were led to believe they were supporting one. Actually, the charity lost about $100,000 on the event. The deception by the race organizers is a real bummer. | |
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S. R. from Vancouver, Canada
(11/27/2007)
 "Great weather! How can you complain?" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Seattle Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I thought that the race was very well organized, from the packet pickup to the finish line. The volunteers and road marshals were amazing. My only negative comments: * There were a lot of sections of concrete (hard to plan around, I know). * The food at the finish was very disappointing, and the walkers need to learn a little etiquette as they were taking up all of the road for my last couple of kilometers. That being said, overall I think that the race is quite well done! | |
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Douglas Becker from FERGUS FALLS, MN
(11/27/2007)
"Marathon and weather both great!!!!" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my first Seattle Marathon, and because of reviews on the bad weather some of the Seattle Marathons have had in the past, I was praying for fair weather! God must have wanted me to enjoy the Seattle Marathon, because I got one of the best weather days in all my years of running! From start to finish, I loved the whole race; sure, there were not many spectators, and there was not a lot going on during the race, but this is Seattle, and the views of the city, water, and forest were my spectators that kept me going! After the race, I sat in the shadow of the Space Needle, watching others finish the marathon. If you do this marathon, stay downtown to enjoy very good dinning, and ultimate shopping. | |
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J. S. from Vancouver, BC
(11/26/2007)
"The good, the bad and the ugly." (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Seattle Marathon 2007 The good: wonderful city, cool but dry weather, amazing on course volunteers handing out water, Gatorade, GU and good wishes. Spectators can be sparse in a lot of areas but the ones who do turn out are great (especially those handing out sliced oranges, bananas and gummy bears in the last 6 miles). The bad: if you are having a bad race (as I did this year) the lack of variety in the course is physically draining as well as mind numbing. After an eventful beginning running through the downtown core and onto the interstate (including the floating bridge) there is an endless flat stretch that if your muscles are aching, makes them ache even more. Then there are a series of hills that continue to climb with sparse downward sections that also offer little relief. On top of that if you finished about 4:10 or more there was little or no food left and only sports drinks with artificial sweetener in them. And instead of having a band play to pump up runners at the beginning of the race, there was a band playing at the end of the race, in the small recovery area, deafening everyone from the runners in the medical area to people waiting in the lost children and parents area. Most importantly, one runner collapsed with only meters to go in the race and officials were very slow to react. When someone finally did call 9-1-1, no one thought to redirect runners. Instead finishers had to run around the two ambulances that arrived through the same tunnel as the runners. Then officials failed to redirect finishers as paramedics performed compressions on the man. Overall - I had heard Seattle is a tough course - and if I had been as strong as I have been in other marathons likely I wouldn't have noticed as much. But I just feel like organizers have not utilized Seattle's geography by providing greater variety (and less highway) throughout the course. Plus there is no excuse for running out of food - I thought San Francisco was cheap for checking off what food you received on your bib - but at least - as I have been told -they still had food for late finishers. Also, a lack of an emergency plan in the arena (for any kind of emergency) is really bad. Plus - what's with handing out finisher shirts before the marathon even starts? Just my two cents, JS |
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