Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Apr 29, 2024

Maine Coast Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Maine Coast Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.5

Organization 4.0

Spectators 3.5

Number of comments: 21 [displaying comments 11 to 20]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 > ]

Sanjay Mohanta from Ottawa, ON (5/13/2015) "My 68th marathon! A very underrated race!" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I really liked this race. Very hilly for the first 2/3 of the race. I did this race because I saw the medal last year. I love animal based medals and having one of a lobster was what I wanted. This year it was of a mermaid. That is cool. I have a race shirt with a mermaid on it. Awesome! My first on screen crush was Darryl Hannah in Splash and although this mermaid looks more like Jessica Alba than Darryl Hannah I will take it! The course featured peanut butter filled pretzels, jelly beans, cookies and amazing views of the beach and million dollar homes. The fans that were there were very friendly. Lots of maniacs and lots of people to talk to in case you are a slower runner. The post race food was good with free pizza, beer and lots of food. If you ran the half the day before you got an extra medal and a jacket. How cool is that! Are you getting this! Do this race!
J. M. from Detroit, MI (5/12/2015) "A marathon worth traveling the distance to run" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I traveled in from Detroit for this one. I'm doing the 50 states and this was state #41 (marathon #51)... so I have seen my share of good and bad. This is definitely on the good side. The expo was small but all the people at the booths were friendly and fun to talk to. This is not Boston, so don't expect hundreds of booths and hoopla. The shirt was kinda silly this year...I passed on the mermaid theme. I wish it was last years awesome giant lobster attacking the fishing boat shirt :( The course was fun with some flats and enough gentle hills to keep things interesting. The salty views along the ocean front sections made this land-locked runner happy. Spectators were great but since it was a smaller marathon, there weren't a whole ton, mostly in the town of Kennebunkport, but when they were around they were super supportive. Aid stations were well stocked with water/gu/fruit and encouragement :) The finish was fun with local beer, pizza and KIND bars (which I snagged a bunch of...lol) The weather was sunny and warm, but it is weather...the one thing that is out of anyone's hands. It got warm on the black top roads with the sun beating down. But what runner doesn't love a good challenge?? I highly recommend this marathon for anyone and everyone.
J. M. from Buffalo, NY (11/8/2014) "Not quite flat and fast...a bit hilly" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was our honeymoon marathon so I did have very high expectations. Maine is a beautiful place so why not attempt marathon #4 there... EXPO Not much here, maybe 4 or 5 kiosks when we arrived for the start of the expo on sat. Possibly more showed up later. Cool long sleeve shirts and bibs. Bought a nice maine coast jacket. Only problem was with registering for a bus to the start line. Basically was told by race director your not on the list? Oh well, sorry we cant help you. very rude. Just what u want to hear when you travel 8 hours to 'your' marathon..luckily I found my conformation email the R.D. sent me and was 'allowed' on bus.. Pre-RACE Bus ride was smooth. beautiful morning..only complaint not very many port a potties.. lines were very long. RACE Fast start to race as advertised.THen many, many rolling hills not advertised. Gorgeous scenery, better than I could of imagined. Plenty of water and goodies at the stops. Signs saying water stops are coming up were helpful. Not a closed course so had to be careful of cars. And some came close. POST RACE Nice medal with Blue lobster and lighthouse. Plus reusable water bottle with logo on it. Food wasn't much to be desired with chicken broth, warm muscle milk, hard bagels, bananas. I would definitely do this marathon again. The view was spectacular. Kennebunkport was a great place to spend our Honeymoon Marathon even with a few bumps in the road.
M. F. from Massachusetts (7/14/2014) "Small well-organized race" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Overall, it's a great race. I loved how the race was only limited to 750 runners.As others have mentioned the course is a bit hillier than advertised. Hills are numerous but not humongous. Scenic course with numerous miles along the water. These stretches were beautiful but a little difficult as the day was quite sunny and warm. The race was well organized with great communication from the director. My only real issue with the race was the spectators. The course is open to traffic and several runners had family members follow them. Some roads are quite narrow and sometimes cars would go zooming by. One runner even got hit by a driver. Hopefully, next year they will work on controlling traffic a bit more.
J. S. from Boston, MA (6/1/2014) "Much hillier than advertised" (about: 2014) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I had high hopes for this marathon, which, unfortunately were not met. When the race website says this is a 'fast course,' I am not sure what they are talking about. There were plenty of hills, and this should definitely be advertised as a hilly course the second half, especially. Also, there were not nearly enough porta-potties at the start, which was especially disappointing given that it was such a small race. The post-race food was pretty sad and was dominated largely by huge vats of chicken broth. Finally, the shirt/medal are pretty ugly! It looks like someone got carried away with the the clip art. The pictures of the 2013 shirt are much better. The organizers should keep the lighthouse logo and ditch the giant lobster that looks like it's attacking a boat.
Paul Vinsel from Saratoga Springs, NY (5/18/2014) "Beautiful course!" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Maine Coast Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This course is spectacular. Lots of beaches and ocean views. Some rolling hills the second half that must be considered when pacing first half. The finish area was great! Very nice shoot to run through the last 0.2 miles and finish on campus of UNE. Organization was real good also. Can't beat coast of Maine for after-marathon food either.
M. G. from New York (5/12/2014) "Incredbile small town marathon experience" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Here are my highlight of this perfect Maine Marathon: -The 5 plus miles of Maine Coast Line were incredible. I mean how many marathons run by a President's Summer Compound. -Organization was top notch for such a small marathon. -One of the nicest marathon shirts and medals I have ever gotten. -Great volunteers and police. Even though the streets were open to traffic I always felt like I had the right of way -aid stations were plentiful -picked up an official Maine Coast Marathon Jacket for under $40. -Course Isn't flat but it sure was fast PR'd by 7 minutes. -Nice finish area with shade drinks food and even acess to showers at the University Of New England...Epic I had the race of my life much thanks to Maine Coast Marathon I will always remember you.
A. P. from Alexandria, VA (5/12/2014) "Wonderful, deceptively challenging small marathon" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The pros: 1. A very well organized race. I was kept very well informed leading up to the race. When the course map on MapMyRun changed suddenly, the director created a new route right away for people, and informed everyone of the update. 2. A great small-town feel. Lots of families in their yards cheering people on, the water/aid station volunteers got decked out and had music going. Not very many spectators (almost non-existent the last six miles) but still a great feel. 3. Scenic. Not a big issue for me, but it was pretty. 4. The finish was great. A nice short chute, there were few enough people that they could announce everyone as they approached. A special end that you really only get in a smaller marathon. Loved it. 5. Great selection of food, chocolate milk, and other goodies to help you start the recovery after. To keep in mind: 1. It's hillier than touted - it is rolling like they say, but I'd add the caveat that it's coming close to 'hilly'. Not much in the way of big hills, but the small, quick inclines/declines are deceptive and wear on you, particularly at the end. Train for it, and save your strength. 2. The last 10 miles or so are pretty open to the elements. It was hot and sunny for us, which was tough. 3. As mentioned in the 'pros' section, not a lot of crowd support the last several miles, once you're out of town. The few who were there were fantastic, but there are some long empty stretches. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Tougher than I had thought, but a great experience. I highly recommend it.
R. H. from Boston, MA (5/12/2014) "Good sophmore effort with room for improvement" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Great, beautiful course with a few rolling hills. I can tell whoever is in charge of this race is incredibly organized. In the future it would be helpful if that level of organization was present with all of the volunteers involved. Here's why I say that: 1) Waited in a very long line for a porta-potty. Got to the front 5 minutes before gun time, and we were informed by one of the official volunteers that they would be delaying the start for 5-10 minutes because they hadn't ordered enough toilets and there were still 100+ people in line (which there were) Was still in and out of the bathroom quickly, but then... heard the gun as I stepped out of the john - d'oh. Somebody mixed up their messages. Yes, it was chip-timed, but still, really annoying. 2) Got in the habit of drinking Gatorade and dumping water on my head - around mile 20, the cups were switched - so I got a head full of Gatorade as a result. Mostly my fault! Great race, great course, small but mighty crowd - just iron the kinks out for next year.
B. T. from Maine (5/13/2013) "Small, Scenic, organized - a great race!" (about: 2013) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Maine Coast Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The first Maine coast marathon since the 80s was terrific. It was my first small marathon (i've done NY and Boston) and I was worried that it wouldn't be as organized but they proved me wrong. Water and food stops every 2 miles - they gave away watermelon and orange slices which I liked and also offered M&Ms, oreos, pretzels and more. With a field of just over 300, I wasn't tripping over anyone and even though the roads weren't closed, the cars weren't a problem at all. The volunteers were enthusiastic and the fans were great - because the course was open to cars, my husband actually was able to meet me at 8 separate spots! Though it was foggy and drizzly, it is a stunning course - 4 stretches of ocean front running and just a few rolling hills.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 > ]

Become an Advertiser

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Click Here: Please visit our Sponsor

Become an Advertiser

© 2000-2024, All Rights Reserved by MarathonGuide.com LLC

Privacy Policy Refund Policy Terms of Use