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☰
Richmond Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Richmond Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.5 
Organization 4.7 
Spectators 4.5
Number of comments: 401 [displaying comments 341 to 351]
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M. S. from Midwest
(11/22/2003)
 "Run of Fumes" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Physically, the course itself is good and the terrain is varied with a great mix of hills and flats. However, we ran beside Saturday morning traffic for much of the course. The fumes from the cars waiting for runners was almost intolerable. They only give the runners one lane to run in - DANGEROUS! I have raced other marathons where they block all lanes from traffic. The course definitely needs a major overhaul. For instance, why do they run us through all the major, boring thoroughfares in the city? Why not more scenic neighborhoods? Another major issue are the terrible abortion billboards set up along the course containing graphic pictures. This kind of display devastated any chance of me having fond memories of the race itself. Finally, at the race finish line, all they had was water and many of us weren't ready to walk a block and stand in line for the much needed sports drink. This should be the first thing available to finishers, because many are already starting to cramp at the end of the race. So it is inmportant to get electrolytes into the body ASAP! Richmond needs to iron out these problems if they want to keep this marathon growing. | |
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J. I. from Manassas, VA
(11/20/2003)
 "Good run - but too much city traffic!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Not a bad course. The Riverside Dr. area was very nice. Some beautiful neighborhoods. My only complaint was that there was a lot of running next to traffic and car exhaust was an issue. Although NOT ALL of the advertised 34 bands were set up and ready to play, those that did were pretty cool. It was nice of them to volunteer their time. Good food was close by. Was going to retire after 18 marathons but may run this one again next year. | |
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K. C. from Balt. MD.
(11/20/2003)
 "Post-race food a block away...?" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 I've run this track 5 times now and absolutely love it. This year though the shirts were absolutely pathetic and the post-race food was about a block from the finish line. If cutting back on the quality of the free t-shirt was to coax us in to purchaseing one... it worked. Previous years' shirts were something you could be proud to wear, this one was greatly lacking an exciting graphic to convey the greatness this track offers. The pre-race packets were extremly slim on give-aways as compared to previous years. If you're going to just give us a bag full of paper... save it! That said, I will always drive the 2-plus hours to attend. | |
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K. H. from Ontario, Canada
(11/19/2003)
"Richmond Rocks!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Starts with perhaps the best website of any marathon! Message board was great for getting local info. Great organization, course was interesting with many different neighborhoods. The miles seemed to peel off, however the course was slightly more hilly then advertised. Richmond is a great city to visit, with many places to eat and drink within easy walking distance of the hotels. Great race! | |
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B. E. from McKenzie, TN
(11/18/2003)
 "Very Good Marathon" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was a very good marathon. It was my 28th and was my 10th state (to now apply for the 50 States Marathon Club). The course was great, just gradual hills which seemed to be good for the legs. Weather was perfect - 46 at the start, overcast, about 54 at the finish. Crowd support was good - everyone very supportive, even at closed streets, police/volunteers very helpful and concerned for our safety. I did see a lot of smiles, good logo. Very nice neighborhoods, good fluid stops. I went w/7 girlfriends - we had a great time (6 ran marathon, 2 ran 8k). We stayed at the Crown Plaza downtown, very nice, great price, staff very nice. Confusing 1st mile marker (it was for the 8k, not marathon). I believe the first 2 mile markers were present for both races, with 8k coming first (which made you think you were at the 1st mile before you really were). Maybe they could be clearly marked as '1 MILE 8K' and '1 MILE MARATHON' (maybe they were and I didn't see it). Other than that, I thought is was a great race. I ran the best and fastest marathon I've run since 1997 and qualified for my 8th Boston! This can be a PR course. Must be careful on the downhill at the finish. Expo could have been better - hardly any vendors. Overall - great race. Thanks! | |
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S. C. from Richmond, VA
(11/18/2003)
"Proud to be from Richmond!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my first marathon. Being from Richmond, I had run the course before. It's beautiful and fun. Won't miss another Richmond Marathon! | |
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Jordan Clouse from Charlottesville, VA
(11/18/2003)
"Good course for every runner & well organized" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Richmond is a good marathon for first-timers, as well as veterans. The relatively small field (3,000) made it much less crowded and easier to settle into a good pace. Course was good and the hills were few and not too steep. Although crowds didn't line the entire route, there was great support for most of the race, especially the bands and cheerleaders. Power gel stops at miles 14 & 20 were just right. Once you reach the 20-mile mark, the last 10Km is a gradual downhill - very nice! Only negative was the rather steep downhill finish for the last 1/2 mile. Best to stay at a hotel close to the race. My goal was to run 3:15:00 and I ran 3:10:53, so definitely a course on which to set a goal. If you were undecided about Richmond, just do it, you'll be glad you did! | |
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M. F. from New Jersey
(11/18/2003)
"One of the best marathon values out there" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Richmond was a great marathon all around. They gave you a lot of marathon for little money. Book your hotel early, though, as there aren?t many by the finish line. The course was nice ? mostly flat and definitely fast. The elevation chart on their website was a bit misleading. It looked to me as if miles 20 to the end were downhill. They weren?t. They were flat with a few gradual uphills. Mile 20 also featured a short, steep hill up an overpass. 25 to the end were sharply downhill. Support was excellent. Water tables also had Powerade, and were located every other mile up 'til 20 and then every mile thereafter. They even had 2 stations with wet sponges, 2 with Gu, and 2 with junk food. And like previous posters said, they blocked the abortion protesters? gruesome pictures with placards for their own race. Who else would?ve thought of that except a very thoughtful RD. I was quite pleased with the spectators too. Most parts of the race were through residential areas, and those had decent amounts of spectators. There were also 3 points on the course where the race had spectator parties. There were also 30+ bands, although most of the ?bands? consisted of just one person. Traffic control for the most part was very good. At one point, a guy took a left turn with his minivan 20 feet in front of me, so there were a few points where traffic control was spotty, but at major intersections there were police and/or volunteers to control traffic. Most roads were closed or had one or two lanes cordoned off. The finish area could?ve been better organized. The food was 5-6 blocks beyond the finish line, whereas a big bandstand was right next to it. Runners walking over to the food had a tough time getting by people watching the band. I also heard some complaints about the fact that everyone on a pace team was asked to wear a bib on their back. It got really troublesome in the second half because you might think that you were running the pace marked on their backs when, in fact, you weren?t. For example, I passed some guys with 3:30 on their backs and felt I was near that time, when in fact I was much farther behind. In retrospect, though, the Richmond Marathon delivered on everything that makes a marathon good. I?d recommend it highly, and will definitely give this one another shot. | |
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K. S. from Tucson, AZ
(11/18/2003)
"Not bad, not great" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Thought it was a pretty good marathon; terrain was very flat, so it is a fairly quick race course. However, a couple of things needed to be improved. One key thing that needs to be improved is the number of first aid stations at the aid stations. I ended up with a blister at mile 4 and was searching for Vaseline at every aid station. No one seemed to know if there was going to be Vaseline or if there was going to be a first aid station. There was a first aid station at mile 20, but this was after much aggravation and worry that the blister would be rubbed raw to where I wouldn't be able to finish. Another thing that should change is the number of Cliff Shot stations. 2 isn't sufficient. I was also very disappointed with the bands. I thought there was supposed to be 34 bands. Many of the bands set up for earlier on in the morning had not set up and were not playing to where I think I saw one or two actually playing from mile 1 to mile 6. The crowds were okay, although I had expected them to be larger. In general I had expected much more fanfare with this marathon. Overall, it's an okay marathon. Can't say I'll do it again, but thought it was worth a shot. Can't say my experience has been bad, but I wasn't exactly overly impressed either. | |
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J. C. from Pittsburgh
(11/18/2003)
 "A topnotch marathon on a good day" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The weather was perfect, upper 40s and overcast. The course was mostly flat with a few hills; it could be a PR course. The expo was a bit cramped. All in all I'd recommend this for beginners or experienced running gunning for a PR. I've run 20+ marathons and would run Richmond again. |
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