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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 361 to 371]
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R. S. from Charlotte, NC
(3/22/2003)
 "Good Marathon not best" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my 9th marathon and the 1st one in many years due to an injury. I train in a semi hilly area. I thought the course had more hills than Richmond?s web page indicated. For the most part the course is not that scenic. Parts are run on large heavily traveled roads. If the marathon were run early on Sunday morning it would help with this problem. I do not see this as a good 1st marathon. I would suggest the Marine Corps Marathon for that if you can get in the lottery. The weather was not the best for the 2002 run. The temperature was higher than the normal average with wind gusts of 25 mph. The after race finish was in the bottom deck of a parking garage and very crowded. The crowd was good and friendly, but not like you will see in the larger marathons. I would rate this as a good regional ? local marathon. | |
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B. J. from Richmond, VA
(1/2/2003)
 "As billed: 'America's Friendliest Marathon!'" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Relatively flat/fast. Well-managed start and solid organization throughout. Frequent aid stations with Ultima and enough water to mix whatever you might prefer. Event volunteers were extremely empathetic! Also, supportive crowds lined most of the course. Prettiest stretch begins as you cross the Huguenot Bridge going south and run along the James River near the Pony Pasture. Crowd noise increases dramatically as you burst onto Cary Street for a half-mile, downhill sprint to the finish. Recovery area has everything you could possibly want! Proud to have this event in my hometown! | |
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A Runner from Sterling, VA
(12/9/2002)
 "Excellent First Time Marathon" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my 1st Marathon. It was a great experience overall. Terrific fall weather. Scenic in terms of foliage, rivers, and quaint neigborhoods. Essentially flat, except for slow rise to cross bridge at mile 16. Very well organized. Good crowd support for a mid-size marathon, but it did thin out in many places. Only complaints were (1) pro-life demonstrators was totally inappropriate (showed aborted fetus pictures); (2) Ultima is tough to drink. Ok at first, but gets worse the more you drink;(3) T-shirt is thin and did not take well to washings. Would recommend this race to anyone and I will run again in future. | |
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A Runner from northern va
(12/8/2002)
"Great Course--Lose the Ultima" (General Comments)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my 3rd marathon and despite my personal racing strategy mistakes (feeling great at the beginning and going out WAY too fast...) it was very enjoyable. My one complaint is the use of the Ultima replenisher. I much prefer something with some sugar in it, like Gatorade. Next time I run a race with Ultima as its drink, I will carry my own gatorade. During this race, I stopped at 7-11 in around mile 17 to pick up some gatorade, and it made the race much better. However, the course, with its river views, neighborhood trots and beautiful and colorful fall trees was great. I would recommend this marathon to others. Also of note, the pro-life protesters at 2 locations during the race were definately NOT appreciated. Interestingly enough, the second time they displayed their lies (around mile 20) the runners treated them to a lot more heckling. | |
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A Runner from Fairfax, VA
(11/28/2002)
"Scenic, friendly big marathon alternative" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 After having tried Virginia's other well-known marathons (Virginia Beach & MCM), I found the Richmond race to have its own unique qualities. Runners are greeted with fans along most of the way and a fairly scenic course aside from some gritty, bare city areas. Being sub-3:30, I didn't suffer the congestion of the slightly slower packs or the late race lack of Cliff shots. Every aid station had a variety of choices especially late in the race when it was so crucial and the organization was great from start to finish: packet pickup, aid during the race, and food afterwards. Aside from the abortion protestors and the wind on the overpasses, it was a race I'd be glad to run any day. | |
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A Runner from Oak Hill, Va.
(11/14/2002)
"Good race course, good support" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran the 2002 Richmond marathon and had a very good experience. The race course is scenic and fast, I had a PB. While the crowds are not as large as other races, they are very supportive. The race organization sponsors 'block parties' to maximize the impact of the fans that do come out. With 20 bands and multiple cheerleader squads along the course the support you get is above average. Holding the race in mid-November is risky weather wise, but this year it was a beautiful day, in fact, was actually too hot by the finish. Organization was good, very good communication and instructions for runners. The one minor flaw was there was not enough GU available for the runners from the middle-of-the-pack on back. Improve on this 1 item and there isn't much to complain about. It was the first time I ran Richmond but enjoyed the experience more than some of the larger races. | |
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A Runner from Frederick, Maryland
(11/13/2002)
"well-organized race on an interesting course" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Overall, I enjoyed the race and my comments regarding the course and spectators are similar to those made by others. I don't know if the field was larger due to this being the 25th anniversary of the race, but at my pace (around 4:30) the crowd never really thinned out. I think that this was largely due to the fact that on many portions of the course only one lane of the road was closed (traffic cones were used as barriers). This combined with parked cars made for a pretty crowded running experience - especially when encountering groups of two or more Galloway run-walk style marathoners. I don't think that this reflects on the race organizers, but do think that it's worthy of mention that there were pro-life demonstrators at two different points on the course. They displayed extremely large color photos of aborted fetuses. I've only run seven marathons but had never seen a race used as a vehicle for demonstration like this before. The pictures were so graphic and horrible that they gave me nightmares and did kind of put a damper on what was otherwise a good experience. | |
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A Runner from Virginia
(11/13/2002)
"Great race!! Highly recommended!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my fourth marathon and my first Richmond marathon and I can't wait to come back again in the future!! The course was excellent - very flat and fast - and the race had a great crowd despite having a smaller field. I would strongly recommend this race to both experienced runners looking for a PR and to first timers looking for a great marathon experience. | |
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A Runner from Seattle
(11/12/2002)
"friendliest marathon indeed!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 They bill themselves as the 'Friendliest marathon'. I don't know, but they were friendly and well organized. Crowd support is top notch. Beautiful scenery. Beware that this course is subtly tough, no big hills, but probably 15-16 miles is a barely noticeable uphill which gets you after awhile. Also, this year, we dealt with 10-15 mph wind. Not good for dehydration. The post-race food is AWESOME. Do this race! You won't be disappointed. | |
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A Runner from Knoxville, TN
(11/12/2002)
"If you want amenities, this is it!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I can't say enough good things about this marathon. Overall, it was simply 'the best.' From the man handing out stickers at registration that read 'America's Friendliest Marathon' to the abundance of pizza at the finish line, this was a race filled with attention to detail. Bus tours of the course; postcard registration confirmations; excellent police control of traffic; plenty of port-a-potties along the course; volunteers handing out vaseline; misting tents, wet wash cloths and junk food on the course; finishing medals to all at the finish line; and the list goes on. I wanted to have fun and I did. The course is flat, although uninteresting at the end. The people are friendly. The fans are having so much fun that runners can't help but have fun too. There is definitely a good reason this race went from 2,500 runners last year to 3,500 this year. I bet it reaches 5,000 soon! |
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