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Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival Runner Comments
Back to Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 3.1 
Spectators 2.6
Number of comments: 25 [displaying comments 11 to 21]
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E. I. from Central Pennsylvania
(4/1/2014)
 "Beautiful Low Key Boston Tune Up" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 There's a lot to be said for a race where you can register the day before for $50, and show up five minutes before the race starts and have no problems getting your packet or lining up on the start line. This was not a corporatized, mega marathon event like many you see on marathon guide. It's organized by one very friendly race director and a skeleton crew of volunteers. It's a scene that undoubtedly disappointed some who expect to be pampered. Did I get fooled on the Sunday course by the markings from the shortened Saturday race? Yes. Did I end up running a bit less than a half marathon? Yes. Some of that was my fault (I turned around early), and some of that was on the RD (the erroneous turnaround marking from the day before was still on the road). But I got what I wanted, which was a great tune up run before Boston along a scenic and fast course. An unexpected bonus was my wife and sons saw the bald eagles that roost near the finish line. My family also got to see me run through mile 12 from the quaint little restaurant/general store that's a stone's throw from the finish line. There's a lot to like about this race. I thought it was a nice touch the RD gave everyone a $25 discount for a future race as an apology for this year's mishaps. It's definitely an old school race atmosphere that I enjoyed tremendously. | |
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T. A. from United States
(3/18/2014)
 "campy" (about: 2014)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 I loved this marathon and would definitely do it again! I really use reviews to choose marathons, so I felt I should give a review for prospective runners. What I loved: 1. The race course is beautiful along the rivers. 2. The course is so DOWNHILL! Amazing. (There are some uphills though.) 3. There's no time limit and you can early start. Thanks Mark! 4. This year the race start was at the Woodloch resort which was warm, had tables, and a nice bathroom. Considering it was 20 F at the start, that place was like heaven!!! 5. Lackawaxen is a great spot for Eagle watching. I tried it! But I didn't see any. However I saw a lot of beauty so it was worth it! 6. The T-shirt is great with a bald eagle across it. Imagine that! (We got socks too!) 7. It's kind of a cheap, campy do-it-yourself event. Think of it as a budget trail marathon, but on bad asphalt with cars... What wasn't perfect: 1. Elite runners (not me!) should beware that on the Sunday Marathon there was water at mile 6 and not again until mile 17. They just hadn't got around to setting up yet, and for the faster runners that could have been a big problem. I was an early starter and managed to get a water from the photographer. (Thank you to the photographer!!) The Saturday marathon had a lot more people, and I didn't see any problem with the water, except I'm pretty sure they ran out of cups after a while at a couple of the stops. 2. Back-to-Backers should also beware: You only get ONE RACE BIB. You have to wear it again the second day. I'm not sure that was clearly stated anywhere, and a couple of racers didn't wear theirs the second day. I'm sure they got it sorted out. 3. Back-to-Backers: You pay twice but you only get one shirt. Hmmm... I pushed for a second shirt and got it. Yay! One is green and the other heather gray. I'm wearing the green one home on the airplane. 4. Shuttle: This was a nice warm school bus. On Sunday at 20 F I really appreciated that bus. It arrived at 7:00 AM 30 minutes early. Thank you bus drivers!! If you are taking the shuttle be there early and get on the first one. On Sunday the second bus didn't seem to be there, and those people had to wait quite a bit longer for the first bus to return. You can also ride the bus back to the start if you choose, but I didn't do that so I can't comment on it. 5. Watch Traffic! There is no traffic control on this marathon, and the road is very pitted. You have to watch for cars, and make sure you don't twist your ankle in a pit while doing it. Like I said earlier, it's better to think of this as a trail marathon, but on asphalt with cars. As long as you know it going in, it's not really a big problem. 6. The T-shirt is good, but if you order a small don't count on it. I ended up with medium. Sorry no smalls. It's loose on me. 7. Packet pickup was outside a truck NEAR the address listed on the website, not at the address. That was disconcerting! But when I found it, packet pickup was very fast! I picked my own bag up out of the pile. I kind of liked that part! 8. Course markers were gone. Mostly. You had to watch the paint on the road to see where to go. The markings are bright orange so rather easy to see. STUDY THE MAP... because there are various markings for 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, etc. You should be aware of the route so you know which marking is for you! 9. Finish line food was not a meal. I think Mark went to Sam's club right before the race and picked up some snacks. Corn chips, animal crackers, cheese puffs, fruit rollups. If the website says there will be a meal... be suspicious. Luckily I love junk food so it was OK with me. 10. As far as I could see, the award trophies were not something I'd like to have in my house or carry home even. Overall I had a great time, and feel I did something cost effective, beautiful and way different than the regular big city marathon! | |
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A. y. from Pennsylvania
(3/18/2014)
 "Mark seems like a really nice guy, BUT..." (about: 2014)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I hate to give a nice guy a bad review, but when you train for months to run a marathon and the certified course is short; need I say more? I was offered a $25 discount off one of the next races, but why would I run another one of those races? Next race should probably be free. The course was beautiful so it does get 5 stars! | |
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C. S. from Beaver Falls, NY
(3/18/2014)
"Race Director needs lots of help, needs to care." (about: 2014)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 This is a very remote, wooded, river lined, gorgeous area, and could be a spectacular race. However, from the beginning, it was evident it wasn't organized well. Looking for our packets (there were 3 of us) took forever. They were not in any order. One of us literally found their loose bib on a table, then had to find a loose shirt in a crumpled pile. The start had no talk, just bang & we were off. Already by mile 4 you had to wait in line to pour your own drink. One person with me did not choose to bring his own supplies & paid the price of not finishing. Very little Gatorade, and NO gels on course as promised. (There was an entire box of gatorade packets sitting at the finish, unused.) No timing mats at turn around to guarantee honesty. No hot food at finish. No heat blankets (I froze after finish). Parking area was a total mud hole, with many cars getting stuck. My Garmin also showed 1.2 miles short for marathon. Not sure if accurate. | |
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L. T. from NYC
(3/18/2014)
 "SHORT COURS & BROKEN PROMISES BY RD" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 I totally echo the sentiments by the other comments. The good: 1. Beautiful Course 2. Nice shirt 3. On time start (which should be a given, but not from this race's past) The bad: 1. SHORT marathon course by .8 mile. 2 days after the race I finally got the RD to admit this. He claims the mile markers were stolen and he had to re-mark the course at 4am. Really? That is bogus. No apologies, no nothing. Most of us trained for months in the frigid weather for this. Very disrespectful. 2. Hot food at the finish as promised was not there. A few crackers and cheese doodles. Unreal. 3. Gatorade at maybe 3 fluid stations. Another broken promise. 4. According to website, if you registered by March 1, your name would be printed on your bib. Not a big deal, but yet another broken promise. 5. Totally disorganized number pickup in the morning. Bib were all over the place and totally out of order. Instead of running 4 races on one day and then again the next day just to make money, this RD should focus on making one event quality. A beautiful course was wasted. I was running the race of my life and then, bam, the race was over and short with not as much as any apology from him. I have run 20 marathons and have never seen anything like this. | |
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C. B. from US
(3/18/2014)
"Poorly organized" (about: 2014)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Unfortunately, not much has improved since last year. Quite a few promises mentioned on race web site were not delivered. A few aid stations only had empty tables, another few for self serving(which was not a problem for me). There were two or three tables only had a few mini cups with water. Gatorade was not found in most stations. Post race food were cheese doodles, animal crackers, and bananas. Thank goodness I read all reviews here and brought my own water, Gatorade, and post race food. Road condition(shoulders) was bad for that 7-mile loop. Road was very slanted in sections. Since roads were open to traffic, running on shoulder was the only option. Improvement from last year was mile markers. And race started on time. Course was scenery. No spectators was not a problem for me. I'd love to do it again, but not until I see the improvements of a few basics. RD has a lot to improve if he wants this race to grow. By the way, there was $7 for shuttle service that was not included in registration fee. | |
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T. L. from Allentown, PA
(3/17/2014)
 "perplexed" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 this is a very inexpensive, no frills early spring marathon with a great chance to BQ if you can take advantage of the downhill start. it's a very beautiful course running along the rivers most of the time. the race started on time this year, but there was a question by many if the course was really 26.2 miles. many only had 25.xx on their GPS watches. i lost satellite reception, so can't say for sure. there was a definitely a lack of food at the finish, which i wish i had know because i really could have used some protein and other food to help start the recovery without having to find a place in the woods. course rating is 5 for the serenity, but -1 for question mark as to the distance organization is 3 because the director seemed to fly by the seat of his pants and could have easily had more post race food available or communicated the lack of spectators is 5 because they were all very supportive and enthusiastic. that said, this is not a high turn-out race, so there are not a whole lot of spectators, nor did i expect that. those that were there were very supportive to all and enthusiastic. | |
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C. S. from New Jersey
(3/17/2014)
"What a mess!" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 *I ran the HALF marathon on 3/15* This course is fabulous however, it was short by over a MILE. I ran the half marathon. It was a lovely course and a net downhill, but don't be misled, there are significant uphills as well. Mile markers are easy to miss and water stations were nothing to get excited over, though, the young volunteers were great! Packet pick up was a hot mess! I told the woman my number, she went over to the table, looked and then proceeded to help others and totally disregarded me. I had to have someone else help and even then, he had a hard time finding my (and other) bags. The finish was a disaster! Coming up on it, my friend and I couldn't believe it. The course (for the half marathon) was over a mile short! We hadn't even hit 12 miles!!! It was so disappointing because I was really trying to run for time. There were bananas and pre packaged goods at the finish, but there were also open jars of food that people could easily stick their hands into (after running and surely blowing their noses since it was a little chilly) GROSS!!! There was no where to stand while waiting for the shuttle at the finish to stay warm. We waited for an HOUR!!! Thank goodness it wasn't raining! This race has potential if it gets organized. The medal was nice and the shirt was nice as well. The course is totally a great course to PR on if it's the right distance. Those are about the only positive things I can say. I'd be willing to give it another try if the RD acknowledges the mistakes and offers some kind of compensation. I didn't pay & drive almost an hour to run not even 12 miles! | |
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D. M. from Wilmington, DE
(3/16/2014)
"The race director is stealing money" (about: 2014)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Having read the previous year's comments, I can say that while the director is responsive to email, and makes promises to fix things, he doesn't. 1. The course is supposed to be certified, but the finish area in a park was frozen over, which is no excuse since it has been that way for weeks and they could have gotten their own ice melt. So it finished a block away, not on the certified course. 2. So, at least you would expect an accurate course. Instead, the 1/2 marathon was 3/4 of a mile short and the marathon was 9/10 of a mile short. They blamed the problem on their signs, put out the day before, being stolen. But a certified course should have the miles painted on the road and they should have had that for reference to place signs. I ended up walking around in order to accumulate 26.2 miles on my GPS. 3. Despite the promises, the lack of hydration was as bad as the first year. A friend who was walking the half, had only one place to hydrate half-way through. Sometimes a station was out of fluids, sometimes cups. Very little Gatorade on the course. 4. No hot food as promised at the end. No water by the time I finished. 5. No place to change (other than your car), even though it finished at the fire station that was being benefited. 6. For some reason there were four races, marathon, half, 10K and 5K and the next day they were all going on again. It would be better to focus on one day, less races and get it right. I would not run any race directed by this race director ever again. He obviously disrespects runners, just going through the motions to make money. A note on the course: It's pretty. The early downhill miles are tough on the quads I was conservative, race walking down the hills (and also up some). That helped my to run fairly strongly to the turn-around, which is supposed to be about 19 miles. The section along the Lackawaxen River is slightly uphill going out and downhill coming back. When I turned around and started downhill, I could feel it in my quads. I went slower each mile. At 24 miles (by my GPS), knowing that the course was off, I walked to the finish. There was no point in suffering through to the finish of a poorly measured 'marathon'. | |
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M. L. from Lebanon, Pa
(12/19/2013)
"Small town race" (about: 2013)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Two Rivers Marathon Race Festival
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 I am a person who hates to be late and after standing out in 30 degrees for an extra 20 minutes while waiting for another shuttle to arrive, well...I then self imploded after the first half really enjoying the downhill potion. My quads had nothing left so I crawled along. When I needed hydration the most it wasn't there which was extremely disappointing and further contributed to my melt down. I got to the finish at 4:29 so there were quite a few folks behind me who didn't have water either. I'm glad I had snacks and drinks in the car because there wasn't anything at the finish. I am sure the race director learned from this as he asked for feedback and I was very encouraged that the suggestions would be implemented. With that in mind, I would definitely do this race again, for my sake and the race's sake |
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