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May 14, 2024

Town of Celebration Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Town of Celebration Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.5

Organization 4.9

Spectators 3.8

Number of comments: 30 [displaying comments 21 to 29]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 > ]

P. V. from Tampa, FL (2/7/2014) "Good course, but was hungry at the finish!" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I enjoyed the Celebration course, but was greatly disappointed in the lack of food at the finish. The race was touted as having more than bananas, bagels and Gatorade at the finish, but I would have LOVED to have these items there when I finished in 5:24:39! I ran with another runner that was experiencing cramping that would have benefitted from a banana around 16 miles (something that many marathons provide at this point in the race). When I finished, I received my medal and walked by empty food tents to a table with a drink I assumed to be OJ. The drinks were actually Mimosas, BUT I was told I could not have one because I did not have the card that I needed to get post race food. When I did receive my card (that I had to walk past the empty food tents to find), I returned to get an empty bun and a garlic knot. I learned that the bun did have a lobster salad inside for earlier runners. Cold pizza was eventually brought in for the runners. The finishers after me would not have food as the table with pizza and food cards was disassembled before the 7 hours finishers arrived. I know new races have growing pains, but this race was touted as having food for 7 hours and those that finished in 2:40 could see that there would not be food left for the later runners.
K. m. from Columbus, Ohio (1/31/2014) "great course, some bugs to work out" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Great course, well organized. No first aid advertised, found out at mile 22 that every water stop had first aid kit, needed a band aid at mile 7. I missed water stop at mile 15 because a mini van drove thru the water stop. Seemed like locals were frustrated with street closures. Last 2 miles were congested, locals were walking 3 abreast on course, had to go into grass to avoid them, I would run it again, hope they work out some issues
R. K. from Longwood, FL (1/28/2014) "IN the TOP 3 in my 86 marathons run!" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 BOTTOM LINE: Can hardly wait until next year to have this special marathon be my '100'th! I'll be '70' and plan to place in my age group!
Mike Dunn from Georgia USA (1/27/2014) "A great small event." (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I completed the Celebration Marathon on January 26, and was very pleased. It was an inaugural event and I had some apprehension. The race was well managed and coordinated and I have no negatives to report. There were plenty of 'Port-O-Johns' and water. The volunteers were great and lively. Fan support was sparse but strong at the finish, with plenty of food and massages. It was a two lap course and the half-marathoners ran for the first 12.5 miles with the marathon runners. The course is flat and runs through town, upscale neighborhoods, parks, and wetlands. The Town of Celebration is charming with a great hotel near the start and finished and good restaurants. This is a more economical alternative to the Disney Marathon and it is highly recommended. I stayed about 20 minutes away on the interstate. I regret not staying in the town.
C. B. from Orlando, Florida (1/27/2014) "Fantastic Inaugural Race" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was the first Marathon in Celebration Florida. I absolutely loved it. The only negative experience I had was finding a porta-potty after the full marathoners split off from the halfers. It seemed to be 4-5 miles away from the previous one. Other's complained about the lack of food at the end of the race. It was advertised that even the last runners would have food. But all the food was donated by local restaurants and eventually they stopped serving. The positives.... Beautiful town to run in. The two loops did not get boring since it was so pretty. You also run through the woods along boardwalks. They were fantastic and made me even run faster. If I could have signed up for next years after the race I would have!
T. P. from FL, USA (1/27/2014) "Fast, flat small town marathon!" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 My husband and I ran this particular marathon because it fell on our anniversary. I'm not a big fan of running through neighborhoods but this course pleasantly surprised me! Race was very organized, especially for an inaugural race. No apparent glitches. Expo was small but very nice and had good choices for 'shopping'. Water stops along the course seemed to be almost every mile which was great. There were a lot of turns but none were very sharp so it was always nice to do a turn and wonder what you'd see next. There was some running on wood boardwalks which was great and while there you ran through beautiful conservation. While there were not a ton of spectators, the town residents were friendly and enthusiastic! I hadn't trained well for this race due to injury and illness but still did much better than I expected. Weather was great, high 50s to low 60s most of the time which also helped. Loved the post-race food/drink set up. You received a card and took it to the food tents, got a plate, they punched your card and you went to the next one. Tents were from the local restaurants downtown so there were some excellent food choices, from Thai to Italian to Mimosas to Starbucks. Just an overall great race!
P. C. from Ohio (1/27/2014) "Organized and Interesting" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Well done for an inaugural event. Residents of the town were very nice and helpful. Course had a variety of surfaces and views. Pace team outstanding. Only addition would be to put ramps on the areas where going over curbs is needed.
D. I. from Gainesville, FL (1/27/2014) "Fabulous inaugural event!" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Celebration should be proud of the inaugural marathon! Very well done! The course had many turns, but it was well marked and well staffed. I never felt confused or lost. The police were great with traffic control. Volunteers were helpful and encouraging. Aid stations were well stocked...and porta potties were well stationed! Great medal! I am slow, but I had support for the entire event! I will be back next year! Thanks to all...and congrats!
Ruth Morley from Cincinnati, OH (1/26/2014) "Excellent job on their inaugural run" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Town of Celebration Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Celebration did a fine job with their first marathon. For me, it was just about the perfect size, around 2000 people, I believe. The expo was small, but if one needed a basic item, they could find it there. The t-shirt is something that I won't be embarrassed wearing to the gym or on a run. The course was a 13.1 mile loop that half marathoners did once, full marathoners twice. It took us past many of the beautiful homes and some lakes in Celebration, as well as several scenic sections on good quality boardwalks through wetlands. I gave the course 4 stars instead of 5 because of the countless turns involved. In fact, we were warned in the racers' information that our Garmins would show more than 26.2 if we didn't cut each corner close to the curb and follow the tangents. I was unable to do so on the first half due to the number of people sharing the course, and I actually added half a mile to the first half. On the second half, I was alone most of the time (I'm a racewalker with a 6 hour finish time), so I was able to follow the correct line, adding no extra distance. I never trust a marathon to have enough water at their stations, but no problem at all here. There weren't a lot of spectators, but the ones that were there, as well as the enthusiastic folks at the water stations, made up for it. I don't need cheering, except at the end, which the volunteers did in a fine manner. In fact, the volunteers were plentiful and enthusiastic, as a whole. If you want a good marathon during the winter months while the folks 'back home' are shoveling snow, but you don't care about PRing, this is the one for you. The course isn't particularly fast, but it's varied and lovely, taking you through a town where Ward Cleaver or Truman (Jim Carey)could walk out a front door at any time. Nice job, Celebration!

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