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May 18, 2024

Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.3

Organization 4.6

Spectators 3.7

Number of comments: 240 [displaying comments 201 to 211]

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Don Kienz from Pa. (3/25/2004) "Cement boardwalk miles pretty...then not much" (about: 2004) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Organization was terrific (but please, a finishing bagel). Va. Beach pleasant enough hotel-strip beach town, wonderful beach, nice range of hotels and restaurants. Saturday choice a great one...Sunday to recover. Modest number of runners a comfortable experience. The course isn't that special, outside of the 5 miles or so on the boardwalk on the beach. That part is fun. The rest is a non-descript residential street, a pleasant but ordinary parkway section, a disappointingly dull army base with no water views (the map implied a much prettier section here)...and then almost an identical run to return to the start. So, not a very interesting course, but a pleasant run if one lives near enough. Spectators sparse, but friendly and supportive. (For ALL marathons: Wish we could get all volunteers at water stops to wear gloves and keep fingers out of the drinking water). Best part: run on a Saturday, giving time to visit great beaches and recover on Sunday.
C. G. from West Linn, Oregon (3/25/2004) "Overall very well run and well organized! " (about: 2004) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Beautiful course along the boardwalk. The drawbacks on the boardwalk were wind (miserable) and running on concrete (especially the last few miles of the race). Water stops were good with friendly volunteers. Really appreciated the GUMMI BEARS! The discussion board was great! Tended to generate enthusiasm among runners and was very helpful when it came to answering 'dumb' questions from an out-of-stater like myself. Overall a good experience and one worth repeating. A good marathon for a first-timer.
C. B. from Boonton Township, NJ (3/25/2004) "Exceeded expectations even with a few glitches" (about: 2004) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Lots of accolades: good organization, excellent co-located start (wide) and finish (I liked the U-shaped finish though others didn't, and it was good for spectators as well as allowing you to step inside immediately to get warm), extremely helpful discussion board, reliable water/Gatorade stops with port-a-johns, flat course with nice mix of scenery (I liked it though some people complained about it being mentally tough, as if other marathons are easy), nice size (<2,000), attractive medals and T-shirts, and great value for a nearby hotel room (it's the off season). I also liked being able to pick up my number/chip on race day morning. That's mandatory for a Saturday race (which I love, by the way). And it's a good race for the family: they can see you three times and still have plenty of time to play. But the organizers desperately need to fix the mile marker problem. I can live with the chance of wind (it's the eastern shore in March!), the crown in the road (I didn't even notice), and the sparse food at the finish (oddly deficient, though I got bananas, oranges, a bagel, and water). But I missed 8 markers, more than in my previous 18 marathons combined. And that doesn't count the 18th which was about 1/4 mile early. The #s were on cute little green shamrocks often placed on chairs that were hard to see, easily hidden behind spectators, or just plain not there. Add to this the spurious on-course clocks which were facing the runners at odd points on the way back (at mile markers on the outbound course, I assume?), and you sometimes had little idea of pace, especially over the last 6 critical miles. I've never experienced this before. Fixing it doesn't take more money (hey, organizers who make a profit are more likely to keep hosting the race) so much as more care. This would be a deal breaker for me in considering a repeat run. On balance, I'd love to make this an annual thing since I have family in VA. But I would need to know the mile marker situation will improve...substantially.
T. S. from Langley, AFB VA (3/25/2004) "Outstanding Hometown Marathon" (about: 2004) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Outstanding marathon. Organization was right on target. I recommend this marathon for first-time runners. Spectators were great but the numbers were very low. Weather was excellent, cool and clear. Yes, a little windy toward the end but it could have been a lot worse. Take a chance, run this marathon!!
Seth Denenberg from Westchester, New York (3/23/2004) "A well oiled machine" (about: 2004) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I have run 35 marathons in 19 different states and as I said about the New Mexico Marathon, I never want to put a race down. I can honestly say that this was a pleasant surprise. It was a very well run event with everything necessary for a marathon event. The course was well thought out, the expo, although small, was sufficient for the size of the event, the organization well run, the volunters wonderful, and the race support adequate for the event. As with every race there are always things that you can criticize no matter the size or nature of the event. However you must look at the race based upon its size, and if it gives you everything which it promised when you signed up. Looking at this event from that prospective it was eveything which was promised. No race can control the weather so you can't blame the wind on the organizers. The course gave you a nice feel for the beach front. The part of the course through the fort was a bit boring, the cement boardwalk was an unpleasant surprise (where I come from a boardwalk is made of wooden boards, hence the name), but the course was well marked, well conceived, and had proper security and enough support. I was very happy with the event and would recommend it to anyone looking to run in Virginia.
D. M. from D.C. (3/23/2004) "Fast course, good scenery, good support" (about: 2004) 1 previous marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I really liked this race and would do it again. I liked the variety of the course: a few miles on the boardwalk, a few miles in a residential section (my least favorite part), a few miles through the woods (my favorite part, smell of pine needles and shaded), a few miles around and back in Ft. Story and then turn around and repeat the whole thing on the way back. I always had a change of course to look forward and this helped me to mentally break up the race. I enjoyed the out and back, as I got to see the top runners and some of my faster and slower friends along the course throughout the morning. I?m not sure why some runners complain about the course being boring; it wasn?t to me, but I?m guessing that these may be runners who prefer the bigger marathons packed with cheering fans from start to finish. Well, Shamrock isn?t that, but it is a respectable size and there were plenty of folks out to cheer, entertainment from the differently themed water stops and deejays blasting out tunes along the way. (Thanks for the ?Chariots of Fire? at the turnaround.) Volunteers and water stops were excellent. I carried my own gels so I can?t comment on those. The weather was good to us this year: sunny and in the 40s. The wind as we headed back south on the boardwalk from miles 22-25 or so was tough, but if marathons were easy, then anyone could do them, right? Some other nice pluses: the start and finish at the Pavilion Convention Center allow runners to wait in a warm place before and after the race and provide last-minute opportunities to pick up that Body Glide or the gels that you may have forgotten at home. The not-so-good: runners have to contend with a couple of miles on a cambered road, but if you can keep to the center of the road, it?s not too bad. It was a good day at Shamrock and my only nit-picks are paltry food offerings for finishers (only bananas and oranges left when I finished in 4:12) and the lack of Mylar blankets.
Dave Trevino from Arlington, VA (3/23/2004) "My 1st Shamrock Marathon" (about: 2004) 6-10 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my 1st running of the Shamrock, and I had a great time. The course was great - flat, but there was a small incline for a couple of miles, but nothing to difficult to run up on. The weather was great. Crowd support was small, but those who can out to support were great. The expo was small, but still nice. It was great staying at a hotel that was in walking distance to the start/finish line. I have only one suggestion: a little more range of munchies for after the race. And, I have one complaint, but nothing to bad: Should either include a 'patch' that represents the marathon race inside the goodie bag, or able to purchase one. This is the 1st marathon race that I have run that a 'patch' was not being offered. Although, not a big issue, a lot runners collect patches of race they have ran in so that they can proudly display on their favorite jacket. Anyway, this may be something to consider for future races. Overall, I had a great time/great weekend, and I will be back for future Shamrock runs. The VA Beach community is one of the friendliest communities that I have been in. Keep up the good work.
J. T. from Toronto, Canada (3/23/2004) "Very good marathon - well done" (about: 2004) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 Perhaps I could speak for the few of us Canadians who participated at the Sportsfest that the organizers should be congratulated for putting together a great sporting event, including the marathon that I ran. The efforts of the volunteers were much appreciated - they did an excellent job. Some of the criticisms I read from others are understandable. As for me, I have no complaints whatsoever. I was so focused in staying with my pace group that I didn't realize any of the banking on the road. Although the stretch through Fort Story was a bit long, running through the wooded area along Shore Drive was very pleasant. After this stretch and mile 20, the experience for me was not so pleasant as my legs started to tighten up and hurt. Maybe the banking of the road surface was a contributing factor and I just didn't notice it, but I blame it mainly on my lack of conditioning. I did see quite a bit of food at the finish, including bagels, bananas and oranges, but they didn't last long afterwards. Personally, I can't eat much right after running a marathon, so I only had a couple of orange slices and a banana. I guess the trick for the orgnaizers next time is to allocate the food better to save some for the runners who finish later. Overall, a good course and great organization. And THANK YOU to all the volunteers!!!!
C. J. from Eden Prairie, Minnesota (3/22/2004) "An enjoyable experience from start to finish." (about: 2004) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I thought the race was very well organized. The course is as flat as a pancake. I loved having the start and finish at the same place. It was awesome to just walk across the parking lot from my hotel to the start. You can tell this is a small race, which is not a problem, but the expo isn't much and the finish area is a little sparse. My only real criticism is the mile markers, especially mile one, I totally missed it, they could be a little more visible. At some races they have someone standing out at mile one calling off split times which is very helpful in trying to settle into your pace. Overall I think the Frosticks put on a marvelous race. My congratulations to them for a successful race.
Andrea Sheys from Bethesda, MD (3/22/2004) "A Great Time!" (about: 2004) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 What a pleasant surprise! This marathon has it all: 1,800+ runners, a well organized expo, miles and miles along the ocean, more miles on a scenic wooded parkway, a flat course, and beer at the finish. What more can you ask for?

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