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☰
Austin Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Austin Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.0 
Organization 4.0 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 421 [displaying comments 91 to 101]
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M. D. from Virginia
(2/22/2009)
 "Very hilly!" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 In the comments section of just about every marathon, you will find someone exaggerating the magnitude of the hills. Well, I found out first hand that the comments about Austin are NOT exaggerated - very hilly! Don't let this discourage you though... the course is doable - just make sure you prepare. Other than that, the race was done very well. Austin is a great city and the spectators at the race were phenomenal! At other marathons I have done, the crowd usually becomes non-existent after the half marathon split. Not here - the fan support was fantastic from start to finish! Medal was very nice, finish line food could have been a bit better, but the chicken noodle soup really hit the spot! And as for the comments about pouring your own water at water stations?!? Not sure sure what race and/or pace that person was running - I had absolutely no issues and found the water stops to be adequately staffed with hard working volunteers. And most of the time they encouraged me by name as they handed me water (your names are printed on your bib). Top-notch volunteers if you ask me.... | |
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m. b. from Albany, CA
(2/22/2009)
"Hills? You Call Those Hills?" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A couple months before the Austin race I started getting warnings from locals about the hills and that I'd better be doing some serious hill training. I took that seriously and stepped up said hill work. Then I drove the course the day before the marathon and wondered where the hills were. True, there are a couple of fairly steep inclines, but they are very short - nothing like the 8-mile climb at the beginning of the New Mexico Marathon or the near-killer from 18-20 on the Loch Ness Marathon course... or the many hills of San Francisco. Austin is a challenging course, to be sure, but I'm not sure it was because of the killer hills. The expo was better than I expected, the crowd support was amazing, and the volunteers and organizers did a great job. And... Austin itself just rocks. A great place to spend the weekend. Would definitely do this one again. | |
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R. M. from New York
(2/21/2009)
"Loved the challenge and the spectators" (about: 2009)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I like the course. I like the challenge of the hills even though those few smaller ones at the end killed me.... I was well prepared for the course and knew what to expect. Volunteers and crowd where great all throughout the course. I didn't have any problems with mixing of half and full marathoners, nor an issue with the tighter road around mile 3. I heard the race director say that they may change this course in the future so that it does not disrupt downtown. I hope they don't make that mistake. The course is great as is, and they should not worry about "disrupting' downtown residents - that is part of why you live in a city, to get access to the city's best events. Great efforts to keep the event environmentally sustainable also, which I applaud. I ran a PR and beat my goal time, despite blowing up in the last 3 miles. | |
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J. A. from Shreveport, LA
(2/20/2009)
"Thank you, organizers and fans!" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 First and foremost, this had the best fan support of any race I have been in, and I have done some big ones. Many of them brought oranges, snacks, Vaseline, tissues, etc., and heaps of personal encouragement! The course profile map does not prepare you for the hills; they were tough. The one at mile 24 made me wonder what kind of sick mind the race director has. Very well organized, beautiful, and fun. My only suggestion is that the halfers start an hour early or do the course in reverse. The narrow streets slowed me down for the first 4 miles, and mile 3 had a stretch that is only 8 runners wide, shoulder-to-shoulder. That is difficult to navigate when you have 14,000 people crammed in there. Great job, Austin! This is one of my favorites! | |
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B. D. from Twin Cities, MN
(2/20/2009)
 "Mixed bag of good and frustrating" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my 1st Austin Marathon and I had heard about the hills. However... talking to the runners I ran with throughout the day, there were some course changes that took this from being a "hilly course" to one that can be safely described as "predominantly hills." Yes, Austin is a hilly city. And I loved the city. I was a 10-minute/mile finisher, and the escalating elevation roller coaster from 24 to 26 was brutal. In talking with fellow runners, the other annoyances (poorly staffed water stops, sporadic port-o-johns, average expo, chaotic start) were all due to a lack of sponsor. Many of those have been noted, so I don't need to echo them. One thing that kind of irked me was the start. The sound system was inadequate, the 7 a.m. start took place around 7:20 (no explanation) and the first 6 miles was a cattle call of runners due to mixed marathon and half-marathon runners and that darn alley around mile 3. I had just gotten nice and loose around mile 2 and ended up having to walk the 15-foot-wide alley with my eyes straight down due to the amount of bodies squeezing through the funnel. My last note of what I was disappointed in was the music. The organizers went to great lengths to laud the bands that would line the course. Maybe a bunch called in sick or that dude at mile 10 sitting on the curb with his kids' banjo counted as a band; I don't know. Also, I understand now why headphones had been banned. I was in a group that caught a wheeler around mile 7. The bicycle escort was riding in front of him yelling, "Wheeler coming on your left." Everyone without headphones on moved a stride to the right to let the wheeler safely pass. It got dicey when we then came across a nice 5-degree downhill. The wheeler picked up speed... the escort yelled louder... fellow runners started yelling too... and all but 2 headphoners moved. The 2 that didn't forced the wheeler to hit his brakes. Not fair. To finish on a good note, Austin is a great city. The start and finish are easy to get to; my family easily navigated the city and met me an unprecedented 7 times during the 26.2. I'll come back to Austin, but won't be running. | |
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J. R. from Dallas, TX
(2/19/2009)
 "Good race - pros & cons" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I've run over 25 marathons and this was my 2nd Austin Marathon. Pros: 1. Good organization overall. Website is good - easy to navigate, with info that's easy to find. Registration online is easy. 2. Expo was above average. Packet pickup was easy. Good number of booths and the building was large enough to handle the crowd. 3. Race start and finish areas were well laid out. 4. Good volunteer turnout and attitudes. 5. Crowd was above average for this size race. Having the race in February is a good idea - the weather was great, cool at the start and got sunnier as the day went along. 6. The course had its pros and cons. Overall the course was a pretty good loop course. You start and end downtown; the race starts around Congress and 1st and ends around Congress and 9th. The course runs through downtown and through various neighborhoods, and it hits the UT campus near the end. I found it interesting. There were enough port-a-potties, in my opinion, and when I got to the start 30 minutes before the race, the one I used was very clean. You can always use more port-a-potties along the course, but this is par for most marathons. The mile markers were every mile and easy to read, and the clock time was listed clearly throughout the course. The aid stations were stocked when I hit them. There were plenty of hills for sure, but if you check the elevation chart when you register, you will pretty well know what to expect. You've just got to plan and gut it out. Cons: 1. Someone where around mile 3, they routed us down this alley like stretch of road that lasted about 100 yards. It was really too tight for so many people. Someone could easily get hurt with a misstep on that stretch. The course should be changed to not have such a tight-running gauntlet. 2. Get rid of the multiple hills during the last 2-3 miles. By mile 24, I think everyone had done plenty of hills and that one at 24 and near the end was really a bit much. I don't mind hills, but whoever put together that last part of course was a sadist. Austin is such a cool city; it was an interesting running crowd and the spectators and volunteers were great. I think this is an above average marathon that I will be doing again. Nice job by everyone involved. | |
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Mr Maryland from MD
(2/19/2009)
"Needs some fine tuning; challenging course" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 I ran the half marathon. The course is pretty challenging - the first 3 miles are a slow gradual climb uphill, followed by a downhill cruise for the next 3 miles. Miles 6-9 had a pretty strong headwind along the water, and were mostly flat. Miles 10-13 were rolling hills that were not easy to tackle late in the race. The finish was great, coming down Congress Ave. in the shadow of the capitol building. The only thing that would be cooler would be having the runners finish running up Congress Ave. towards the capitol, instead of down Congress, away from it. The expo was wayyyy out of control - I had to wait on about a 45-minute line to get my packet and t-shirt. Compared to the other big-city marathons I have run, this one needed some extra manpower, extra space, and a better organized system to get the packets out quickly and efficiently. The spectators were pretty awesome - lots of live music, which is great (even if some of it was really weird... keepin' Austin weird), and while the first part of the course had way more spectators than the second, for the most part you couldn't go more than a minute or two at the most without having someone cheering on the side of the road. Overall, a pretty good race experience - just be prepared for some tough climbs; the course elevation profile doesn't quite do the hills justice. | |
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J. R. from Virginia
(2/19/2009)
"Thoroughly enjoyed myself" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Two thumbs up for the Austin Marathon - one that I would recommend unflinchingly. What made it so good? 1. An interesting course, often through pleasant residential neighborhoods. The course was pleasantly rolling. Since it alternated between slight uphills and slight downhills, it was much easier on the legs than a flat course or one with long uphills or downhills. There was no significant straight uphill climb. If you trained on moderately rolling hills, you shouldn't have any trouble with it. 2. Friendly helpful volunteers, most with an unsolicited smile and an encouraging word. 3. Most striking was the superb crowd support. There were many, many people situated all through the course. The cheers weren't the distant, obligatory, non-focused exhortations. Many of the supporters made eye contact. I lost count of the number of people who yelled personal encouragement - using either the name on my bib, the bib number or the color of my singlet to make that all important contact with me. The fans rival those at Boston. | |
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Tamar Senyak from New York, NY
(2/18/2009)
"Great Crowd Support/Great Marathon" (about: 2009)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I am not a hill runner, but since training for the past few months in hilly Central Park, I felt prepared for the hills of Austin I had been warned of. I would definitely consider this a challenging course, probably 3 minutes slower than your best NY Marathon time, but still a nice reprieve for tired muscles to have the varying elevations. What makes me want to come back, though, is the warm and genuine crowd cheering along the entire way, or at least the majority of the course. The numerous local bands were really great too, and in addition, my friend and I really enjoyed the expo - how can you complain about hearing the incredibly inspiring (and tear-inducing) Dick Beardsley? Not too sure what the previous commenter's gripe was, but this race left me with no complaints. Thanks for a great time! | |
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B. S. from Franklin, TN
(2/18/2009)
"This race is the real deal!" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran the half and must say that I'm glad I chose the Austin event as my one for Texas. I gave the organization 5 stars because from the website to the updates you get close to race day, the information was clear, concise and accurate, and this is key for those of us traveling from out of town. Any of the downtown hotels are convenient to everything and I loved being able to walk to the expo, the race, and all of the entertainment and restaurants without needing to rent a car. The expo was very well done and just the right size for this race, and I liked the fact that you received two shirts (one before the race and one after, denoting "finisher"). While this is a hilly course, with one massive hill at mile 11, it has a lot of downhills as well, which helps you pick up time you may have lost on the big climbs. For me, this race has it all: a vibrant city, great food, friendly people, great medal and two things that make it unique to any other race I've participated in: pre-arranged late hotel checkout time of 2:00 p.m. (wonderful) and a special non-denominational church service specifically for runners on Saturday night. This race will forever be one of my favorites! Great job to the race director and all who helped to make this a wonderful experience! |
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