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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 361 to 371]
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J. P. from The Home of the Indy 500 Mini Marathon
(2/20/2003)
 "WINDY But I still got my PR!!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 What a windy day for running!! Gale force winds. Didn't mind the cold at all. I'm from the midwest so it was a super day to run on from a temperature standpoint. The water stops and volunteers do a terrific job at this event. Special thanks to Stacy at the head office for working out some questions I had and that Austin radio station 'Jumpin 106' that provided super tunes the entire day. The course could use a little help. There's a large uphill before the half marathon point. An awful lot of steep short downhills to burn your quads up and the steep uphill at around the 22 thru 24 mile mark was a real race slower given a full headwind. There's also an out and back portion that makes for a boring time. Spectators are thin but enthusiastic. I've run NY so the crowd thing doesn't do much for me. This race is better than NY anyway. Keep up the good work Austin. I had a terrific time. Thanks! | |
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m. g. from Alexandria, VA
(2/20/2003)
"First half very fast, second half a challenge" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 It was like being pushed for ten miles, running slightly downhill with the wind. The later part of the race proved more challenging, especially the last six miles running into strong winds and up and down gentle hills. Small, energetic groups of spectators, not surprising considering the unusual weather this year. I travelled from the east coast, and it was worth it. This was my third marathon and a PR, qualifying me for Boston in 2004. | |
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D. W. from Washington State
(2/20/2003)
 "Unremarkable Organization and Event" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my 20th (different) marathon - one that has been touted by Runners World, Marathon and Beyond, and The Ultimate Guide to Marathons. In its early years it probably was a great marathon. However, so many important event details were overlooked in 2003, that I question its future longevity. For example, I never received my race information booklet, even though I had registered 2 months before the race. The website omitted important details (such as where the shuttles loaded) and contained factual errors that should have been corrected - such as stating that race numbers were being mailed out - which was not true. Even at the expo there was uncertainty about the shuttle bus location. I finally got my information from a city police officer. The expo was arranged in a wacky way without much sense of traffic flow. There were no race posters, nor souvenir pins - unusual for a race with this one's reputation The course was fast, but unremarkable, and included one of those long out-and-backs. For some reason, the sports drink at the water stops was handed out in bottles. My estimate is probably 75% of the bottles were thrown aside unopened or nearly full. This created more water stop litter than I've seen in six years of marathons, including Chicago and Los Angeles. Only the course volunteers and city and county traffic control police deserve 5 -stars for this event. They were an enthusiastic bunch at every stop, and handled traffic control with aplomb. | |
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K. P. from Victoria, TX
(2/19/2003)
"Excellent Race!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Well organized race. Plenty of Powerade and water at every mile, so the water stops were not overly congested. It was my first race with a set goal, and the pace team helped me to exceed my goal! They took all the mental work out of it, and allowed me to focus on the physical work. To me, it seemed like a no frills run. Granted, my other marathons have all been in Hawaii, and that is hard to live up to! The medals were nice along with the shirts and jackets, but not much in the finishing party. If you are looking for a great run, this is it. If you are looking for a great party, you may be a little disappointed. Hey, it's the run that counts, the party can happen anytime! | |
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T. H. from Houston, Texas
(2/18/2003)
 "Disapointing" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I did Austin for the first time. I spoke to people who actually run it and the race received a lot of praise ahead of time. Unfortunately I have to say, it did not live up to my expectations. The organisational side was very disappointing. Shuttle buses that were supposed to pick up runners every 15 to 20 minutes from downtown locations did not show up or were already full. Still waiting at 6:15 am, I decided to drive up to the starting line. I arrived there with the race already in progress. Maybe this is one reason why the race has such a long cut off time (8 hrs) ? runners don?t make it in time to the start. Later I found out that the first shuttle bus showed up at 6:45 am at my hotel. The course itself was not too bad, however the strong and cold wind made some passages very uncomfortable. With the wind blowing head on towards the end of the race the last 3 miles were very tough and little hills became mountains. It was also quite tough psychologically, to run past the finish line on the opposite side of the Town Lake knowing that 8 miles or so were still left ahead. Coming back to the organisational troubles my support team found it impossible to reunite with me after the race due to very uncooperative and less than helpful race support staff. Even though I still had not reappeared after 1 ½ hours (an obvious concern here) entry in the finishers building was refused and no alternate entries to the family reunion areas were pointed out. Maybe I was just unlucky on this occasion but I don?t think I will recommend this race to fellow runners. A lot of people told me that Houston is a boring race in comparison to Austin. I have to say Houston was much better organised and the local community appeared to be much more involved in the race than I experienced in Austin. | |
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Alison Salerno from Vancouver, WA
(2/18/2003)
"Excellent marathon!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 While the wind and cold took me by surprise, this year's Austin marathon was excellent nonetheless. The course is excellent, with no surprises. For the most part it is downhill, a couple of slight inclines but nothing to speak of. The crowds were good, considering the cold weather and wind for this year's event. My only suggestions would be to improve the mile markers. As someone else commented, they are so low to the ground that they are hard to pick out. Also, the powerade at the reststops were in bottles instead of poured into cups. I thought that this was not only inconvenient for the runners, but also incredibly wasteful. People would take two sips and then throw the rest of the small bottle out. I also think that there should have been a cold weather plan for the post-race. Noone expected the cold and wind, but there should have been a contingency plan anyway. The family meet-and-greet area was non-existent because the lettered signs kept falling down. So I wandered around looking for my family for about twenty minutes, during which time I just got more and more chilled. These comments notwithstanding, however, I thought the marathon was excellent and would recommend it to anyone, especially first-timers. | |
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M. B. from Nashville, TN
(2/18/2003)
"Very Good Marathon; Need a Poster!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Congrats to the organizers and the spectators who braved the elements. Honestly, it had to be more difficult to stand out there than be running. Very fast course. I was disappointed no official marathon poster for sale (I heard there were some at the info desk, but none when I required). If anyone got extras, please e-mail me. Thanks. | |
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N. N. from Miami, Florida
(2/17/2003)
"Nice Course...but the downhills take a toll" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I thought that the race was well organized for the most part and the course was quite nice. The first half of the course is slightly downhill most of the way with a few significant drops. There is also a fairly large incline right before the 1/2 marathon point. The second half is somewhat flat but does have a few inclines scattered along the way as well as one or two significant declines. Be careful, the declines take a toll on your legs and make the inclines at the end of the race that much more difficult. To make things worse, this year there was an EXTREMELY strong headwind towards the end of the race which made some of the small to moderate inclines during the last 2-3 miles feel like mountains. Crowd support, while not large in numbers, was loud and very supportive. My only complaints about the race are that the mile markers were hard to find (they were only a couple feet tall...they may want to consider taller mile markers or tying baloons to the markers so you can locate them from a distance) and the start was very congested. While I expect a crowded and slow start at a larger marathon such as Chicago or New York, an event with less than 10,000 people between the marathon, marathon relay and half marathon should not be so congested at the start. The good thing was that the congestion eased after about one mile. The expo was not great but the packet pickup was fine. Chip removal and other post race activities (medical, food, etc.) were located inside which was nice considering the temp in the high 30's with winds around 15 mph. Although my quads are still very sore from all of the downhills, I achieved a PR and I would definitely run this race again in the future. | |
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Steve Hailer from Stow, OH
(2/17/2003)
"Annual personal event for me!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Quality experience from top to bottom with the race. The continuity of the race director and key personnel is a big plus. Good people involved in volunteering with great enthusiasm for all the runners with all abilities. Great first time marathon and marathon for slower runners who are definitely welcomed. | |
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j. b. from dallas
(2/17/2003)
 "Great Course to set a PR!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Race was well organinzed and crowd support was awesome and plentiful. Course was great to set a PR. I was able to shave off 31 minutes from previous courses. Upper 30 degrees and ending around 50. |
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