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Erie Marathon at Presque Isle Runner Comments
Back to Erie Marathon at Presque Isle Information & Reviews
Course 4.6 
Organization 4.7 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 255 [displaying comments 221 to 231]
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M. T. from Indianapolis
(9/13/2004)
 "Fantastic Experience!" (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 What a great event! The most beautiful course I've run, beating Humboldt Redwoods, Traverse City, and a bunch of big cities. Flat and shady run on quiet road around (most of) a state park. Excellent coning to control light vehicular traffic. Lots of GREAT volunteers, great organization, lots of water and sport drink stops and toilets. Great long-sleeved micro-fiber t-shirts and quality finisher's medals. Great awards ceremony afterwards with too much free pizza, Subway sandwiches, etc., nice awards, pop, water, bananas, and lots of door prizes. This is 31st year of a marathon organized by marathon runners (Erie Runners Club), AND IT SHOWS (for the opposite, try Okoboji, IA)!! Hotels (not just host hotel) gave marathon discount rate and late (2:00 p.m.) checkout. Only things this event lacks is a big expo and lots of spectators. If you need those, go spend 4 or 5 times as much money and deal with 30,000 other entrants, slosh through Gu-coated water stops. This is a very nice alternative! P.S. Serafini's is not site of organized pasta feed, but it's a great family-owned (est'd 1938), quality, casual, reasonably priced Italian restaurant that makes its own pasta. Loved it! | |
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P. V. from Central New York
(9/13/2004)
"If you like small marathons, you can't beat Erie" (about: 2004)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Erie Marathon at Presque Isle
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Ran 2004 - can't think of much to complain about. The state park you run in is beautiful. It was warm, but the organizers had a ton of volunteers and it seemed like there was a water stop around every corner. There wasn't a big crowd, and, depending on your time, you do run nearly alone in some parts, but if you're prepared for it, that can be part of the charm of the race. There's no big pre-race expo, but the race shirts and medals were very nice, and being able to wade into the lake right after finishing was very refreshing. All in all, a very enjoyable, relaxing event. Would highly recommend Erie. | |
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Cindy Ryba from Akron,Ohio
(9/12/2004)
"Great weather, great people, great race!" (about: 2004)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Erie Marathon at Presque Isle
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I've just come home from the 2004 Erie Marathon and loved it! Watching the sun rise over the lake while running the first few miles was wonderful. The trees shaded things nicely later on as temperatures rose into the 70's. The volunteers were upbeat and water stops plentiful. Will definitely sign up for years to come. Thank you for a well organized race. | |
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D. T. from Ohio
(7/3/2004)
"a great, small, local race" (about: 2003)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Erie Marathon at Presque Isle
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The course is as flat as a course can possibly be. The course is mostly under medium to heavy shade and there are water and Ultima stations every mile along this double-loop course around Presque Isle State Park. The left lane of the 13 mile, two lane road that loops around the park is completely closed to auto traffic. The right lane is open to traffic but has very light volume of cars traveling on the road. The summer season is over and the race starts at 7:00 am so the traffic is therefore light. Most of the cars where near the entrance to the park. There was no traffic whatsoever at the far end. It had an amazingly isolated feel at the section from about mile 7 - 10. It is a peaceful course to run on and if you are not running with a friend or family member, there is the chance you won't see a runner ahead of you or, if you turn your head around, a runner behind you. Some people like it like that and others do not. I like the big crowds sometimes but also I like this experience too. The flat course enabled me to set a PR so I may be biased. I have already signed up for the 2004 Eire Marathon because of the good experience I had in 2003. It was cool in 2003 but if the temperatures are high for this September race, the one mile distance between aid stations and the shade of the trees will help lessen the effects of the heat. | |
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J. L. from Cleveland, OH
(3/2/2004)
"A Good Marathon With Only A Few Small Problems" (about: 2003)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Erie Marathon at Presque Isle
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This is a very good small marathon. To everyone who whined: you are not coming to a big city marathon, so do not expect one. This is what you get for $35 dollars & having a small local running club putting the race on. If you wanted a big marathon you should have gone to one. So stop complaining! Of course there was no expo ? this is just a local running club putting on a small-town marathon, nothing fancy or flashy; just some nice people having a good time. A very nice flat course with only one very, very, very slight incline. To everyone who complained about the course being flat: it was promoted as being flat what did you expect?! There were 2 start times: one for slower runners and walkers, and one for everyone else an hour later. If you did not want to start in the dark, you did not have to. Yes the water stations weren't very close together, but yet again this is a small marathon with volunteers working it. The finish line people stayed to the very end waiting until the last person finished. It is a friendly little nice marathon with friendly nice people working it. The certificate that was mailed was great, & the medal was a bit cheap considering the half marathon in July in the same place received much nicer medals. But I'm sure this was due to the fact of the greater amount of people showing up this year. The shirt was very nice with a mock turtleneck and very sturdy. I have worn it several times and it has not faded or frayed. The Clarion Hotel is very nice with fridges & microwaves in each room for a very reasonable price. The awards were at a pavilion down the road & were very nicely done; there was a carved wood plaque, much nicer than most marathon awards these days. The reason chips are used is not for accurate timing so much as getting the results faster & keeping track of people. Anyone who is looking for a nice small flat friendly marathon should try this one. Anyone who wants a big flashy, crowd-packed marathon with a lot of hills should stay away ? we don't need your bad attitude anyways. We definitely plan to do this one again! Altogether, a great little marathon. | |
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mervyn chin from Canada
(11/5/2003)
 "Great race - A must for all runners" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I have just received my nice certificate to put the final touch on a wonderful marathon. I have done countless marathons in many, many cities and I found Erie to be one of the very best values. If a runner is reading these comments, I would advise you to decide what you want in a marathon. If you want a very friendly director, flat, scenic course, gels, good food and lots of food at the end, nice long-sleeve shirt, reasonable fees, and draw prizes, then this race is for you. There are some minor things that could be improved, but these should not detract from the quality of the race. The directors try hard and should get more support from runners rather than a few unfair comments. There are few spectators and a non-existent expo, but the director can do very little about these because the race is small. I have already suggested a few minor improvements and the director is receptive. What more can anyone ask for??? Runners should ignore any negative comments from the whiners since there is no substance in their complaints. Imagine one runner complaining that the course was too flat and another complaining about not knowing where the start was and not having salt food on the course!!! Marathons in general are better without such runners. To the organizers of the race: keep doing what you have done successfully. | |
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B. J. from Pittsburgh, PA
(10/11/2003)
 "I'll (not) be back!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 This was a great marathon except for the following: -The course was horrible. Flat as a pancake, without even one degree change in elevation. All you see during the race is trees and flat open road. -The spectator is non-existent. -The bordom is overpowering. -there are stretches of the race without any spectators or runners in sight. Other than that, it was great. | |
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K. V. from Western PA
(10/2/2003)
"Low-Stress 1st Marathon" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I don't like crowds, or having to stand in line for anything. This run was perfect for someone like me!! Nice and flat, water & Gatorade each mile, low-key atmosphere. It was a great 1st marathon!! Thanks ERC! | |
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J. P. from the midwest
(9/26/2003)
"Race needs lotsa help" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Sorry to all you guys and gals that ran PR's at this race because it was so flat and fast. Well, it was flat, but because it was so flat, I got my worst time. I ran faster in a hilly Maryland marathon during a snowstorm where 3 inches of slush, ice and snow fell than I did in Erie. One of the comments on this board about the packet pick-up being like a stop at the DMV to pick up license plates fits this one completely. It was a warm and humid day on a dull flat course. Timing chips got handed out the morning of the race in the dark, didn't get a door prize because I couldn't find the post-race area or the food pre- or post-race. Glad my running friends picked up a couple of leftover bagels for me. There was no timing mat at the start so the posted times are really off - so I'm not sure why they had chips anyway. I'll never do a double-loop course again because when you run, you get to see the mile markers for the trip around again, which is really kinda demoralizing. Thanks to the volunteer on her bicycle who rode up and down again and again along the course telling me for the last six miles how far I had left to go. I know honey, I've seen double mile markers for four hours, so I think I've got a good idea of where I stand in the grand scheme of things. Finally, thanks to the rest of the volunteers who ran very good water stations and handed out sponges and encouragement, except for the three or four abandoned stations towards the finish. A couple of them actually had a couple of cups left over too. Wow. If you need a low budget-marathon like this one, stay home in your state park, run 26.2 miles and go buy yourself a nice medal, trophy or pizza and beer when you're done, and you can save about fifty bucks. Oh, and the host hotel sucked. I got charged the same rate as my friends who had a room twice my size, a microwave, a refrigerator, a coffee maker and they didn't have people sitting outside like Mayberry playing a guitar at 11 pm while I was trying to sleep for this thrilling marathon. For all the moaning that goes on about big city marathons, I've done them too (NY, Twin Cities, Motorola) and I'll take them over this sham of a deal anyday. So all you tree-huggers get your friends together to take my spot next year. Sorry, that's right, I've done PA now, so I don't need this state anymore. Thank goodness. | |
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David Godzwa from Springfield, MO
(9/18/2003)
 "Great course for a PR, if you can take the heat!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Being orginally from Erie, PA, I decided to go back to the old hometown and run in the marathon. I didn't leave disappointed. I beat my old PR by 7 minutes due to the flat course and calm morning conditions, but the heat and humidity made me pay for it. Pros: Water stations at every mile Flat, fast course Scenic views Small-town feel Wet sponges on the course Nip guards at packet pickup Cons: Sparse crowds No expo to speak of Finish line direction - the food was about 25 yards away from the finish line, with no one to direct you to it. Water stop organization - sometimes the water was in the front, other times in the back. You needed to ask. Heat! 70 degrees at the start is just too hot! |
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