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May 1, 2024

Duke City Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 3.5

Organization 3.3

Spectators 2.6

Number of comments: 66 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 > ]

D. H. from Albuquerque, NM (10/28/2014) "Boring with poor support" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Duke City Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 First, let me clarify that the support does not extend to the volunteers, who were GREAT! I am a recent transplant to Albuquerque (ABQ) from St Louis, and the difference in the running cultures is depressingly palpable. Cons: 1) The course. Planning for this race must've been easy: find the quickest route to the bike path, then let them slog on that boring stretch of asphalt for 22 miles. The bike path wasn't even closed for the event, so we had to contend with cyclists & other recreational runners on this two-lane throughway. There are many neat things to see in ABQ, and this race, maybe, lets you see parts of a couple of them. 2) Support. This was not as advertised. The aid stations were not every mile after 20 as advertised, and I never saw gels being handed out. Never saw a porta johns, although these may have been at the trailheads we passed along the way. 3) No energy. Because the nature of the bike path is to have few ingresses, there were precious few spectators. This race felt like a long training run. 4) Packet pick up was smooth, but there was no expo. I don't have anything positive to report on this race, and you can check my other reviews as proof I try to find something positive. Fact is, DCM is a sad little affair that heralds itself as ABQ's premier running event, and then doesn't deliver what I've experienced in rural IL, TN, and IA.
M. S. from Albuquerque, NM (10/21/2014) "Water promised but not delivered" (about: 2014) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Duke City Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 My biggest complaint with this race is that the website stated water would be at every mile starting at Mile 2. However, there were instances where there was not an aid station for two straight miles. For example, no water at miles 3 or 4, and no water at 18 and 19. This is inexcusable. I had a specific hydration plan that I could not carry out and as a result, I developed cramps at Mile 16. I did 6 runs of 16+ in training (in hotter weather) and never cramped. This screw up cost me a chance to qualify for Boston.
S. B. from Midwest (10/19/2014) "People should pass on this marathon" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Duke City Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Well, let's start with no gels or food on the course. Seriously, it is sponsored by a sporting goods store, Big 5, and no gels or other endurance fuel products. From what I heard they ran out gatorade because they mixed it too strong, then ran out and slower runners got none, only water. Course was mostly boring, wish they ran it through more of the city. There were virtually no spectators. I heard from a runner the medic station had no Gatorade, water, they didn't even have glucose. Only four port a potties on the course, two at two different stations for 13.1 miles.
b. s. from phoenix (10/20/2013) "What a Blast!" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Duke City Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great course, very well organized. Two suggestions...somehow make it more spectator friendly...it's very hard for people who are not from the area to navigate their way around and view the race from different spots. Also, provide something besides just water and gatorade...even if it is just bananas or pretzels...they definitely need something!
J. L. from Indianapolis, Indiana (11/3/2012) "Run only if you need for 50-state club" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Duke City Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This marathon was good only if you need it to qualify for your 50-state club requirement. The expo was minimum at best...what do you expect for a small race. The course is an out and back, mostly on a trail. The weather was good but very little scenery...although we did see some hot air balloons. The course is mostly flat and the aid stations were very nice. The food at the end was again mimimal. Evidently the money raised is not given back to the runners with a good array of food. I would not run this race again but I did like the town. My wife ran the half marathon and did not receive a medal for finishing...they didn't give out medals for that race!
J. A. from Nogales, Mexico (10/27/2011) "Boring course, nice people" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Duke City Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 The course is on a long asphalt bike trail, which is pretty, and out of traffic, but boring as can be. Some of the mile-markers were way off so it threw me for a loop. Plenty of good water stops but no fruit, no food, no gels, no candy...nothing except water and AllSport drink. There were only pace teams in half-hour incrememts, so those of us who were aiming for 3:45 were isolated, and the lone 4:00 pacer passed me with a mile to go since nobody was following her. There were nearly zero spectators on the course, and I ran the second half pretty much alone. The expo was quite enemic, and the finisher's medal was rather lame. The organizers and runners were very nice and friendly, but this race needs a lot of work.
E. L. from Honolulu, HI (10/26/2011) "Scenic Marathon in Albuqueque, NM" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 First time in Albuquerque, since I was attempting the 50 states challenge. So, I chose the Duke City Marathon as my NM race. I was dismayed at the course. I should've known better before signing up, but it was the largest marathon in NM, so I figured why not. The course was essentially an out and back along a bike path. While the scenery was nice, it got boring when the miles got too ardious for my own good. They ran out of the original medals, so they probably gave out last year's medals to the rest of the finisher's, including me. The time limit is 7 hours. They used local ROTC to man the aid stations, so that was cool. Other than that, it was just a smaller than normal race versus Chicago. They had the turn around points for the various races marked by construction cones. No real course support and spectators. Almost like a training run, but with a finisher's medal waiting for you at the end.
j. h. from albuquerque, nm (10/23/2011) "20 k turn around" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Duke City Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 I and about 20 other women behind me lost five minutes of time because at the 20 k turn around they sent us, under the bridge, up the hill, to the porta potties, and over to the other side... This was no cool at all!!!! I can deal with the bike path, the scenery and fighting to get around people but about 8 people were manning this site and all and I mean all of the including the man in the truck just watched us as they pointed up the hill and under the bridge. You would think after 28 years they would get at least this step right. This was the only turn around and water station that didn't know the xxx from a hole in the ground.
K. G. from Oklahoma (10/29/2009) "Not very scenic and not very organized" (about: 2009) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Duke City Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 This is my sixth event, and it was one of the worst courses I have been on. Albuquerque is a very pretty city and the course should have been taken through the city instead of a two-lane bike path. It was very difficult to pass slower runners when you have on-coming runners coming your direction. The mile markers were too small and need to be bigger as a runner can easily pass them and not know how far they've gone. Also the scenery was terrible; you saw the same trees and brush for miles, which makes it feel like you haven't gone very far when in fact you have. The organization was terrible, on the day of the race there was no direction as to where to line up for the starting of the event. Also, as much as you pay for registration, half marathoners don't get a medal, and for first-timers this can be discouraging.
K. O. from Denver, CO (10/23/2009) "Disappointed Again" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Duke City Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my third DCM. I don't know why I keep going back, except that the course is nice and the weather is usually good. My biggest complaint (this year) is that my time is still not showing in the results. I've e-mailed the timing company twice and received no response. I think something was terribly wrong with the timing this year, which might be due to the fact that they have multiple races going on at once: marathon, marathon relay, half marathon, half marathon walk, 5K, and a 5K walk. My other complaint would be that a few of the aid stations at the end ran out of cups when it was still early in the race. There is no excuse for that. A few minor things: No size-small t-shirts at the expo and not a very good post-race food selection. A few nice things about this race: the spectators are fun (they're mainly there for the relay runners), and the convention center has nice bathrooms. I'm not sure I'll run this race again.

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