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Apr 29, 2024

Wineglass Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.4

Organization 4.3

Spectators 3.6

Number of comments: 210 [displaying comments 41 to 51]

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K. C. from Syracuse NY (10/26/2012) "A class event" (about: 2012) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Wineglass Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is one of the bast races I have run... period (and I did not run it well). The organization was great there was plenty of water stops and GU. The crowd support was impressive especially since the race runs through some very small rural areas! I hit a wall at 18 miles and got support for volunteers, spectators and other runners. I kept moving and finished... The run over Brigde St on to Market Street was a great finish. Plenty of water, food and my favorite... Chocolate milk. I will be back next year!
r. g. from wellsville, ny (10/4/2012) "most fun ever." (about: 2012) 2 previous marathons \| 2 Wineglass Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 great event start to finish. Cool to be part of a big crowd at the start as the group slowly builds speed. Amazed how consistent everybodies pace stayed. Support along the way was tremendous especially the lady at mile 21 who saved me with the bottle of water just as I crashed. Much easier to drink from the bottle than a cup without choking. This kind act allowed me to recover and finish respectably.
w. o. from westchester county, ny (10/4/2012) "great race..." (about: 2012) 4-5 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I really enjoyed this experience. the last leg over the bridge was very dramatic for me(especially with my bad knee acting up). The race was very well organized.. volunteer support 2nd to none!!! A little nit-picking by me (water needed at the start, and try to close off the streets a little better-about 5 or six cars drove by the runners...)
R. G. from Philadelphia, PA (10/4/2012) "Great experience, great race." (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Wineglass Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 2011 was a rough year for this race, but as expected, the problems were addressed in 2012 and mother nature decided to play her part as well to ensure a great running experience. The good: Organization: Runners were bussed to the start line, where we could remain indoors in a small building near the start. Port-o-john numbers at the start were adequate. The race started on time. Post-race food was adequate. The medals and schwag are great. The age-group awards were improved. Results could be checked online at the finish. Volunteers and spectators: The volunteers did a great job. Really standing out to me were the well-trained children manning the water stations. There must've been many with a hoarse voice afterwards due to the persistent 'Gatorade' 'Water' outcries! This is a small town race, so not surprisingly, there are lonely sections along the course, but in areas where spectators gathered, they were very enthusiastic. You don't always get that kind of support. A general PR note to all race directors, look to hype up your race to the community. What really makes a race special is when the event is acknowledged and embraced by the community. Course: Fantastic, fast course that has been improved with start/finish changes that were implemented last year and continued this year. The bad: There seemed to be some issues with the race timing. Also, it would be nice to be able to see the full results list organized by age group. The only other issue is that it would have been helpful to have someone manning every turn (particularly in the last few miles where there are several turns). It's not hard to get confused about turns late in a marathon and I think turns should always be manned. To end on a positive note, I will just say that in my experience, this is one of the best small town races in the Northeast. Don't miss it!
D. J. from Brooklyn, NY (10/1/2012) "Beautiful, fast, perfect logistics" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Wineglass Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is a really beautiful course, with fantastic organization and huge community support - there were zillions of volunteers who uniformly knocked themselves out to make the runner experience terrific from bib pickup thru postrace. My 11th marathon and maybe my favorite, certainly way up there. It is fast and you can hit your pace quickly at the start. Crowds decent, enthusiastic in towns with other stretches without many, but you are guaranteed a boost from volunteers every 2 miles or less at fluid stations. Organizers seem to really care - every gripe I saw from 2011 seemed fixed, from bus drop off (this year right at start with ample portajohns and a sheltered place to wait) to bag check (at pickup bags were under tent on tables grouped by number range) to quite visible medics on course and bike marshals. Well staffed and organized fluid stations, always Gatorade first then water with lots of volunteers clearly communicating. Great finish line nourishment, choc milk to soup to cookies fruit and pizza. Great shirt and swag and unique glass locally made 'medal.' The area is gorgeous with cool stuff to do - a great destination marathon you can drive to from most of the northeast or nearby parts of Canada. Really they get an A plus in every department.
T. K. from Albany, NY area (10/1/2012) "Great race!" (about: 2012) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Wineglass Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was a very well organized race. There were tons of porta potties. Great water stops and frequent. I didn't carry my handheld and never missed it!! Goodie bag and post food were awesome! We used several discount and free museum passes while we stayed in the area. Long sleeved tech shirt, bag, wine glass, and wine, more than I expected. I would do this race again!
M. L. from Rochester, NY (10/1/2012) "An excellent small-town race" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Wineglass Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 What a fabulous race! I have now run the Wineglass four times, and I enjoy it more each year. This year's phenomenal running weather more than made up for last year's freezing downpour. Much of the course is run through the gorgeous countryside and small towns along the route. A few miles (18-21 or so) are on a main drag that is still open to traffic and this is my least favorite section of the course. Otherwise, I love the scenery and the small-town feel. The course terrain is also very gentle and encourages PRs. I was pleased to see that last year's problems at the start were ironed out completely this year. The buses took us directly to the start at the firehouse, which had been emptied out and set up nicely for the runners. Two small potential suggestions/improvements for the start next yearone, please get more chairs/places to sit, and two, please hand out water for all who need or want it. I looked for it a few minutes before the start and realized that there was none to be had. On the whole, the organization was spectacular this year. Kudos to the race directors. I very much enjoyed the post-race festivities, although I personally preferred when they were held in the green space near the footbridge rather than on Market Street. Still, this is a very minor quibble, and this year's party was still head-and-shoulders above last year's party in the parking garage! All was well-done and volunteers were fabulous. My only significant criticism this year was the switch in timing companies. This year's timers (auyer timing) did not post paper results for the full marathon after the race, but instead encouraged people to use computer monitors at the finish to individually look up 'unofficial' results. This meant that marathoners had to first stand in line to get to a computer, then had to figure out how to use the system with no formal guidance from anyone official. Making things worse, upon arriving home and checking my home computer, it was clear that the online results for the full were incorrect. The half-marathon split was actually showing the times for the second half of the race rather than the first half, and all times listed (both splits and finish times) were only gun times rather than chip times. This is significant, particularly for those shooting for Boston qualifiers. As of today, more than 24 hours after the race, the situation still has not been rectified, despite numerous complaints about this issue posted on the Wineglass facebook page. Next year, please switch back to either PCR timing (last year's company) or yellowjacket racing (also based in Rochesterthey just timed the Rochester Marathon last weekend and did an awesome job!). Thanks again for a great race overall. I'll be back for 2013!
c. d. from center valley, pa (10/1/2012) "Half Marathon Course mile markers not visible" (about: 2012) 4-5 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The Half Marathon Mile Markers were not clearly marked as such, nor were they a different color from the Marathon mile markers. Then, at some point they disappeared all together and were just painted in very small letters on the side of the road, not nearly visible enough.
K. P. from King Ferry, New York (9/30/2012) "great run!" (about: 2012) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Wineglass Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Loved the course
D. J. from New York (4/4/2012) "What the Heck Happened????" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Wineglass Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I've run this marathon twice. The first time, in 2010, was very smooth, and I did not notice any major glitches. Organized start, organized finish, all good. 2011, however, was an utter and complete disaster that left me wondering if there was any leadership behind this race at all. Granted, the weather that day was about as bad as you can get. Nothing like standing in 40 degree pouring rain an hour before a marathon. The race directors cannot be blamed for that, and they did open a fire house for runners to crowd in, which was a welcome, if somewhat odd scene. But they can be blamed for much, much more. Somehow, they managed to change the starting line from the traditional parking lot at Phillips Lighting to a new site about a half-mile up the road, without telling anybody! So here are all these buses dropping off hordes of runners at the wrong place, with no one to tell them where to go. And here come these runners, minutes before the start, realizing that 'oh my god' they're in the wrong place. For them, it was a frantic 'warm up' (to be generous), racing over to make the start. Unforgivable! Well, then it turns out that these runners needn't have hurried at all, because the race doesn't start on time. Not 5 or 10 minutes late either, more like 15. Which would have been OK if it weren't RAINING! And every two minutes, an annoying announcement over the load-speakers, 'Soon, people, I promise you, soon.' Hearing that as a mantra that didn't come true was a freaking torture! Along the course, the volunteers did splendidly, the spectators were super loud and supportive, and I have no complaints. (I ran a great race too, despite the waterlogged shoes.) But at the end! In the past, the post-marathon events have been in a little park-this year, due to the rain, they relocated to a parking garage! Huh? Is this the best Corning has to offer? Well, it was good at least for keeping the food dry, and the food was awesome, but they left everyone's checked bags out in the rain, even though there was lots of room inside! And not only the rain, they basically dumped everyone's bags into the mud. It was foul, and like a delivery guy tossing something fragile over your fence, thoroughly disrespectful. The race directors should make a public apology. Here's the kind of post-marathon organization they had: I had a friend who placed in his age group, so I went to the 'awards ceremony,' which was attended by about a dozen people because it was completely unannounced. And the age group winners for over-60 were not determined, even as they presented their leftover race shirts with added lettering as awards (the shirts didn't say 'winner' either, they said 'age'! Were they skimping on letters?? Too stupid for words!) All in all, the leadership was incredibly amateurish and downright embarrassing. I'm considering other September/October options this year.

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