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May 7, 2024

Mt. Rushmore Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Mt. Rushmore Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 3.9

Spectators 2.8

Number of comments: 62 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

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

B. M. from MO (10/9/2006) "Mt. Rushmore was harder than Crazy Horse, but..." (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mt. Rushmore Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Host hotel really went out of their way.
J. G. from Los Angeles, CA (10/9/2006) "Black Hills Beauty; Overall Decline in Altitude" (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Mt. Rushmore Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The marathon has two related half marathons; Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. I ran the Mt. Rushmore section. Physical beauty of Black Hills is amazing. Overall high altitude of the race was challenging, but the decline in altitude of 300+ feet helped. Some mile markers were missing and lack of organization/good signage led the marathon winner to run accross the half-marathon finisher line. Overall, a nice rural, small-scale marathon.
m. a. from Rapid City, SD (8/4/2006) "New and Improved" (about: 2005) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Mt. Rushmore Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 It looks like the race director listened to a lot of the comments from last year. They are making the course better, especially the half, which now features an 800-foot drop instead of an incline. I am excited to run it again this year. Last year I did the relay; this year I will be doing the half.
Spencer Whibley from Fort Collins, Co. (12/2/2005) "forewarned is for-armed" (about: 2005) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Mt. Rushmore Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Can one judge a race by not receiving the inclusive shirt? 7+ weeks, 2 e-mails & no response. Don't arrive at the expo late, as your size may have gone. Very much enjoyed the race, which was hilly and challenging. I did not have directional problems, but my slower friend did. Be prepared for an unexpected, overnight cold spell, which is what occurred this year. I'd love to run another one. And the answer is, "No." Please send the shirt.
Eddie Hahn from Tacoma, Washington (11/20/2005) "Over-Hyped, Brutally Tough, Still Recommend" (about: 2005) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Mt. Rushmore Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 I generally agree with the preceding listed comments regarding difficulty. Of the 52 full marathons I have run to date in various locations, I would classify it as the third most difficult with regard to hilly terrain. (Equinox in Fairbanks, AK and Whiskey Row, Prescott, AZ were more difficult with more instense climbs....) The course is correctly described for the most part, however I would add that the hills are bearable.... They are small (but there are a lot of them), and the longer ones are on more gradual grades. This race advertises a huge plethora of amenities... from a pre-race cowboy dinner and show two days before, expo, pasta dinner to tours and so on. The race even advertises prize money. I was therefore amazed to identify a very small expo, that closed early for lack of crowd and disappointed that the pasta dinner secluded each participant/(guest(s) in a private booth. I agree with 'Poke Salad Annie' from NY that implied most of us runners are family unto ourselves and enjoy sharing and relating marathoning experiences/etc. We can have the quiet, private, candlelight dinner with our families back home, or at a marathon that doesn't offer an official pasta party. However I can't be positive enough about the marathon's selection of host hotel(s). As I approached the 'Alex Johnson' from the back I saw a splotch of graffiti.... "Here comes trouble," I thought. I couldn't have been further from the truth. A rustic, quaint, 12-story Western hotel, at which 7 presidents have previously stayed, an awesome view of the city, and a staff that happily responds to every request.... I have paid nearly double per night in other host marathon hotels for half its amenities. One final thought that bears mentioning. The race director needs to be ABSOLUTELY SURE that the contracted bus drivers are aware of the drop-off need for participants at both the half and the full marathon! A group of about 10 of us full marathoners nearly missed the race because the bus driver only stopped for about 30 seconds and let one runner off at Mt. Rushmore (full marathon start) before departing to the half marathon start (he didnt announce that he was dropping off (us) full marathoners). By the time we realized what happened, one good samaritan/appointed spokesman for our group lobbied with the bus driver for 5 miles before convincing him if he turned around, he could still get both groups to our appointed starts in time.
PokeSaladAnnie Ann Singer from Suffern, New York (10/26/2005) "Mt. Rushmore to Crazy Horse.... Spectaculor" (about: 2005) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Mt. Rushmore Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 As a 50-state marathoner, this was my 40th marathon (27th state) and the course was the second hardest. (Tahoe being the first hardest). I am 62 years of age. Yes, elevation can cause breathing problems, but the breathing gets better as the body adusts. Up and down, swirling around corners is hard on legs until Hill City. Palmer's Gulch: tricky to navigate small dirt hills. Mickleson Trail: lonely, boring but very easy on feet. Very hard to drive the course the day before with directions provided. Orange stands all along highways for runner/walker's protection.... Nice touch. Could use sign where trail is in Hill City for slower marathoners. Separate dining for the pasta dinner needs work - runners like to be together the night before. Great CoolMax white shirt. Worth the marathon price alone. This is a marathon to be proud of finishing, no matter in what time. This is a marathon that has views you will never forget.
D. W. from Cleveland, OH (10/25/2005) "Still Recovering..." (about: 2005) 3 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Maybe I should have trained more, but then how does one train for a course (I only ran the half) that goes straight up for 8 miles? I am from Cleveland, and we are lucky to have a hill that continues for 800 yards, let alone 8 miles. This was by far the hardest course I have ever run. It was beautiful, but not very kind to those of us flat-landers who were making an attempt. Certainly not a PR attempt anyways. As for the spectators, when they were able to get to the course (as most of it is on a trail through the woods) they were loud and much appreciated. The water stops were well staffed and well spaced. I was almost able to talk one of the local high school cross country stars in to taking my chip and finishing the race for me. I knew I could hand out water, but wasn't so sure I could continue up the huge hill any longer. He, of course refused my request, but offered words of encouragement which were greatly needed. When all was said and done, I was glad to be done, but happy to make the acquaintances I met along the way. There were some good people out there, and we all commiserated together which made the entire event a memorable one.
j. t. from Nebraska (10/14/2005) "Beautiful, but brutal." (about: 2005) First Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I ran the half. It starts runners out going straight up hill. When you got to the top of the hill, there was a fork in the road. Half of the runners went to the road, half went to the trail. A half a mile later someone drove by and told runners to go back down the hill (and through the barbed wire) to the trail. And that was the easy part. The last 8 miles were all uphill. It was relentless. Then, when you got about a half-mile from Crazy Horse, the course had 2 huge hills. Brutal. If the course were flipped to run from Crazy Horse to Rushmore, it may have been more enjoyable to run.
C. B. from Cleveland, Ohio (10/14/2005) "Tough. Very tough" (about: 2005) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Mt. Rushmore Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was only my third marathon and perhaps I should not have chosen a marathon at high altitude with hills to boot. This was the toughest thing I ever did. My time was horrible (although I was not counting on a good time)and the combination of altitude and hills was too much. Although the course was spectacular in terms of scenary, the hill from mile 18 - 26 was evil. Who thought that was a good idea? Otherwise, I loved the experience. Rapid City is a great town and the marathon as a whole was well done.
J. F. from Tennessee (10/13/2005) "new MONUMENTAL challenge" (about: 2005) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Mt. Rushmore Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Well that is how they billed the new course, and it lived up to the billing! The new course begins at Mt. Rushmore and runs 'down' a closed Highway to the town of Hill City. After a brief loop north of town, you hop on a trail at ~15 mi. point and then the fun begins! All uphill from there getting gradually steeper as the race continues with the last mile being the steepest, finishing at Crazy Horse Memorial. Elevation gain over the last ~10 miles is about 850 ft, all of this at around 5500 ft. Also, don't the let first ~10 mi. 'down' fool you. Sure you lose ~250 ft., but through steep rollers, so you are not going to be making up any time. There were some trouble spots on the new course, but given the organizers took over with about 7 mos. before the event, I think it went pretty smooth and expect some of the glitches to be worked out. Of these, my biggest complaints are marathoners and half-marathoners on same trail that is not very wide and fast marathoners trying to get through slower halfers. For a short distance (1 mi) one of the roads was not closed and traffic was a bit dicey (not dangerous as traffic was slow...but still do not like having to worry about that). I think (hope) organizers will take care of these problems in future events. Overall a great course (scenic) but difficult, if you are up for a challenge (I was 20 minutes off my PR) I would recommend it.

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