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May 4, 2024

Death Valley Borax Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Death Valley Borax Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.3

Organization 4.1

Spectators 2.1

Number of comments: 65 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

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

g. l. from San Diego (2/7/2012) "first 1/2 marathon...had a blast" (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Weather, scenery, support was awesome..first 1/2 marathon for wife and I, and we can't wait for next year..making it a three to four day vacation to enjoy all the sites...
M. G. from Philadelphia, PA (2/21/2011) "Great experience" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I enjoyed this race. Given the horrendous winter back east, it was the first time I ran in shorts in and a t-shirt in months. That by itself was awesome. And the scenery was cool. Great aid stations every three miles - much better food/snacks than many other bigger races I've run. I did not run with my water belt and I was fine, although I'm not sure I'd recommend that for everyone. In fact, I probably wouldn't. Fun, low-key organization. Regarding previous comments, I did not have a problem with showering in the pool house after I had checked out, and didn't see it as a big deal. However, as far as spectators go, I agree: if you say no spectators, then enforce it. I, too, saw the same cars pulling up every two miles. Rude. I'd have preferred if the race started 30-60 minutes earlier. It got warm at the end. Lastly, my watch (and another runner's too) showed that the race was a little long. I'm sure that can be fixed.
J. K. from USA (2/21/2011) "Death Valley is Beautiful" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This is a small marathon starting right outside the front entrance to Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley. Positives: 1) The area is beautiful, so take a couple of days to look around. 2) Furnace Creek is 120 miles from Las Vegas and is a nice place to stay. 3) The course had some rolling hills, some of which were quite long, but not steep. Cons: 1) If you are looking for cheering crowds along the way, this is not the marathon to run. There were NO people cheering along the course. None. 2) The water stops, three miles apart, were manned by high school students. They showed no enthusiasm whatsoever. It appeared to me this was assigned punishment for the students to work this race, even though the proceeds from the race were going to the high school. 3) I rank the t-shirts as having the poorest design of my last 20 marathons. There was no date of the race and the words "marathon" and "half marathon" are so small that they are virtually nonexistant. 4) The medal was small without a date. The Envirosport name seemed to dominate the front of the medal. 5) The temperatures ranged from 40F to 70F. The race did not start on time (8 a.m.). It should be started much earlier, perhaps 6 a.m. or 7 a.m.
J. W. from Charleston, SC (2/10/2011) "Great overall experience; one of my favorite races" (about: 2011) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 My experience with this race was incredible. Very well organized race, with very friendly volunteers and staff. Overall, a great race. Do expect some minor but long hills (with a low gradient - around miles 23-24). Bring water (I brought a small water flask and it was perfect to stay hydrated). Good Boston qualifier (I qualified with this one). Just overall an awesome experience. I personally like to run with the scenery and don't need music or a ton of fans, but if you need both of those things, you should lean towards a larger race.
T. S. from San Francisco, Ca (2/9/2011) "Nice, but not worth a 9-hour drive" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 After reading almost every comment and review from this page, I decided to do this, largely due to claims of "amazing scenery" (which I'm still looking for...). My BIGGEST complaint is that the hotel (where the race starts) requires you to check out at 12 p.m., when you are probably just finishing the race, not allowing you time to take a shower in your room after the race. They told me i had to go to the pool house to shower afterward - ridiculous!! It's an out-and-back race on the side of the road, and the scenery doesn't change - both big mountain ranges on each side of you. And you get to inhale all the exhaust of the cars flying past you. People who think it was scenic should just once in their life try running a trail marathon or any trail race. The race director was hilarious, though. They constantly said no "supporters" were allowed, but I continuously saw the same 5 cars driving up the highway a bit and pulling over, then passing me again and doing the same all the way up to mile 23, supporting particular racers. You have about a 2 foot-wide lane to run in (the shoulder of the road) unless you want to run in the rocks off the road. The aid stations provided trail mix, bananas, granola bars, Red Vines, peanut butter-filled pretzels, water, and Gatorade every 3 miles. At the beginning of the race, the aid station volunteers were great, but by the end of the race, you could tell they were extremely bored. They were goofing off and complaining to each other. I get it - they are high school students - but at any other race I've done, I've received smiles and happy encouragement from volunteer staff. Sure, it's cool that I can say I ran a marathon in Death Valley, but it definitely sits on the bottom of my list of "awesome experiences" for a marathon. I question whether it was worth the 9-hour drive each way.
P. G. from Lake Elsinore, Ca (12/16/2009) "Lonely out-and-back, with hills in the first and l" (about: 2008) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 Very well organized. Stay at a motel right on the course; that is the only way to do it. Very small field makes for a lonely run. You must run with fluids, and not litter. Something to think about if this is a Boston Qualifier, as it was for me.
C. E. from Portland, OR (12/14/2009) "shockingly gorgeous, psychologically challenging" (about: 2009) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The Death Valley Marathon was one of my most enjoyable races. The race director is hysterical, which adds quite a bit to the experience. Also, the grand prize (for women), which I surprisingly won, was a rubber chicken purse. I am carrying the chicken with pride. The every-3-mile aid stations were barely adequate, but I actually did OK not carrying hydration. At each station, I grabbed 2 of their large cups. My sister offered to volunteer at one aid station, and when she offered to hand out cups to the runners, a volunteer said, "No, we don't do that. We leave the cups on the table." Thankfully, my sister did manage to change their minds. They don't have many volunteers, so they tend not to hand out water. Call me picky (the director gently made fun of people like me), but really, I hate to spend precious seconds taking water from the tables. Of course, there aren't many volunteers in the desert. Still, whatever effort they CAN make to hand the cups to runners would be great. The course is astounding. I have NEVER seen anything like it! Psychologically it's a real challenge because it's SO quiet, and the optical illusion of the desert makes it appear as though you will have to run FOREVER to get anywhere. It was SO worth the training and every effort for such a wonderful race! Talk about friendly people and beautiful nature! I loved it, loved it, LOVED it (even if we had to fetch our own water sometimes)! So, if you are wondering whether to run this marathon, I would say, DO IT!
Chris Bush from Los Angeles (12/12/2009) "Very scenic" (about: 2009) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I ran Death Valley for my second marathon, and absolutely loved it! It's nice to have a peaceful scenic run! I have to say that the "no headphones" rule, along with the fact there only a handful of runners, creates a great sense on camaraderie among the runners. I highly recommend Death Valley to anyone!! I also beat my LA time by 10 minutes (finishing in 3:36), which I probably couldn't have done if isolated by my headphones.
Kristine Jahn from Detroit, MI (12/9/2009) "Once-in-a-lifetime experience!" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first road trip to Death Valley, which I did in the middle of the night (from Vegas) to get there in time to pick up my bib and start running. I was glad that I drove there in the dark because walking outside to the start line of the race was like opening a present on Christmas morning. What a spectacular view! The pre-race speech and song put a smile on my face. The little things like trail mix and pretzels at the aid stations made it just perfect. I read all of the information and comments beforehand, so I knew to pack water and expect absolute silence. There were a few long hills (around mile 24), but they weren't a problem, even for a Michigander like me. But, it was PHENOMENAL! And, the drive back to Las Vegas (arrived just in time to eat some pasta before heading off to run the full marathon in Vegas the next morning) was just spectacular! My only - very minor - suggestion would be to put the date on the medal.
J. F. from Los Angeles (12/7/2009) "Truly unique race, with a no-fuss attitude." (about: 2009) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Death Valley Borax Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 Just ran this race the other day, and I really liked it a lot. The course is totally barren, but still beautiful in its own right. If you need the scenery to constantly change, and thousands of spectators and fellow runners to keep you motivated, this is not the race for you. But if you want to run a marathon that is not like every other Rock 'n' Roll marathon, this is a great one. The organization is at a bare minimum, which makes this feel like a bunch of people just going for a long weekend run together. Definitely bring a water bottle and your own nutrition, as the aid stations are few and far between. All and all, I thought this race was really fun. There was a sense that you were always running downhill, which was mentally very nice (with the exception of one, totally manageable, hill). Also, the race organizer was really nice and funny, and gave a speech before the race, which really set the tone for everyone to have a fun time. Lastly, all the people running the race were really nice and there was a great sense of camaraderie with this race. Since it was an out-and-back, there was a point where all the race leaders pass everyone else, and one of the guys in the lead pack was reaching out and giving everyone going in the opposite direction high-fives. That is pretty impressive for someone in the front of a race to be doing. I liked this race a lot, and would definitely recommend it to any adventurous marathoner.

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