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May 3, 2024

Cowtown Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Cowtown Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.0

Organization 3.7

Spectators 3.4

Number of comments: 184 [displaying comments 51 to 61]

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T. W. from Texas (3/4/2010) "Cowtown Rocks" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Cowtown Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This race keeps growing in participation, but you wouldn't be able to tell it. Fort Worth is a great host city for this race. Very inviting and friendly. I love the course through the neighborhoods. The residents were out in force cheering on the runners. Last year was good; this year was even better! Good job with the organization, and a GREAT JOB to the city of FORT WORTH, Texas!
C. W. from Eastern Washington State (3/3/2010) "And don't miss the Fort Worth museums" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Cowtown Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The cops were great, but Cowtown would need fewer of them if the course were through fewer four-lane city streets lined with Staples stores and Home Depots. Only about half of the course was worth the sights - with nice residential areas and some parkways - though the trees are still winter dull. The start was abysmal: late, and for eight miles runners for the half, full and ultra all shared the designated lane. Great tech shirt, and better finish food than you get at most runs. Few potties after the start, the mile markers were small and on one side of the road only, and the only energy offering was Gatorade. Small expo. Bless those spectators with the bananas and gummy bears! If Runner's World says this is #1 in organization, I'd say yes regarding course markings, cop assistance, finish food, and shirt. But everything could be improved. Great Fort Worth museums and a vegan diner in southwest Fort Worth for before and after.
J. F. from Nebraska (3/2/2010) "hilly half" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I've run 13 fulls, so I thought we'd travel south from Nebraska to run a half in warmer weather. It was a perfect day to run. Expo was good - except a little chilly, being out in heated tents. I didn't expect all of the rolling hills, so it was a very challenging course, even for the half. Water stations were spaced perfectly for the half, and spectators were good too. My only complaint is trying to dodge the walkers who were walking two to four abreast and oblivious to the runners. Please tell/require walkers to stay to one side or the other!!! We loved the medal and will be back to get the whole star! The finisher shirts were awesome, as was the fruit/food at the end. Thanks, FW, Texas!
M. D. from Austin, TX (3/2/2010) "Good But Improvement Needed" (about: 2010) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Cowtown Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I enjoyed the layout of the course itself; it had decent scenery and a good mix of some rolling hills, which made it fairly challenging. The weather ended up being perfect, with a chilly start and a finish in the low 50's. While fan support was a bit sparse, all were very enthusiastic. Volunteers did a great job with the fluid stops, and there were more than enough of them throughout the course. Probably my one gripe is that traffic control along the course needs improvement, and something needs to be done to better control the flow of all the different races. I appreciated the hard work of the Fort Worth PD controlling auto traffic for the most part. Although, on at least two occasions within the neighborhoods I had to break stride and lost time due to intereference from cars. Another area where time was lost was where the half split off from the full/ultra. There was no clear marker, and the volunteer wasn't present at the time. I ended up turning to the half course and had to backtrack, losing a good 30 seconds off of my time. Also, the two finishing chutes didn't seem to be clearly marked, and I ended up almost going through the wrong one. It was neat how an announcer called out each finisher by name. Finally, something needs to be done about the last 2-3 miles. There was one lane for all racers, and there were significant numbers of walkers going three-wide. Runners had to snake through and around them, which is probably one of the last things you want to deal with when you're struggling towards the finish.
J. H. from Lubbock, Texas (3/1/2010) "Fix the start and it's almost perfect!!" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Cowtown Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Having run the Cowtown Half two times previously, I decided on the Ultra this year. Overall this is a very well run event, especially considering that there are so many different races on the same day. First the positives: Course: Beautiful course with lots of variety and scenery. Rolling hills that provide both a challenge and interest.... But come prepared. (The climb at the ultra trail turnaround was quite a treat!) Water stations: They were set up every mile and a half, which is more than at most races. I agree that the first several could use a couple more tables, but overall, I had no problem grabbing hydration on the run. Spectators: Sparse but really enthusiastic and encouraging! Traffic Control: Hats off to the Ft. Worth PD!! This course does cross a number of busy streets but the cops really were working to protect the runners. Perks: Awesome, long-sleeve, technical, finisher's shirt, and the 5-year medal series was a stroke of genius - I can't wait to complete my star! Finish: It's great to have an announcer calling out finishers' names; there was also a good flow out of the chute and easily accessible food. Weather: I know the organizers can't claim credit for this year, but what a perfect day to run! The only real negative I can point to is the start, which seems to get a little worse each year rather than better. This year there was the addition of corrals and a "wave" start, but you would never know it. The sidewalks are so crowded with spectators and 5K/10K runners that it was difficult even to get to the starting area. If you are going to have corrals, you really have to have volunteers to help control the staging. I have yet to be in a race of any distance where people will accurately stage themselves. Many walkers and joggers somehow took off in the first "wave," which to me seemed to make those first few miles even harder (navigating the slower runners). I'm all for having participants of all abilities; the race just has to find a way to get people staged a little better. Once they can get the start conquered... it will be just about perfect! Keep up the good work, Cowtown! See you next year!
C. G. from Dallas, Texas (3/1/2010) "The Cowtown Marathon is awesome!" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Cowtown Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I absolutely loved the Cowtown Marathon and had the bext experience. I thought the race was very well organized from packet pick-up to directing people to the starting line. I personally did not feel the starting line was overly crowded (even with the half marathoners starting at the same time). I have been in several other marathons where the half marathoners started at the same time and which were way more crowded. The course was beautiful and offered a great view of Fort Worth. However, I would recommend hill work for this marathon, as there are steady rollers throughout the race. My only suggestion would be to add plastic bags at the start of the race for people to store their discarded clothing in. The bags of clothes can then be donated to charity as opposed to just being thrown away in the trash.
P. W. from Arkansas (2/28/2010) "Cap it off, or change groupings and start times" (about: 2010) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Cowtown Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my 4th year running at Cowtown. First marathon. Like the others mentioned, GET IN SOME HILL TRAINING!! This year's weather was beautiful. Looking forward to completing the 5-year medal series, and running even more Cowtowns. Great event. Just need to put a cap on the total amount of runners allowed. Or, change the groups up to allow different starting times. The fans were awesome!! As always!!
G. H. from Houston, TX (2/28/2010) "The course was a pleasant surprise" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Cowtown Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was my 68th marathon but 1st Cowtown, and I was pleasantly surprised by the scenic course and the race director's ability to coordinate so many people and races. I liked the varying terrain, but the mostly uphill 25th mile was a challenge. The weather was perfect for this 2010 race. The fan support was spotty but good. The officers at cross streets were pleasant, as were the volunteers at the water stations. The finishing medal and shirt were great! For improvement, I would suggest working on the start waves since there was confusion. Otherwise, thanks for the great race!
N. B. from Kansas City, Mo (2/28/2010) "They do it BIG in Texas" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Cowtown Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This race is growing on me. What most of the locals referred to as bad weather last year was just fine by me for February - another reason to keep doing this one. Perks: Very few marathons give a finisher tech shirt, and what a cool thing to have a 5-year medal series - I'm hooked on this at least for 3 more years. Spectators were great: The folks who put this together really do a good job, and the most important part is that the people of the community are behind this event. Yesterday I heard traffic officers thanking the runners for being here - that's a first for me after 12 marathons. Lots of folks were yelling encouragement. It's not at the same level as Twin Cities, but it made things fun. Water stops: Need more tables set up at each stop - several stops weren't able to pour water fast enough to keep up. As time went by, things thinned out when the full and half marathoners split off. Course: Great course. A couple of areas on the return were tricky and a couple of drivers were not being safe around runners. The organizers must work very hard, but if there was some way to avoid some of these areas it would be great. I personally saw two incidents of drivers trying to drive on the runners side that was coned off when they had a clear choice on the left side of the road. At one point the spectators were out of their chairs yelling at a driver (go spectators!) and a police officer was directing the driver to drive on the lefthand side of the road - and as soon as they got around the officer they went back to the righthand side with the runners. Unfortunately, even with the amount of work the planners do, there are several areas of the course that are just a little risky to navigate later in the day because of the numbers of drivers and runners. It would have been nice to concentrate more on the run and less on who was coming up from behind me and what the driver's state of mind was. I get that some drivers will see runners as someone who's slowing them down, but it just makes for a bad mix when both are on the same road. I was walking back to my hotel after the race with my worst time ever because I did not train at all, and I was sore and tired, and I knew that I was too late to get a shower before checkout. I was at a low. At a street corner, a bunch of spectators saw my medal and and started congratulating me and giving me high-fives. Those Texas spectators don't give up!!!!
christopher rodriquez from Fort Worth, Texas (2/28/2010) "bad starting idea" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Cowtown Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 This has been a good marathon to run in the past. It's like a good running shoe. It works good before the manufacture tries to improve it. Need I say more? If they would just separate the half marathoners from the full and ultra marathoners with different start times.... There would be no need for this stupid idea of holding runners so long at the start. At the most, there was only 1,500 going past 13.1 miles; the rest were around 5,000. Other than that, get some hill runs in before you try this one. The volunteers and the traffic control were great.

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