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☰
New Mexico Marathon Runner Comments
Back to New Mexico Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 3.7 
Spectators 2.2
Number of comments: 96 [displaying comments 71 to 81]
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B. H. from USA
(9/9/2004)
 "This was a loser!" (about: 2004)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 New Mexico Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 This race was disorganized and not worth the trip. The staffing at the aid stations was nonexistent and the only reason to come here is if you need the state for your fifty. I ran with a girl whose name I think was Mary from Pittsburgh, who would not leave me alone. She was constantly talking and this was so annoying that it made the race even more unenjoyable. Overall, this was a bad marathon experience. | |
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J. C. from Newport Ky.
(9/8/2004)
 "low key -- a good time" (about: 2004)
50+ previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Thanks to Charlie and all the volunteers... It was all well done and I will be back. The weather was hot - but the course was scenic and with much of the course running downhill. The smaller marathons are always fun. The race dircetor is not just a name but makes you feel welcome as Charlie did - he answers questions and gives advice. | |
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Ruth Burchett-Mortensen from Texas
(9/8/2004)
"Really nice first marathon" (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 New Mexico Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I thought this was a wonderful race. I was able to understand the elevation, weather, and terrain concerns by the description on the website. I also did some research on the area before running this race. This was my first race, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was downhill, which was explained on the website, so I was relatively prepared for that. I loved the mountains, the cool morning, and the hot air balloons as we descended into the valley. The people were wonderful, and I thought this was a very well coordinated and beautiful course to run. I have learned to take care of myself and was able to coordinate a person to have gels, drinks, etc. ready for me when and if I needed them along the course. I was able to go to the bathroom when I needed, as I have come to terms with peeing behind bushes or whatever on runs this long (as a female). That is just something you have to do if you decide to take this kind of challenge on. I felt the traffic control and aid stations were awesome. The people were nice and friendly and seemed to have it together VERY well for a race of this size. Many people do not understand the laid-back and natural nature of New Mexico and its people. I felt that the finishing medallions were VERY representive of this area...even though they were not the ones pictures on the website. Maybe those who were not impressed should have done some sightseeing around Old Town and the surrounding areas in order to get some understanding of this. It just seems to me that too many people expect to be catered to these days and only care about themselves and how others should treat them. Those who have run many marathons and races should have learned that maybe they need to carry what they like to have on runs or have a person deliver what they need at appropriate places along the course. I did this as a novice as I do like certain things that most race aid stations do not provide, but I did feel that the aid stations and porta potties were more than adequate as well. Charlie, thank you so much for all that you have put into this race. I loved it and had the time of my life. I grew up in Albuquerque and got to tour through all my favorite places at my favorite time of year in Albuquerque. The hand-painted medallions are beautiful, and I thank the person who did all that wonderful work. Thank you again, Charlie and all those involved. I will definitely run this race again and will definitely recommend it to others. You all did an excellent job!! | |
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P. B. from Philadelphia,Pa
(9/7/2004)
 "we had a great time on every level" (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 New Mexico Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I am not a relative or friend of Charlie. I live 2000 miles away and met him for the first time this past weekend. This was my 11th marathon. I'm not a great runner and finished toward the end of the pack. I just had a terrific time. The course was demanding but not impossible. The organization was friendly and did a wonderful job from the pasta dinner to the awards ceremony after the race. For a small marathon I felt you couldn't ask for much more. It wasn't perfect. Yes,there could have been another water stop along the bike path and maybe an elevation chart on the website so you know exactly what the race is like. Out of my 11 marathons I would rate this as my favorite. | |
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R. P. from Washington, DC
(9/7/2004)
 "Local Character - Interesting Course" (about: 2004)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 New Mexico Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 The race has great local charm. The packet pickup was efficient. The pre-race banquet was good. The buses to the start were good. The Team in Training volunteers who staffed the course were great and cheered us on. The police were courteous and cheered us on as well as patiently blocked traffic for hours. The views were spectacular and the long downhill from miles 8 to 14 was a pleasure to run. The trophies were impressive. The large sheet cake at the awards ceremony was a nice surprise. The minuses: there were no chip mats at the start or at the promised 1/2 marathon and 20 mile split points. The 'roving portable toilet' concept needs to be rethought. It appears that it was only available at Mile 14 and was not available at any other time. Mile markers were missing at many of the miles - perhaps because of the rain storm the prior day. I drank at the Mile 18 waterpoint and skipped the Mile 19 waterpoint in the belief that there would be one at Mile 20, only to discover no waterpoints or mile markers until Mile 22. Course can be better marked -- the cones were picked up at 5 1/2 hours while runners were still on the course -- I suggest marking the last few miles with lime as well as using the cones. A course marshall to turn runners left off of Rio Grande Blvd would be useful. | |
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A. A. from New Mexico
(9/5/2004)
"Had a great time!" (about: 2004)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon and I really enjoyed it. The course was great and the weather could not have been better. The only thing I missed were aid stations on the bike path. Those four miles were tough!!! Overall a great experience for me. | |
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C. A. from Albuquerque, NM
(8/26/2004)
 "Charlie needs to find another job" (General Comments)
3 previous marathons
| 1 New Mexico Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 It is painfully obvious that the 2 or 3 positive comments about this marathon came from either Charlie or his relatives. Too many people have spent too much energy writing extremely long comments about the lack of organization by Charlie for it not to be true. The sad fact is that I have run several races run by Charlie and they are horrible examples of organization. I only run them because I live nearby and they fit my training schedule. The comments from the last person about how everyone is a whiner must have come from Charlie himself. If people didn't want any organization such as Gatorade stops, proper course markings, etc., they would just walk out their door and run 26.2 miles. Perhaps this runner goes out with a back pack, a Camelback, and a GPS on HIS marathons, but most of us do not. If you run any race organized by Charlie, plan on running it alone and without any support. | |
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S. D. from New York
(10/13/2003)
"Good try, but a miss" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 While I hate to criticize any race and always feel that a race director and the peopple who work on a race should be commended, I have a hard time saying much good about this race and its organization. Charlie is a nice man who seems to have good intentions, but out of his class organizing and running a marathon. He truely is likeable but being likeable does not mean you can run a competent marathon. I have run very large marathons, medium marathons, and even some small marathons, but the one thing I always found in the other races is an enthusiasm from the volunteers and workers for what they were doing (which translated into good feelings among the runners). Regrettably, that was sorely missing at this race. The course was a lot harder than advertised. Beware the elevation, the start in the dark, the 1,000 foot drop over 6 or 7 miles which kills your quads, and how fast the course heats up when the sun rises. The course was not well marked, it was lonely (I had no runners within 5 minutes in front or behind me), the scenery was not inspiering, there was a lack of support, and the cars are much too close to you while you run. The medals and awards where pathetic to say the least. Only the winner received a ridiculously large trophy, plus plane tickets. Every other award winner received a joke of a tile. Give a little less to the winner and more to the other age group winners. The finisher's medal is so bad as to be below comment. Charlie seems to mean well, but he does everything possible to insure that this remains a small-time race, since once you have run this race you will never come back or recommend the race. I am sorry to pan this race, but after 32 marathons in 14 states this was the worst experience I have ever had. I only feel sorry for the people who were out on the course for over 3 hours, since they had to experience the heat, isolation, and lack of support for longer then I did. Please Charlie, get some help with this race so it can grow and blossom into the type of race it deserves to be. | |
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G. J. from SC
(9/29/2003)
"Are you runners or what?" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I must not have the same expectation or demands from a race, or race director as many of those who have offered their comments here. I had a fantastic time at the New Mexico Marathon. Charlie and his crew were great and I enjoyed the time I spent with them. After 20 marathons, I can truthfully say that this race doesn?t even come close to the worst I?ve ever run. Sure, some things could be done to improve the event, and I?m sure they will be, but I?m sick of the crybabies who expect an event to cater to their every whim. It?s a marathon after all. It?s not supposed to be easy. It?s a battle against adversity. It?s a struggle of will. It?s not a tea party. Be prepared. ?They only had Gatorade at one water station?. Carry your own stinking Gatorade. I hate the stuff but I don?t complain when that?s all they offer. ?I missed a turn because it was poorly marked?. Hey, here?s an idea. Drive the course the day before. Seems I?ve read that in ?Runners World? about 50 times. Oh, you don?t have a car. I see your point. Must be the race director?s fault! ?There weren?t enough Porta Potties?. OK, I?ll give you that one, but if this is a serious problem when you run, see a doctor. You know it could be the Gatorade upsetting your stomach. The lights were too bright. It was dark at the start. The shirtsleeves were too short. The cars were too fast. There were other people on the running trail. A dog barked at me. The Buffaloes smelled funny. Can you believe this? Did you take the time to talk with any of the Boston qualifiers? They weren?t complaining. They accomplished their goal in spite of these ?hardships? and were excited. Did you see the smiles on the faces of the first-time marathon finishers? Could you even tell which ones they were? What about the woman crossing the line with bloody hands and knees after a fall on the course? She finished and was proud of her effort. I was humbled by her determination. You didn?t hear any crying out of her. I ran the last eight miles with a lady from California. She said she was having her worst performance ever in a marathon. I wasn?t breaking any records either so we worked together to keep each other in the race. We ran, walked, talked, and enjoyed each other?s company and support. We both finished the race better for the effort. I met other people along the way and can add those laughs, words of encouragement, and small victories we shared to my marathon experience. That?s what I took from the marathon. So what?s the problem? A marathon is much more than Port-a-Potties and Gatorade. It?s an individual journey mixed with everything from anxiety to elation, and it all comes in varying degrees. The marathon is what you make of it. Charlie just gave us the opportunity. What we did with it was up to us. Just as an aside, if I?m ever stranded on an island with no food and a bunch of whiners, guess who?ll be eaten first? And by the way, Buffaloes really do smell funny. | |
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Marty Michelson from Gilbert, Arizona
(9/21/2003)
"Charlie, nice try but you're in over your head" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 In this day of marathons that have to have a ?lame theme?, are over-priced, loaded with untrained charity runners, and require a one-year advance commitment to get in, it?s refreshing to find a small, reasonably-priced event offering the amenities of the big races (save for the boring flea market-like expos), an easy and very scenic course, professional management, and good course support. I bought into this and signed up. I was extremely disappointed. Give Charlie Oteri credit for trying to pull this off. There are those of us who don?t want to run with 30,000 people. His course was as advertised. The views were breathtaking, especially with the dozen hot air balloons that Albuquerque is famous for. The course was in fact easy. Others want to nit-pick about the t-shirt and the medal, but lot?s worse have been given out elsewhere, and who needs mariachi bands! The bus logistics went well and the dinner was good and ample (even though there was no dessert or coffee). The comic was a great idea compared to the endless boring stories and advice you get from the usual runner-speakers. Too bad the attendees never paid attention. Everything else? A disaster! Charlie is a nice guy and obviously has been around running for some time, but as far as organization and logistics, he hasn?t a clue!! Basically, he?s trying to pull off an entire marathon virtually by himself. He has a minimum number of experienced volunteers. You can pull this off in a 5K, but not with the organizational nightmares of a marathon. Here are the most serious of the issues: Transportation, bag drop, and porta-johns were fine at the start, but there was no start line or banner, and water was put out very late and most had no clue where it was. We were given chips, but there were no mats at the start, rendering them useless. Even allowing for the ascents, the early mile markers were clearly too far out. Charlie relied on a small crew of police for traffic crossing and safety with no visible experienced race people on the course to assist. The police had no idea where to be and many large intersections were left unprotected in the dark early on. In the latter miles on Rio Grande Ave (?) there was no traffic control and no course support. There was tons of traffic for the slower runners and it was very dangerous. I actually passed a runner at 25 miles stopped dead at a crossing so he could press the ?Walk? button, while I ran into 4 lanes of speeding traffic and nearly was hit. Having an unsafe course is inexcusable and irresponsible. The comments of others regarding unmanned water stops, lack of energy drinks, and no porta-johns on the course as promised were all true and inexcusable. I will say that the people at the water stops I stopped at were very supportive and friendly. There were a number of key intersections that were poorly-marked and no one was there to direct confused runners. Worse, however, was the fact that the race was routed for a mile or two along a bike path full of joggers, walkers, and cyclists. There was no attempt to post signs indicating a race in progress, and no race personnel to direct traffic. I nearly was run over by an angry speeding cyclist when I had to right turn off of the path. All of the above was bad, but pales in comparison to the fact that there were absolutely no medical stations, support staff, dropout points or instructions, or on-course follow vehicles. A runner having problems on the course or having suffered an accident or injury was totally out of luck. At the dinner, someone asked Charlie about provisions for dropout, his answer was to quickly rattle off a phone number and say, ?this is my buddy, if you need to be picked up call him and he?ll come right out?. (Sorry, Charlie, I tend not to carry a phone when I run, and there were hardly any payphones on the remote course) I thought he was kidding! Obviously he wasn?t. It?s a shame. This event potentially had everything to make it a great small event, except race organization and volunteers. Charlie should stick to 5K?s. Unless there are drastic changes, I would recommend avoiding this event next year. |
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