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May 3, 2024

Kiawah Island Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Kiawah Island Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.1

Organization 4.4

Spectators 3.2

Number of comments: 211 [displaying comments 41 to 51]

More Comments: [ < 1 .. 3 4 5 6 7 .. 21 > ]

T. M. from Fort Mill, SC (1/12/2012) "Wonderful race!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Kiawah Island Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I have run this race twice and I love it. The course is beautiful and flat. I love the unique glass medal because it is so different than every other medal I have. The post-race party is the best with free beer and wonderful food. It's also inside so you can get warm after the race, and we always enjoy the wonderful blue grass band that plays. The new Pelican age group awards are very unique. This is a wonderful time of year to spend time at Kiawah because the island is very quiet and uncrowded. This race has no logistics if you stay on the island in that you can walk or take a shuttle right to the start/finish area. The start area is not crowded, there are plenty of port-a-potties, and you can find your place in the starting coral with no trouble at all. They have tents where you stash your dry bag for after the race, and this works beautifully. The small number of runners makes for an easy, low-key experience. I am planning to go back next year and stay 3 nights instead of 2.
Phil Henry from Jena, Louisiana (12/16/2011) "Fantastic course/ Georgious setting" (about: 2011) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Kiawah Island Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Words hardly describe - a gorgeous course, great organization, wonderful volunteers and very supportive spectators. And the weather was perfect too. This should be on every 50 Staters list.
Jamie Long from Atlanta (12/15/2011) "25 years of road racing, This was the coolest!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kiawah Island Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my 26th marathon and my wife's first and let me tell you, it doesn't get much better than this for a small race. I have never been to such a laid back event that was able to be so organized at the same time. The finish line was awesome! I saw people running across the line with probably 20 members of their family, others running in carrying six packs of beer. I think they would have let me run across in my underwear if I wanted to. I have grown so tired of all the rules that come along with the bigger events. They just have a have fun and don't hurt nobody attitude. I will be coming back to this race as long as they will have me
C. G. from Asheville, NC (12/15/2011) "Flat, fast, beautiful, great 1st half-marathon!" (about: 2011) First Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I loved running the Kiawah half-marathon and am thrilled that I picked it as my first race. The course weaves through the Kiawah resort and neighborhoods and part of it is along the sound, so you get a brief glimpse of water. Bib pick-up was well organized and easy, the course had plenty of porta-potties, and water stations were about every 2 miles with oranges/water/gatorade. There were plenty of friendly and helpful volunteers. The course was well-marked with mile markers and a few clocks. It was a great race and made me, as a newbie, feel confident that I could run it. I plan on running this one again!
r. c. from virginia (12/14/2011) "great experience" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Kiawah Island Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 First marathon; weather perfect (40s, overcast); flat course, beautiful location/sights; never ran out of oranges/bananas/H2O/gatorade (nice touch next to the signs for 'beware of alligators'!); had plenty of post race food/drink (indoors), and had a post race massage (!): nice. Stayed at on site villa, nice, walked to/from start & finish; friendly volunteers. Recommend!
S. Y. from Washington, DC (12/13/2011) "Great race day, poor pre-race organization" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kiawah Island Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Before I ran the race I was ready to write a negative review of this race, but the race experience itself substantially improved my rating of this marathon. Here were the pre-race problems: The marathon website went down the day before the race. This meant my family could not print out a map to come watch the marathon. The 'race packet' consisted of the tech t-shirt (hideous green color for the full, very nice blue color for the half) and the timing strip. No maps. The parking we were directed to to park for the expo was very far from the expo site, which would not have been a problem if it isn't darker than God's shoeshine at night in Kiawah, and no signs were present. We came across a woman who had fallen off of the cart path and lost her keys; she was injured to the extent that she did not think she would be able to race the next day. Race day itself was a complete transformation. This was the only marathon I have ever run where there were enough port-a-potties. The course was well marked (and flat and easy). The aid stations were ample, well-stocked, and the volunteers were fantastic. The post race food and beer were among the best I've had. This race has the potential to be truly outstanding, and will be if they fix the above listed problems.
Gary Cole from Dallas, TX area (12/12/2011) "well organized, beautiful flat course, wimpy metal" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kiawah Island Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I loved the location and its an easy drive fro the Charleston, SC airport. Lovely flat course (we saw a live aligator while running!) the organization is great but the cheesy large glass disk they call a marathon metal was a big disapointment. For my $100 marathon fee I was expecting at least a metal of some sort and not a glass frisbie.
Richard Betz from Highlands, North Carolina (12/12/2011) "A great event in a great location" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kiawah Island Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 17th marathon but my first time at Kiawah Island, and I read the comments posted here for the past three years before I went. The race organizers must have made some adjustments, because my wife (who ran the half marathon) and I both had a wonderful experience. The organization was superb, and although it is a smaller race, all of the volunteers at packet pick-up and out on the course were positive and enthusiastic. It was also a nice touch to have my name on the bib, as they did at the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville (which falls on the same date) for years; hearing a volunteer call you by name with a 'Stay strong, Richard!' at mile 23 was more helpful than you can imagine. We also thought that, contrary to some of the previous year comments, the mile splits were well-marked, the aid stations were well-staffed, the pre-race and post-race 'Victory Bash' food was plentiful and delicious, the technical shirts (with no sponsor names on the back) were very nice, and the glass 'medals' were unique and very beautiful; as one commentator said in a previous post, they make great Christmas Tree ornaments! We also enjoyed staying at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, our first trip there. The villa we booked was reasonably-priced and far nicer than we expected, and as quiet as I have ever experienced, which is much appreciated the night before a race. The shuttle on race morning was on time and not crowded, and everybody at the Resort was very friendly. We had good conditions - overcast sky and temperatures in the 50s, with little wind. I did not run quite as fast as I expected for a flat, sea-level course (I train in the mountains of Western North Carolina), and wondered if a flat course might be more difficult in some ways due to more muscle fatigue. Also, some of the bicycle paths were a little uneven and it was nice to be back on paved roads after those sections. But they were not at all crowded, as I had been led to believe. All in all, I had a great experience, and would definitely run this race again.
D. R. from Michigan (12/12/2011) "Nice, flat, low key race" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Kiawah Island Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 This was a nice race, in a pretty location on a very fast course. There were plenty of water stops and nice volunteers. Most of the participants did the 1/2 marathon so it got a little lonely on the 2nd loop as there weren't many spectators. For a small race the only negatives for me were that rooms at the resorts were crazy expensive and staying off the island was a logistics pain. The closest hotel off island was 40 minutes away and you have to take a shuttle on to the property race morning. They recommend getting to the shuttle by 6:30 and I would agree.
J. C. from Huntsville, Alabama (12/11/2011) "A Bucket List Marathon" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kiawah Island Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 For those individuals who want to run a marathon in their lifetime, this is the one. Great spectators, great course, FLAT, & great support. I decided to stay off the island and am glad I did. It was much cheaper and everything worked out just fine logistically. There are PLENTY of water stations and the spectators are top notch. The course is a loop, once for the half marathon and twice for the full marathon. There were times the course was crowded (bike path) but should only be a concern for the elite runners. Plenty of clocks for timing. My only 'complaint' would be the medal. It is a 'green' race evidentally, and the medal is made of glass. It is kind of difficult to see what's on it, but all in all, it's another state done and another medal in the showcase. I HIGHLY recommend this race.

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