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Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 4.2 
Spectators 4.4
Number of comments: 481 [displaying comments 81 to 91]
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S. M. from Texas
(4/26/2010)
 "Great city, not-so-great race" (about: 2010)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I loved Nashville and had a great time enjoying the city and its very friendly residents. I ran the half, so I'll leave comments about the weather and course disruptions to those who ran the full. The good parts of this race were a well-organized expo and a very efficient gear drop. A few things that will keep me from doing this race again (but not from scheduling another trip to Nashville): -Incredibly long port-a-potty lines at the start. They were hundreds of people deep. -The course. While it passed some interesting parts of Nashville, a large part of the half course was a dull out-and-back. The last three miles were the worst and it seemed like the organizers were struggling to get the mileage up to 13.1. There were some weird hairpins and extra turns that were annoying to deal with at the end of the race if you're trying to hit a goal time. The last three miles were like running back and forth. -Cytomax. Yuck. -Fluid station at mile 12. It was desperately needed because of the heat and humidity but also totally disruptive because it was in the middle of two hard turns and a narrow stretch. -Awkward shuttle system. We needed to get back to the start, which supposedly required $15 tickets. They ended up selling them for 2/$15 as the storm came in. Cabs couldn't get in to LP Field and there weren't other options to get home. -"Music." I didn't care about this part of it but a lot of us noticed that some of the bands were set up 2-3 blocks away from the course and it seemed like a few didn't show up at all. | |
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S. M. from North Carolina
(4/26/2010)
"Pay $100+ to be elbowed, tripped and never finish" (about: 2010)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I have run several ultra-marathons and one other marathon during a strong thunderstorm and those race directors did not stop the runners. Wind and rain were the only weather events on the 2010 course, yet management stopped the race short for the majority of marathoners. I dare to say that the threat of being trampled by the poorly spaced runners (corrals started too frequently) was more of a threat to a runner than the weather. I hope the race management offers partial refunds or future credits to this very expensive race. | |
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J. M. from Houston
(4/26/2010)
 "Elite Racing Falls Short..." (about: 2010)
50+ previous marathons
| 2 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 Up until Saturday morning I thought Elite Racing was doing a great job. There was severe weather predicated for race morning but Elite thought they could get the race in before the weather hit. They had a contingency plan to change the cutoff time to four and a half hours for the marathon. I wouldnt have had a problem if they cancelled the marathon and everyone had to run the half. The city's emergency preparedness person was also on the news explaining that they identified 20 facilities along the course to use if the weather deteriorated. Sirens and emergency personnel would alert runs if needed. Elite did a great job getting the word out via e-mail, Facebook and their website. I thought they had all their bases covered. Boy, was I wrong. The first mistake was starting the race 15 minutes early and not communicating it the night before. Starting the race as early as possible is a great idea but it caught many runners off guard. The end result was having a lot of faster runners making their way through thousands of slower runners and walkers. The second mistake was closing the marathon course to everyone except those running under a four-hour pace. At mile 21.5 we were prevented from doing the four-mile out-and-back but were directed to head directly to LP Field. As I understand it, the police were threatening some runners with arrest if they didn't. Sorry, but Elite Racing should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen. The weather was deteriorating but no one was in any immediate danger. If it were, maybe the police should have been more concerned with protecting the cheerleaders in front of them instead of harassing the runners. Bottom line is that if you couldn't run a marathon in under 4 hours, you were not permitted to complete the race. Now, if you ran the half marathon in under 5 hours, you had no problems in finishing your race. Doesn't seem fair, does it? As for me, I had three things going for me: 1) personal responsibility, 2) little respect for authority figures and 3) a Garmin. I got my 26.2 miles in but with no help from Elite Racing. | |
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J. h. from St. Louis, MO
(4/26/2010)
 "Hilly" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my 4th marathon. The course was EXTREMELY hilly. On the first half of the course I don't recall a single flat spot. The second half of the course was not as hilly. The way the course was laid out, there was a point where the marathoners met the half-marathoners, and the half marathoners took up the entire street, most of them walking, so it was very difficult to navigate through them. I would say the hills and the conditions were very poor. This year was interesting because the course was cut short for about 80% of the marathoners due to weather, and they decided to start the race early and not tell anyone. BUT, I would say due to the hills, I did not enjoy the course layout. I was 13 minutes slower than my previous marathon (Long Beach), which I felt was a moderately tough course due to the heat there. | |
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P. O. from Knoxville, Tennessee
(4/26/2010)
 "Well done despite the weather" (about: 2010)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great race and a lot of fun for being the first marathon I've attempted. The crowd and bands along the course keep you going for the first half but the second half of the course was pretty sparse. The weather cut the race short (22.2 miles for those slower than 3 hours) but the race was well enough organized that they were able to push the start time up by 15 minutes. | |
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S. S. from Nashville, TN
(4/26/2010)
"Unfortunate Marathon Choice" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I'm sure there are more angry/disappointed marathoners from this year's event than there are happy ones. While nothing could be done about the weather, the organizers' decision to start the race early without letting anyone know was just downright irresponsible and rude. I've run this marathon 3 times, but I will not run it again. The course is only moderately interesting, and the cost (for what you get... an ugly tech shirt and a medal) is ridiculous. Basically, this is a half marathon for newbie joggers/walkers. The marathon is an afterthought and it definitely takes a backseat in all respects to the half. It is crowded to the point of not being able to run at all in certain places. The finish line area is an absolute zoo of confusion and disorganization. If you're looking for a fun 13.1 walk/jog in an interesting/fun city, this is a good event for you. If you're looking actually to run a marathon, steer clear! | |
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J. O. from Columbia, MO
(4/26/2010)
 "Terrible, terrible handling of weather problems" (about: 2010)
First Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I ran 21 miles of the 2010 marathon, at which time they diverted us to the half marathon finish. The weather did not merit a diversion (half marathoners continued to finish for over an hour after we were prematurely cut off), and NO ONE informed us of the course diversion. There was no mention of the unfortunate circumstances, or apology for the poor handling of the event afterward. In fact, there is no mention of the course diversion on the website. This would have been my first marathon, for which I spent many, many months preparing. I understand weather contingency plans; however, this was so poorly handled that it is inexcusable. | |
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Tom Cleveland from Tennessee
(4/26/2010)
"Mis-organized" (about: 2010)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 The 2010 event was a bummer for more reasons than the weather. The organizers did their best, but it wasn't enough. I registered for the full marathon, paid for the full marathon, and ran whatever I was allowed of it, which was a little more than 20 miles; but I still was listed and ranked as a half marathoner. That made me towards the end of the crowd, of course - very disappointing. Also, I registered for the official runner tracking on the event organizers' website, but none of the three people in my group got any emails. All in all, it was a rip off, country music-style. | |
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m. m. from north carolina
(4/26/2010)
"weather diverted" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I signed up to run the full marathon, but due to the weather and my pace I was diverted to the half marathon course. No real grips about that as no one can control the weather and it was severe weather that did come through that area. My only complaint was that there were runners who did not respect the course crew and actually ran around them and the cones and traffic blocks to continue on the course after it was closed. That is just rude and bad manners, not to mention unsafe. The portion of the couse I did get to run was well manned and well stocked, and the crowds were great. I would love to try it again in the future. The expo was well organized and packet pick up was very smooth. It was great, but the weather was bad and no one controls that. | |
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Shawn Miller from Dayton, Ohio
(4/26/2010)
"Super hilly, hot and chaotic" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Evidently there were some challenges with this year's race. The weather was unpredictable, to say the least; however, given the fact that we all knew well within a week out that it didn't look good, you would have thought that the event would have been better prepared with shelter. There were basically no tents to stand under at the beginning or at the finish. Families were asked to wait at the end in the pouring monsoon rains without any shelter. Beside the amenities, the first half of the course was well staffed; the second half was barren, with hardly any spectators and water only every 2 miles (and in that heat, it wasn't nearly enough - I saw 5 people on stretchers). At 21 miles we were diverted to the end for approaching bad weather. Somehow, however, some people were able to finish the whole race in 5 hours when a lot of us would have been able to complete it in 4 if we would have been allowed. I'm not sure how they were not diverted to the finish. It would have been nice to know the course was that hilly; their elevation chart does not do it justice and it sure was a surprise to a lot of us when at the expo one of the pacers stated to the crowd that "this is not a PR course - it is super hilly and very humid." And you know what? He was right! And after all that we waited over 2 hours just to try and get out of the area because of poor traffic control and extreme gridlock. |
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