Belfast City Marathon

Start bei einem wunderschönen Schloss. Sehr schöne Strecke, ein bisschen hügelig, aber am Ende bergab, super! Die Wasserstationen waren zu wenig. Erst nach 6 Meilen(!!!)war die erste Wasserstation. Dafür gabs Millionen von Gummibären. Ich glaube aber, beim Marathon ist Wasser wichtiger. Aber sonst war alles super. Und Belfast ist eine sehr schöne Stadt mit sehr freundlichen Menschen. Google Translate (to English): Start at a beautiful castle. Very nice track, a bit hilly, but at the end downhill, great! The water stations were too few. Only after 6 miles (!!!) was the first water station. There were millions of gummi bears for that. But I think water is more important at the marathon. But everything else was great. And Belfast is a very beautiful city with very friendly people.

The route isn't great- it would have been nice to see more of the character of Belfast and less of the motorway, but the start at the Town Hall is nice. The support was sparse along the motorway but you can't expect them to trek out and stand in such a bleak spot, where there was support it was enthusiastic and generous. Special thanks to those who came out with hoses- it was a hot day. The relay is a big problem, some of the changeover points were separated off which helped but for most you have to run through a bottleneck of waiting relayers looking for their teammates. Those only happen every now and again though, the real problem is that (unlike in most races where you are able to settle into a group doing your pace after a few miles) because of the relay the marathon runners are constantly having to pass or be passed. This is slightly annoying in the first half but utter misery after mile 20. The cups of water are impossible to drink from. They trialed two stations with bottles this year which was good, but they used large bottles and I suspect they will conclude there was too much wastage. Small sports cap bottles would be great- it is sponsored by a mineral water company. This was my first marathon so it's hard to compare but overall I think it's a nice enough small city race that could showcase its location a bit better.

This marathon has so much potential but is let down hugely by poor organisation and a dreadful course. The finish line can only be described as a shambles. The last thing I want to do once I finish a marathon is fight my way through an enormous crowd to get my stuff. No designated place to meet family and friends either. Also, relay runners and us proper runners need to be divided at handover points. The relay runners seem to be oblivious to the people who are actually running the whole thing. Medal was very underwhelming too. Support along the route was negligible too sadly. All in all, a very disappointing race. If organisers apply themselves then this could be a great race. It certainly is not at the minute.