The Boulder Backroads Marathon was my 20th marathon and is one of my favorites to date. The scenery was breathtaking - especially the sunrise race start - the course was relatively flat and the organization was good.

The spectator rating was given a 3-star, only because there just weren't that many people out. Those that were out were very supportive and kind. If you feed off crowd support, you will go hungry. I personally appreciated the lower spectator numbers. I ran Chicago two weeks prior and you can't find a moment's quiet in that marathon.

The marathon was run almost entirely on compacted dirt roads and that was very easy on the joints. I was only a little sore the next day and I attribute that to not running on blacktop or cement.

All in all a great run!

Let me start by saying that Boulder, CO is a fantastic place to run and spend a long weekend. The 26.2 miles of the race were very nice, fairly scenic, plentiful enthusiastic volunteers, with lots of well-stocked aid stations. The race organizers did a great job with this part of the weekend.

Unfortunately, everything else, both pre- and post-race needs help. At packet pick-up, no one knew where the packets were. Initial pick up was at Fleet Feet, who sent me to the race site, who said to go back to Fleet Feet for it, who then sent me back to the race site, where I got my bib, shirt, but not the souvenir pint glass. I had to go back to Fleet Feet after the race for this.

Traffic into and out of the race area was very congested. The website warned of this, so those arriving late have no excuse. However, it took me 30 min to get out of the parking area and onto the road after the race.

Also, the finish area was too congested. After crossing the line, the medals were laid out on tables, and you could just pick one up. I intially picked up a medal for the 5mile race finishers. No one bothered to hand you the correct one. There was 1 tent with orange and banana slices, and coolers with water and cups. No bottles of water, no cokes. After a marathon, I didn't want to stand there repeatedly filling a 4oz cup with water. There was a large area with sponsor tents set up. Evol Burritos had a truck, but the line had >50 people in it, and after standing around waiting at the water cooler, I didn't want to stand any longer. The beer tent had an even longer, slower moving line.

Again, the race itself was nice, the surrounding town was great. The organization was poor. My main suggestions would be to limit the finish area just to actual runners, not family, too. Also, keep the food close by and make it more easily accessible. I applaud the efforts of keeping this a 'green' event, but please offer bottles of water/gatorade/coke/anything at the finish, so we don't have to stand there refilling small cups over and over again. Once I made it to the car, I needed about 10 of those cups or 1 bottle of something. Finally, please do something to ease traffic. There were lots of police on the course, maybe one could be repositioned in the parking lot.

The race website describes this a relatively flat course, but there is over a 1000' in elevation gains. If you are going to run this race, you must integrate lots of hill training or you will end up with leg cramps from the steep grades, especially a long slow elevation gain from mile 18 to 21. The race was generally well organized except the finish was over uneven ground and the sharp elevation increase within the final 100 feet was a complete joke.

I want to like this race and have run the full and half marathon previously. I ran the full again this year and they have made some things better others are still poor.

The Good: They started earlier (7 AM) to beat the heat (beautiful weather for October!).

The bad: they ran out of timing chips days before the race so you had to pick up one on race morning after sitting in a line for an extremely long time. As always if you run the marathon and finish in the 4 hour range don't expect any food because the 5 mile and 1/2 marathoners got it all.

I wish the organizers of this race would take lessons from the Bolder Boulder organizers because they just don't get it right.

Wow! Great organization, awesome T, good course support and BEAUTIFUL scenery! Folks - this is a tiny one with lots of rolls and a great warm up for a later fall marathon.
Didn't like the last quarter mile through a 'weedy' grassy section to the side of the parking lot. Oranges and bananas were gobbled up by the half marathon finishers so there were none left when I arrived and I was NINTH! Otherwise, Bravo, team. Good job. Thank you!

Where to start? I decided to run this race because it was close and the Blue Sky Marathon in Ft. Collins was closed. Problems: timing system. You have to wear this archaic-looking band - either on your wrist or ankle. The director said he "invested in a system." Well... it's time to get a new one. It starts to feel really bulky after awhile and cuts into you. Also, there were only two checkpoints, and my time wasn't even recorded on one! AND they don't post results. It's way too expensive for what you get. I just didn't see it. There wasn't any food left for the back-of-the-packers. There was still an hour or so left on the course. I got brown bananas and the last orange piece. Fans were extremely sparse, but encouraging. The course certainly isn't friendly for your family seeing you throughout. Parking was odd - we were in one of the first cars but didn't get prime parking. The course isn't all that scenic, really. Bottom line: do yourself a favor and pick another race. You won't regret it.

This is a POOR race. Don't be fooled by the runner-crazy location - pick another race or you'll be disappointed.

I ran this as a half in '08 and a full in '09. The organizers made a big deal about how good the food would be in '09. Wrong! I finished over 4 hours, and all they had were some white buns and weak bagels. 'Real' food? Pizzas you could BUY for $1. Are you kidding? For your $80+ fee you don't get food? I would have paid at that point, but DUH. I don't carry cash during a race and my car was parked too far away to go get it. VERY disappointing. Medical support looked good, however, as I saw at least a half-dozen people being treated, likely for heat-related injuries. They should start the marathon at 7, not 8.

This was a good race, and there were definitely difficult parts that were to be expected in Colorado. The altitude and heat were a lot more challenging than I thought. The course, start time, and organization of the mile markers left much to be expected.

I was fooled by the hype about the new race director, new sponsors, new traffic flow, etc. Unfortunately its the same miserable race with the worst organizers imaginable. Why? First of all, they have not given promised medals to many of the winners for several years now - including 2009!

Need more? How about running out of water, only filling the cups 1/4 full, and running out of food. I still have three scars on my ankle from the chip timer that cut me - that's never happened to me after over 50 races. Need more? The late start in a hot September under dusty conditions can really compound the lack-of-water problem. Several dozen finishers actually refused to accept the medal at the finish out of protest. The race director never even showed his face the day of the event.

I have been racing for 25+ years (second marathon, lots of halfs, etc.), and this was by far the most poorly organized race I've run. The heat was a factor, and not the fault of the organizers, but they were unprepared. An email was sent out claiming that it was much hotter than predicted, but that is not the case. I watched the weather all week and it was clear that it was going to be very hot for a marathon. With that knowledge, I went equipped with water, and I'm glad I did. But racers should not have to carry their own water and/or have family meet them along the way for more water in order to complete a race. We have paid a substantial entry fee. Running out of water, which happened at several stations, is just not acceptable. The relay race also introduced some problems: Vans carrying runners to their transition points kicked up dirt, slowed down right in front of runners, and blew their horns at marathoners (!) and the relay racers stood in the middle of the road waiting for their teammates, forcing marathoners to literally push through the crowd. Cresting the last big climb, just after 20 miles, I had to shoulder my way through runners just standing in the way.

Please, start the race earlier (I'd rather deal with parking in the dark then running in the heat), make sure you have adequate supplies (hey, aim for having too much water, and food at the finish), and nix the relay - it's a menace. The shirt and hat are nice, but that's pretty much all that was good.