Marathon Details - Catawba Valley Bank Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > NC > Hickory > Catawba Valley Bank Marathon

Catawba Valley Bank Catawba Valley Bank Marathon & Half Marathon, 5K

Hickory, NC USA

~~October 22, 2005~~ - CANCELLED

http://www.cvrunfest.com/default.asp

Results:

2004 | 2003
Top 3 Finishers by Year

Contact

Name:	Gary Ledford
Address:	Catawba Valley Run Fest PO Box 5326 Hickory, NC 28603
Phone Number:	828-324-2858
Email:	Email the organizers



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Reviews

Course 2.9

Organization 3.9

Spectators 2.1

Write a review

Number of comments: 8

Robert Pate from North Carolina (7/10/2009) "Do It Again" (about: 2004) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Catawba Valley Bank Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I loved it. I ran my fastest marathon here. I would like to run it again.
B. F. from Jarrettsville,Maryland (5/23/2005) "A nice, rural marathon with hills" (about: 2004) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Catawba Valley Bank Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I liked this marathon. True, it is on roads with traffic, but you have got to learn to take the good with the bad. This was like marathons of old. The support was great and the after-run food was the best I have seen.
j. g. from Charlotte, N. C. (11/26/2004) "HILLY, DANGEROUS COURSE" (about: 2004) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Catawba Valley Bank Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 This is a neat, small-town, country marathon which is well organized and well presented, but it has one major flaw: much of the course is on hilly, 2-lane roads with traffic going in both directions and no room for runners. It is scary to see a big pick-up truck coming towards you pulling a large trailer, and you know you have to get off the road or be hit. I had to move to the grassy, weedy, gravely side of the road (no sidewalks, no curbing) 3 or 4 times or risk being killed. Once when I jumped off the road I stepped into a hole which was coverd by weeds, and I thought momentarily that I had sprained my ankle. The organizers are to be applauded for their efforts, but this course should be scrapped and they need to start all over to develop a safe, runner-friendly course.
R. B. from NC (10/24/2004) "Rural Country Run" (about: 2004) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Catawba Valley Bank Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 If you like rural country marathons, this one is for you. It is complete with farms, cows, and crowing roosters. It's a challenging course that will test your hill workouts. All of the race staff was great and the whole thing ran very smoothly. If you need spectators for support, you'd better bring your own...unless you can get the cows to yell for you. Overall, not a bad event. Take the challenge...anyone can run 26 at the flat beach...
K. L. from Lincolnton, NC (1/20/2004) "Not a safe course" (about: 2003) COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I train in Hickory, a beautiful area of NC, so the hills weren't too bad. (There are worse ones around). Running on the right hand side of a two-lane country road, with limited shoulder space, was too unsafe. The water stop between miles 2 and 6 was picked up before all of the runners passed it. Yes, slow runners need water too. The only way I'd run the race again is if a new course was set.
Rick Karampatsos from China Grove, NC (12/3/2003) "They did a great job for their first marathon" (about: 2003) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The course is very hard to run with the steep hills, but it was well worth the effort. From the start to the finish we were helped with all we needed to run the course. I pray that more people will run the marathon next year. The course offers a nice view of the area, and it's easy to get to from the highway.
Anonymous Runner from North Carolina (10/28/2003) "More Traffic Control, Fewer Hills" (about: 2003) COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 To start with, Hickory is a lovely place, but the race was held mostly in the next county on hilly rural roads. A large part of it was very scenic, but this also must be the mobile home capitol of North Carolina judging by the number that I saw. The 2 lane section of Hwy 127 kept there from being adequate traffic control so that the half marathon leaders were running back through the marathon mid-packers on one side of the road with no traffic cones to separate any of the runners from the traffic whizzing by. I was uncomfortable running on the right side with traffic coming to my back, and fast runners coming to my front while I tried to stay out of their way. Once off of the main highway, the course became one long training run as you had to get off the road when traffic approached, usually around a blind curve. And what was billed as 'rolling hills' were more like rolling 'mountains'. The uphill climb after the river bridge around mile 23 was brutal. The brochure also stated that the course would stay open until the last runner finished, but I saw them taking down the time clock while there were still runners on the course. I wonder if they even got a time? I realize that this is an inaugural event, but several improvements would make it much better. 1) Find roads in and around Hickory that could have one lane at least closed to traffic, or adequate sidewalks. 2)Yes, Hickory has a lot of hills but there must be a course that would not be quite so tough. 3) If you advertise that the course is open until the last runner finishes - do it, don't cheat the slower finishers. Otherwise state a cutoff time. Hope that there will be some improvements and I might be back. The number of volunteers and aid stations was great, so not everything was negative, just some improvements needed to make it a better race.
C. S. from South Carolina (10/27/2003) "Fun but hilly course" (about: 2003) COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The race volunteers were great, and there were nearly as many as runners. The water stops were well stocked with water, Gatorade and frequently gels. There were also port-o-lets at the start/finish and on the course. My only complaint, and a pretty big one, was that none of the turns were manned. You either needed to know the course, or pay close attention to see the three small orange arrows painted on the road to know where to turn. There were an unfortunate few that turned the race into an ultra by missing one turn. There were not many spectators, but they were enthusiastic. The course was comprised of two main parts: in-town and out-of-town. The in-town section ran long 127, which was a pretty busy road. One lane was coned-off for runners while it had 4-lanes, but you were on your own once it dropped down to 2-lanes. In addition, there really wasn't a shoulder, and this section was not very scenic. However, once off 127, the traffic dropped considerably and the course was very scenic (beautiful fall colors and a waterfall). The mile intervals and halfway points were well marked. Overall, it was a good first Foothills Marathon.

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Marathon Details - Catawba Valley Bank Marathon