Marathon Details - Rochester Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > NY > Rochester > Rochester Marathon

Rochester Marathon & Half Marathon, 5K

Rochester, NY USA

~~September 24, 2023~~ - CANCELLED

http://www.RochesterMarathon.com

More Info:	News
Results:	2019 \| 2018 \| 2017 \| 2016 \| 2015 \| 2014 \| 2013 \| 2012 \| 2011 \| 2010 \| 2009 \| 2008 \| 2007 \| 2006 \| 2005 Top 3 Finishers by Year

Contact

Name:	Nicole Mau
Address:	YellowJacket Racing 155 Culver Road, Suite 110 Rochester, NY 14620
Phone Number:	585-732-1090
Email:	Email the organizers



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Reviews

Course 4.3

Organization 4.2

Spectators 3.9

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Number of comments: 164 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 17 > ]

D. H. from TN (9/26/2019) "Oh the Hill(s)" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 As many have said, oh the hills. I knew it was a hilly course going in so shame on me for having unrealistic performance expectations. The 1st 5K of the course is relatively flat followed by a MASSIVE downhill that gets you about a mile at near sea level. And then you climb. And Climb. And Climb...for about 8 miles. I feel for anyone who did the full because they got to enjoy that not once but twice. Post race was pretty weak IMO, no electrolyte solution like Gatorade just water with bagels and fruit.
M. F. from NEW YORK (9/18/2016) "Hills, hills, hills" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 If you want to qualify for Boston, this is not the course for you. Too many steep hills.
N. G. from Pittsford, NY (3/18/2016) "Great organization, but miss the old course" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 2015 was my first time running the new course (half only); I had run the old course several times in my attempt to improve my marathon time and qualify for Boston. The old course was a fast, flat run mostly along the Erie Canal. About eight miles of it were on dirt/crushed stone, which actually seemed to help my feet not get as sore as they normally do. The new course is very scenic, but it is also extremely hilly, not just rolling hills but steep inclines that you almost need to walk up. It is a double-loop marathon, and after running the half, I couldn't imagine having to turn around and do another loop. I might consider running the half again, but I would never do the full marathon. I wish that this course had been added as an additional half marathon for Rochester runners, rather than replacing the Rochester Marathon course along the canal. However, I do like that Fleet Feet is now running the race - they always do a great job keeping everything organized and fun.
M. F. from Rochester New York (10/17/2015) "Too hilly and crowded." (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Rochester Marathons COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 If you want to try to qualify for Boston, this race is not for you. Very crowded the first five miles. The hills were too much. The course they had along the Erie Canal the year before was much better.
A. T. from Chicago (9/22/2015) "Scenic and hilly" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Overall a good race variety of scenery, water, bridges, boats, trees, bike trails, residential areas, and even a cemetery. Lots of hills, Double loop with a little added. VERY crowded at beginning; I was walking as fast as the runners were running; it was that congested. Should start the Half marathoners later. Not enough porta potties (usually only one) at aid stations. Host hotel had 3 pm. checkout. Nice post-race pizza, chocolate milk. Super friendly volunteers. Had race day packet pickup since Expo closed at 4 p.m. day before.
S. S. from New York (9/21/2015) "Hilly, scenic, not a good full experience" (about: 2015) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The Pros: - Course is scenic with lots of different scenery changes (boardwalk, trail, city) -Course was well-marked - Water stops on second half of the course were good. Cons: - With some minor exceptions, the full course was just repeating the half course. For me, it was mentally tough to run a big hill on mile 7 knowing that I was going to do it all over again at mile 20. - For the first half, the water stops were disorganized and overwhelmed. I couldn't even get water around mile 6 as the volunteers were completely unprepared for the number of runners. That said, it was fine on the second half of the race since instead of 50 runners there were about 1 or 2 per water stop. -As a full runner you were basically on your own for the second half. I was told of 3,200 runners, 2,800 were halfers. The rest made up the full and the relay. When I was running on the second half, everyone around me seemed to have a relay bib. -Low spectator support on the second half of the course. Overall, I would not run this race again as a full. If you are prepared for the hills and want to run the half only, I think it's a good race.
L. K. from Michigan (9/21/2015) "Well Organized Fun Regional Race" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This year was the first featuring a new management team and a new course. I for one enjoyed the new course and was impressed with this race. As a visitor to Rochester I found all the on-course volunteers, marshalls, police and spectators to be very polite & warm, the course was scenic and not as tough as I feared (there are several hills). Some of the friendliest fellow-runners as well, everyone encouraging each-other. Best: free parking near finish line, free on-course photographers, free shuttle to start-line, one of the best start-line MC's I've ever heard, good finish line vibe. Informative website, smooth registration & same-day bib p/u. To be improved: water stands too small, easy to confuse water & Gatorade.
A. T. from Chicago (9/20/2015) "Scenic and hilly" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Overall a good race variety of scenery water, bridges, boats, trees, bike trails, residential areas, even a cemetery. Lots of hills, Double loop with a little added. VERY crowded at beginning; I was walking as fast as the runners were running; it was that congested. Should start the Half marathoners later. Not enough porta potties (usually only one) at aid stations. Host hotel had 3 pm. checkout. Nice post-race pizza, chocolate milk. Super friendly volunteers. Had race day packet pickup since Expo closed at 4 p.m. day before.
K. S. from Delmar, NY (9/24/2014) "Very Nice, Enjoyable" (about: 2014) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Enjoyed East Avenue, canal portion. Run on cinders from about mile 9 to mile 17. Remainder of course is paved. Organization nice, people friendly. Plentiful water stops every 2 miles or so. Good size, not crowded with thousands of runners. Only negative is Fluid electrolyte drink tastes awful. Enjoyed very much.
B. B. from Arlington, VA (10/4/2013) "Outstanding" (about: 2013) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 It wasn't my best performance, but I still had a great time. Pros: - The Erie Canal portion of the course was beautiful. The leaves on some of the trees were just starting to turn. - This was one of the best organized races of any size I've ever run. - Water stations were plentiful and super-well organized. - Volunteers were helpful and enthusiastic. - They started us 15 minutes ahead of the half, so there was no crowding. - For a race of this size (only about 700 for the full, not counting the relay teams), I was impressed by how many spectators turned out early to cheer along the city streets (some even came down to cheer at access points along the canal). - The relay transition areas were right alongside the course, so the relay teams became extra-huge groups of cheering spectators ... a particularly nice surprise on the canal path. - Plentiful chocolate milk, water, pizza, bananas, and donut holes at the finish. - Bag drop and pickup was a breeze. - Host hotel was very nice and a good deal. They even put out post-race bananas at the checkout desk. Cons: - I didn't like the Fluid energy drink they used, but what made it worse was that some of the kids at the water stops were yelling that they had Gatoraid. I hope they correct that in the future. - I tried running with a pace group, but the pacer's splits were all over the place. I expected a steadier pace. General info: - A couple miles on the city streets have what I would describe as gentle, rolling hills. You pick up the Erie Canal path around mile 9 and it is almost perfectly flat from there to a short climb up to the Ford Street Bridge. Once over the bridge, it's flat again. - Portions of the canal path are dirt and gravel. It rained the night before the race, and there were several large puddles in the path. You can run around them in the grass, but expect to get a little mud on your shoes if it's wet. - Upstate NY is breezy ... pretty much all the time. That breeze typically comes out of the west, so you have to run straight into it for most of your trek along the canal. - Long stretches of the canal are not readily accessible, thus, there are no spectators other than the volunteers at the water stations for several miles. If you're a runner that likes cheering crowds, especially as a motivator over the second half of a race, this might not be your style.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 17 > ]

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D. H. from TN (9/26/2019) "Oh the Hill(s)" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 As many have said, oh the hills. I knew it was a hilly course going in so shame on me for having unrealistic performance expectations. The 1st 5K of the course is relatively flat followed by a MASSIVE downhill that gets you about a mile at near sea level. And then you climb. And Climb. And Climb...for about 8 miles. I feel for anyone who did the full because they got to enjoy that not once but twice. Post race was pretty weak IMO, no electrolyte solution like Gatorade just water with bagels and fruit.
M. F. from NEW YORK (9/18/2016) "Hills, hills, hills" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 If you want to qualify for Boston, this is not the course for you. Too many steep hills.
N. G. from Pittsford, NY (3/18/2016) "Great organization, but miss the old course" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 2015 was my first time running the new course (half only); I had run the old course several times in my attempt to improve my marathon time and qualify for Boston. The old course was a fast, flat run mostly along the Erie Canal. About eight miles of it were on dirt/crushed stone, which actually seemed to help my feet not get as sore as they normally do. The new course is very scenic, but it is also extremely hilly, not just rolling hills but steep inclines that you almost need to walk up. It is a double-loop marathon, and after running the half, I couldn't imagine having to turn around and do another loop. I might consider running the half again, but I would never do the full marathon. I wish that this course had been added as an additional half marathon for Rochester runners, rather than replacing the Rochester Marathon course along the canal. However, I do like that Fleet Feet is now running the race - they always do a great job keeping everything organized and fun.
M. F. from Rochester New York (10/17/2015) "Too hilly and crowded." (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Rochester Marathons COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 If you want to try to qualify for Boston, this race is not for you. Very crowded the first five miles. The hills were too much. The course they had along the Erie Canal the year before was much better.
A. T. from Chicago (9/22/2015) "Scenic and hilly" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Overall a good race variety of scenery, water, bridges, boats, trees, bike trails, residential areas, and even a cemetery. Lots of hills, Double loop with a little added. VERY crowded at beginning; I was walking as fast as the runners were running; it was that congested. Should start the Half marathoners later. Not enough porta potties (usually only one) at aid stations. Host hotel had 3 pm. checkout. Nice post-race pizza, chocolate milk. Super friendly volunteers. Had race day packet pickup since Expo closed at 4 p.m. day before.
S. S. from New York (9/21/2015) "Hilly, scenic, not a good full experience" (about: 2015) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The Pros: - Course is scenic with lots of different scenery changes (boardwalk, trail, city) -Course was well-marked - Water stops on second half of the course were good. Cons: - With some minor exceptions, the full course was just repeating the half course. For me, it was mentally tough to run a big hill on mile 7 knowing that I was going to do it all over again at mile 20. - For the first half, the water stops were disorganized and overwhelmed. I couldn't even get water around mile 6 as the volunteers were completely unprepared for the number of runners. That said, it was fine on the second half of the race since instead of 50 runners there were about 1 or 2 per water stop. -As a full runner you were basically on your own for the second half. I was told of 3,200 runners, 2,800 were halfers. The rest made up the full and the relay. When I was running on the second half, everyone around me seemed to have a relay bib. -Low spectator support on the second half of the course. Overall, I would not run this race again as a full. If you are prepared for the hills and want to run the half only, I think it's a good race.
L. K. from Michigan (9/21/2015) "Well Organized Fun Regional Race" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This year was the first featuring a new management team and a new course. I for one enjoyed the new course and was impressed with this race. As a visitor to Rochester I found all the on-course volunteers, marshalls, police and spectators to be very polite & warm, the course was scenic and not as tough as I feared (there are several hills). Some of the friendliest fellow-runners as well, everyone encouraging each-other. Best: free parking near finish line, free on-course photographers, free shuttle to start-line, one of the best start-line MC's I've ever heard, good finish line vibe. Informative website, smooth registration & same-day bib p/u. To be improved: water stands too small, easy to confuse water & Gatorade.
A. T. from Chicago (9/20/2015) "Scenic and hilly" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Overall a good race variety of scenery water, bridges, boats, trees, bike trails, residential areas, even a cemetery. Lots of hills, Double loop with a little added. VERY crowded at beginning; I was walking as fast as the runners were running; it was that congested. Should start the Half marathoners later. Not enough porta potties (usually only one) at aid stations. Host hotel had 3 pm. checkout. Nice post-race pizza, chocolate milk. Super friendly volunteers. Had race day packet pickup since Expo closed at 4 p.m. day before.
K. S. from Delmar, NY (9/24/2014) "Very Nice, Enjoyable" (about: 2014) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Enjoyed East Avenue, canal portion. Run on cinders from about mile 9 to mile 17. Remainder of course is paved. Organization nice, people friendly. Plentiful water stops every 2 miles or so. Good size, not crowded with thousands of runners. Only negative is Fluid electrolyte drink tastes awful. Enjoyed very much.
B. B. from Arlington, VA (10/4/2013) "Outstanding" (about: 2013) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Rochester Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 It wasn't my best performance, but I still had a great time. Pros: - The Erie Canal portion of the course was beautiful. The leaves on some of the trees were just starting to turn. - This was one of the best organized races of any size I've ever run. - Water stations were plentiful and super-well organized. - Volunteers were helpful and enthusiastic. - They started us 15 minutes ahead of the half, so there was no crowding. - For a race of this size (only about 700 for the full, not counting the relay teams), I was impressed by how many spectators turned out early to cheer along the city streets (some even came down to cheer at access points along the canal). - The relay transition areas were right alongside the course, so the relay teams became extra-huge groups of cheering spectators ... a particularly nice surprise on the canal path. - Plentiful chocolate milk, water, pizza, bananas, and donut holes at the finish. - Bag drop and pickup was a breeze. - Host hotel was very nice and a good deal. They even put out post-race bananas at the checkout desk. Cons: - I didn't like the Fluid energy drink they used, but what made it worse was that some of the kids at the water stops were yelling that they had Gatoraid. I hope they correct that in the future. - I tried running with a pace group, but the pacer's splits were all over the place. I expected a steadier pace. General info: - A couple miles on the city streets have what I would describe as gentle, rolling hills. You pick up the Erie Canal path around mile 9 and it is almost perfectly flat from there to a short climb up to the Ford Street Bridge. Once over the bridge, it's flat again. - Portions of the canal path are dirt and gravel. It rained the night before the race, and there were several large puddles in the path. You can run around them in the grass, but expect to get a little mud on your shoes if it's wet. - Upstate NY is breezy ... pretty much all the time. That breeze typically comes out of the west, so you have to run straight into it for most of your trek along the canal. - Long stretches of the canal are not readily accessible, thus, there are no spectators other than the volunteers at the water stations for several miles. If you're a runner that likes cheering crowds, especially as a motivator over the second half of a race, this might not be your style.

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Marathon Details - Rochester Marathon