Marathon Details - Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes

North America Marathons > USA > IA > Marion > Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes

Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes & Half Marathon, Marathon Relay

Marion, IA USA

June 14, 2015

http://www.marathonforshoes.com

More Info:	News
Results:	2015 \| 2014 \| 2013 Top 3 Finishers by Year

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Address:	PO Box 11413 Cedar Rapids, IA 52410
Phone Number:	319-560-6951
Email:	Email the organizers



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Reviews

Course 2.7

Organization 4.0

Spectators 2.7

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Number of comments: 10

J. M. from Iowa (6/17/2015) "bare bones at best" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This is about the most bare minimum marathon anyone could ever put on. Positives: people were nice, they had volunteers on bikes on the course checking on people, the course was easy to follow, the finish in the stadium could have been fun (if anyone was there to see you finish), traffic was very compliant and they had good traffic control. Negatives: The route is incredibly boring and monotonous, there is very little crowd support anywhere even when the course went back into downtown! The course was not marked correctly and appears to be long - some mile markers were missing entirely (mile 12 and 26), the aid stations handed out mostly water in thimble sized cups. The second aid station was not even set up when the race began.
c. L. from Washington, DC (6/16/2015) "Nice people, boring course and poor support" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I ran this to check off Iowa, plus the time of year fit my schedule. First, the good: tech shirt nice size medal easy logistics for parking and packet pickup volunteers were very friendly well marked course bike patrol going around on the course to check on runners Cold chocolate milk at the end Small race so they announce your name and city as you cross the finish The not so good: needs an earlier start. I guess this race used to be in April; well now it is June and 7 am is too late. Start it at 6 am. Course is BORING. Running on the side of the road, no shade, no spectators. Pretty farm land is pretty, but also, very smelly in sections. Road was very slanted in sections Aid stations were not well stocked. They had water and a sport drink that was pretty dilute. One or 2 had gels. But, this was a HOT, humid, SUNNY day on a course with zero shade. Where were the electrolytes? Like bananas, salt packets or salt tablets? Pretzels? SOMETHING? Vaseline for chafing? Sunscreen? I saw one runner laying down in the grass and I stopped to help him. He said his legs were cramping, he needed electrolytes (he had run 140 marathons). A bike patrol stopped. Her supply bag contained gu and band aids. That's it. I became dizzy and begged a donut and some trail mix from a volunteer's personal stash, which probably saved my race. This could have been a very dangerous situation for a lot of runners; they are lucky. I know a few who dropped to the half because of the conditions. they charge for race day packet pickup. Really? There were only 125 marathoners, would that be all THAT hard to do race morning? shirt is hideous, but it is a Nike dri fit, so props for that I met a man who was running this for the second time, his second marathon ever. I am just baffled that anyone would run this more than once. Hotel was one listed on the website and did not want to give a late checkout. I got one extra hour, so I had to rush out of the post race quickly. As if people are beating down the door to check in to a hotel on a Sunday in Marion, IA.
T. B. from Marion, IA (6/15/2015) "Cold water would be nice..." (about: 2015) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I ran this race because, being from Marion, it's right in my backyard (literally, the race runs right by my backyard at one point). The organization was good prior to the event and there were plenty of water and aid stations. My biggest complaint is that despite this being a hot and humid day, the water and sports drink were served warm at aid stations in the 2nd half of the race. Would it be too much to ask for some cold water? Even early stations had slightly cold water but towards the end when a bit of cold water would really help, the liquids were warm. Volunteers were good, plentiful, and cheerful. Not many spectators except in the main part of town and a lot of them only cheered for the people they came to watch. Route is brutal. Hillier than most people think and parts of it are very boring and not shaded. Having pacers was a nice touch, but I didn't like that the pacers were only at half hour increments. This didn't impact my rating since due to the heat, I was so far behind my planned paces that a pacer wouldn't have helped. I am wondering if they will have pacers in future years as I saw multiple pacers finish without any runners, so there may not be enough of a demand for pacers in the future, which is unfortunate. I also wish there were more runners. There were times when I didn't see another runner for miles at a time until usually a fresh relay runner passed me. Previous races were run in April which may have been too cold or too early for some runners, but given the weather in June, I'd prefer it to be moved back to June. Would I run this again? Possibly, since it's in my town, but I'd most likely seek out other races first.
M. B. from Iowa (5/23/2014) "Nice race" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Marion is a nice little race. The support staff were very friendly and quite helpful. My constructive criticism is the route. I would rather see more city streets and less country road. Most of the scenery is quite boring.
T. P. from Akron,Ohio (4/18/2014) "Pleasentville." (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 The last Marathon I ran before Marion was Little Rock...these two races are polar opposites LR is really hyped with many runners in super hero costumes and a medal that weighs 3#s Marion was low key to say the least. The one thing they had in common was lots of rain. Marion was hillier than I anticipated. They had plenty of water stops but not enough had Gaderade . It's a good race if you're trying to do all 50 but nothing to make me want to come back. Not bad but no excitement .
A. R. from Franklin, TN (4/15/2014) "Nice smaller, no-frills race" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was a nice smaller race. Only ~160 marathoners, probably 1000 others between 5K, and half marathon. Course was a loop around Marion, IA. Pretty flat overall, with a few small steady grades, nothing too bad. Spectators were few, but enthusiastic. Volunteers were plentiful and very helpful - especially with all the rain and wind. Overall, a nice race. Would I travel to it again? Probably not.
S. S. from Anchorage, AK (4/15/2014) "Iowa farmland experience" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Iowa isn't flat. For the first 8 miles or so of the course, I was wondering if there would be a single flat section to the course. Overall, I think about 2-4 miles of the course felt flat. The course is also all on streets, nearly all of them with a slight angle downward to the right. April also has inconsistent weather in Iowa. On this weekend, the Saturday was a beautiful 70 degrees, race day was 50 degrees rainy but light winds in the morning and the afternoon was full of thunderstorms, and the Monday following was 32 degrees with a stiff wind. The race forecast looked so horrible that I was glad I only faced 8 miles worth of rain and 4 miles of 20 mph wind. The course has very little wind break. About 10 miles of it is running on roads with corn fields on each side. The spectators are sparse and it seemed difficult to access the route for spectators. I think there were about 10 spectators that actually cheered for everybody. That was disappointing. Overall, I thought it was a worthwhile local marathon or one for 50-staters. I would not advise it as a first marathon as the weather can be horrible, the hills add a bit of difficulty, and you don't get any boost from spectators that you didn't supply.
Dave Graves from Volga, S.D. (4/14/2014) "A mixed review" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 While there is a lot to like about this marathon, the course isn't one of them. Too many miles on busy city streets. The country roads were fine, EXCEPT motorists had little interest in slowing down. There were volunteers or officers at every intersection, but between those posts motorists seemed intent on going at least the posted speed limit even though it was obvious a race was using part of the road. I would suggest looking for a route that used the main roads for less of the mileage. If the Linn Mar School District would come on board, I would suggest coordinating race registration, start, finish and showers all at that location rather than being scattered in four spots around town. I also suggest that Advocare up its donation to the race. There should have been sports drink at every aid station, not just about one in three. There were plenty of water stations, but the stations should also have had sports drink. Volunteers need to continually be pointing runners in the right direction, even late in the race when they're tired of doing so. It's still new information for the runner just reaching their turn. People were helpful at the registration and there were plenty of volunteers on the course. There were pacers, which was nice to see in such a small race (166 marathon finishers).
B. H. from KY (4/27/2013) "Well organized race" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 For this being the inaugural race it was so well organized. The volunteers at the water stops stayed till the last participant came in. Not a lot of spectators, but the volunteers made up for that especially the volunteers near the end kept you going with their cheerfulness. For an inaugural race, you had it nailed! Everything was wonderful except the weather (but you can't help that). Thanks for a great time! I will definitely do again!
Mr. Longrun from Iowa (4/24/2013) "Decent small-scale race" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The most important thing to me is how well organized a race is and this one was top-notch in that respect. Impressive, given that this was the first running of this event. The course was boring, with rolling hills and little wind protection. The spectators were sparse but enthusiastic. Overall, I had fun and would do it again.

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J. M. from Iowa (6/17/2015) "bare bones at best" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This is about the most bare minimum marathon anyone could ever put on. Positives: people were nice, they had volunteers on bikes on the course checking on people, the course was easy to follow, the finish in the stadium could have been fun (if anyone was there to see you finish), traffic was very compliant and they had good traffic control. Negatives: The route is incredibly boring and monotonous, there is very little crowd support anywhere even when the course went back into downtown! The course was not marked correctly and appears to be long - some mile markers were missing entirely (mile 12 and 26), the aid stations handed out mostly water in thimble sized cups. The second aid station was not even set up when the race began.
c. L. from Washington, DC (6/16/2015) "Nice people, boring course and poor support" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I ran this to check off Iowa, plus the time of year fit my schedule. First, the good: tech shirt nice size medal easy logistics for parking and packet pickup volunteers were very friendly well marked course bike patrol going around on the course to check on runners Cold chocolate milk at the end Small race so they announce your name and city as you cross the finish The not so good: needs an earlier start. I guess this race used to be in April; well now it is June and 7 am is too late. Start it at 6 am. Course is BORING. Running on the side of the road, no shade, no spectators. Pretty farm land is pretty, but also, very smelly in sections. Road was very slanted in sections Aid stations were not well stocked. They had water and a sport drink that was pretty dilute. One or 2 had gels. But, this was a HOT, humid, SUNNY day on a course with zero shade. Where were the electrolytes? Like bananas, salt packets or salt tablets? Pretzels? SOMETHING? Vaseline for chafing? Sunscreen? I saw one runner laying down in the grass and I stopped to help him. He said his legs were cramping, he needed electrolytes (he had run 140 marathons). A bike patrol stopped. Her supply bag contained gu and band aids. That's it. I became dizzy and begged a donut and some trail mix from a volunteer's personal stash, which probably saved my race. This could have been a very dangerous situation for a lot of runners; they are lucky. I know a few who dropped to the half because of the conditions. they charge for race day packet pickup. Really? There were only 125 marathoners, would that be all THAT hard to do race morning? shirt is hideous, but it is a Nike dri fit, so props for that I met a man who was running this for the second time, his second marathon ever. I am just baffled that anyone would run this more than once. Hotel was one listed on the website and did not want to give a late checkout. I got one extra hour, so I had to rush out of the post race quickly. As if people are beating down the door to check in to a hotel on a Sunday in Marion, IA.
T. B. from Marion, IA (6/15/2015) "Cold water would be nice..." (about: 2015) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I ran this race because, being from Marion, it's right in my backyard (literally, the race runs right by my backyard at one point). The organization was good prior to the event and there were plenty of water and aid stations. My biggest complaint is that despite this being a hot and humid day, the water and sports drink were served warm at aid stations in the 2nd half of the race. Would it be too much to ask for some cold water? Even early stations had slightly cold water but towards the end when a bit of cold water would really help, the liquids were warm. Volunteers were good, plentiful, and cheerful. Not many spectators except in the main part of town and a lot of them only cheered for the people they came to watch. Route is brutal. Hillier than most people think and parts of it are very boring and not shaded. Having pacers was a nice touch, but I didn't like that the pacers were only at half hour increments. This didn't impact my rating since due to the heat, I was so far behind my planned paces that a pacer wouldn't have helped. I am wondering if they will have pacers in future years as I saw multiple pacers finish without any runners, so there may not be enough of a demand for pacers in the future, which is unfortunate. I also wish there were more runners. There were times when I didn't see another runner for miles at a time until usually a fresh relay runner passed me. Previous races were run in April which may have been too cold or too early for some runners, but given the weather in June, I'd prefer it to be moved back to June. Would I run this again? Possibly, since it's in my town, but I'd most likely seek out other races first.
M. B. from Iowa (5/23/2014) "Nice race" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Marion is a nice little race. The support staff were very friendly and quite helpful. My constructive criticism is the route. I would rather see more city streets and less country road. Most of the scenery is quite boring.
T. P. from Akron,Ohio (4/18/2014) "Pleasentville." (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 The last Marathon I ran before Marion was Little Rock...these two races are polar opposites LR is really hyped with many runners in super hero costumes and a medal that weighs 3#s Marion was low key to say the least. The one thing they had in common was lots of rain. Marion was hillier than I anticipated. They had plenty of water stops but not enough had Gaderade . It's a good race if you're trying to do all 50 but nothing to make me want to come back. Not bad but no excitement .
A. R. from Franklin, TN (4/15/2014) "Nice smaller, no-frills race" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was a nice smaller race. Only ~160 marathoners, probably 1000 others between 5K, and half marathon. Course was a loop around Marion, IA. Pretty flat overall, with a few small steady grades, nothing too bad. Spectators were few, but enthusiastic. Volunteers were plentiful and very helpful - especially with all the rain and wind. Overall, a nice race. Would I travel to it again? Probably not.
S. S. from Anchorage, AK (4/15/2014) "Iowa farmland experience" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Iowa isn't flat. For the first 8 miles or so of the course, I was wondering if there would be a single flat section to the course. Overall, I think about 2-4 miles of the course felt flat. The course is also all on streets, nearly all of them with a slight angle downward to the right. April also has inconsistent weather in Iowa. On this weekend, the Saturday was a beautiful 70 degrees, race day was 50 degrees rainy but light winds in the morning and the afternoon was full of thunderstorms, and the Monday following was 32 degrees with a stiff wind. The race forecast looked so horrible that I was glad I only faced 8 miles worth of rain and 4 miles of 20 mph wind. The course has very little wind break. About 10 miles of it is running on roads with corn fields on each side. The spectators are sparse and it seemed difficult to access the route for spectators. I think there were about 10 spectators that actually cheered for everybody. That was disappointing. Overall, I thought it was a worthwhile local marathon or one for 50-staters. I would not advise it as a first marathon as the weather can be horrible, the hills add a bit of difficulty, and you don't get any boost from spectators that you didn't supply.
Dave Graves from Volga, S.D. (4/14/2014) "A mixed review" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 While there is a lot to like about this marathon, the course isn't one of them. Too many miles on busy city streets. The country roads were fine, EXCEPT motorists had little interest in slowing down. There were volunteers or officers at every intersection, but between those posts motorists seemed intent on going at least the posted speed limit even though it was obvious a race was using part of the road. I would suggest looking for a route that used the main roads for less of the mileage. If the Linn Mar School District would come on board, I would suggest coordinating race registration, start, finish and showers all at that location rather than being scattered in four spots around town. I also suggest that Advocare up its donation to the race. There should have been sports drink at every aid station, not just about one in three. There were plenty of water stations, but the stations should also have had sports drink. Volunteers need to continually be pointing runners in the right direction, even late in the race when they're tired of doing so. It's still new information for the runner just reaching their turn. People were helpful at the registration and there were plenty of volunteers on the course. There were pacers, which was nice to see in such a small race (166 marathon finishers).
B. H. from KY (4/27/2013) "Well organized race" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 For this being the inaugural race it was so well organized. The volunteers at the water stops stayed till the last participant came in. Not a lot of spectators, but the volunteers made up for that especially the volunteers near the end kept you going with their cheerfulness. For an inaugural race, you had it nailed! Everything was wonderful except the weather (but you can't help that). Thanks for a great time! I will definitely do again!
Mr. Longrun from Iowa (4/24/2013) "Decent small-scale race" (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The most important thing to me is how well organized a race is and this one was top-notch in that respect. Impressive, given that this was the first running of this event. The course was boring, with rolling hills and little wind protection. The spectators were sparse but enthusiastic. Overall, I had fun and would do it again.

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Marathon Details - Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes