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May 10, 2024

Palm Beaches Marathon Festival Runner Comments

Back to Palm Beaches Marathon Festival Information & Reviews

Course 3.7

Organization 3.6

Spectators 3.1

Number of comments: 106 [displaying comments 31 to 41]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 11 > ]

S. B. from Miami, Florida, USA (12/5/2011) "Worst organization ever!" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 Nothing worked and I mean NOTHING! Cheap t-shirt to start, last year same medal to finish! No Powerade for the first 7 or 8 miles, shortage of water, very few port o let, no shaded area for finishers, bananas, water and plain bagels (plain!) kept under the Florida sun for the finishers! If you check on their FB page you'll find a lot more complaints and everybody agrees: we will not run this race again under these circumstances!
E. B. from Cincinnati, OH (12/4/2011) "Embarrassed I had 6 friends sign up" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I'm sure there will be many posts about this race- at least there are on FB. I ran this last year and had mostly a great experience. This year was a much different experience. The course is fast and flat- but the positives end there. To start, the tshirt is a cheap cotton (who does that anymore?), and no bag like last year. The time was pushed back- florida races all start early for a reason... Then there wasn't any gatorade until mile 9. I'm sorry but that's a hazard in florida heat AND 2-3-mph winds. I was already covered with salt by then and I wasnt surprised when I saw a few people pass out later down the road. (which by the way, medics were scarce) There were very few volunteers so somebody must have pissed somebody else off it seems. This is an expensive race and not worth it now. Miami now has a RnR 1/2 the next week so if you did the half- wait a week and go to Miami. I will not do this again and if they can't get a good race organizer, they should shut it down. Runners put in months of hard work and money into a marathon and to be treated like idiots is unacceptable.
A. P. from West Palm Beach, FL (12/4/2011) "Needs Organizational Help" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 1. One computer at the packet pick up is not enough and is inefficient. The guy looked my name up, then wrote my number on a yellow pad, ripped off the yellow piece of paper and told me to go inside to get my packet. 2. The website needs to have a course map for all the races. They had the marathon course in 3 parts (north, central, and south) with no arrows to indicate where the course goes to. For the race itself, the markings were very good. 3. Insufficient water tables. The website said there would be water at every mile and there wasn't. I ran the half marathon and there were 9 stations and several couldn't keep up with filling the water cups. Spectators were giving their own water bottles to runners. 4. Race should start earlier as the temperature was about 72 degrees at the start. 5. Course is flat and fast but a late start makes the run more difficult with the heat index and shortage of water.
G. D. from Tulsa, Oklahoma (12/4/2011) "You ran out of water? really?" (about: 2011) First Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 A bit disorganized all the way around...but what really was unconscionable was the fact that at one stop I had to wait about 40 seconds for water as I had to stand there and wait for the volunteer to open the cups and then pour the water. But that's not the worst part! At the next stop I waited in a line for water for about one minute before getting to the front to find out THEY WERE OUT OF WATER. I won't be doing this race again.
E. C. from Miami, FL (1/4/2011) "Great, Small Marathon!" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Palm Beaches Marathon Festival COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my 8th marathon and probably the smallest one I've done. However, I loved it! The benefit of a small race is that everything is less of a hassle - from the expo, to getting to the start, to getting food afterward at the finish. I ran NYC a few weeks prior, so the experience was completely different yet still nice. I will definitely do again. I wouldn't think it's a great 1st marathon - not because of the course or organization, but because it's not a hyped-up weekend like a first-timer may want or expect. But for your second through 100th, this is wonderful. I do wish they hadn't run out of small shirts at the expo by noon on Saturday, though....
G. S. from Calhoun,GA (12/23/2010) "Beautiful, fast course." (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a good marathon. It was not only fast, but there were many long stretches were you could get a good, consistant pace. How could a Florida marathon not put oranges or bananas out on the course?! It would have been a benefit for the many runners who got cramps. The early start and fast finish results were great. The strollers in the first mile caused some confusion.
C. C. from Wollongong, Australia (12/8/2010) "Great first marathon!" (about: 2010) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 - Course is great for beginners. Very flat; sea level. - A little boring at times (very long straight!) - yet it is a marathon, not a scenic tour. It was still nice, especially for a city. - The crowds made up for it; I was by myself for 2 hours but the people out the front of their homes and especially at the frequent water stations made it so much easier to stay determined! - Food after the race was excellent - so much was available! - Expo was good, but the "goody" bag was a little disappointing. And they ran out of medium singlets to buy! - Mile markers with clocks, and frequent water stops with Vaseline, gel, etc., made it easy to keep pace. Overall, I was extremely satisfied with the festival. As it was my first, I don't know how it compares to others, yet I can say that this met all of my needs and expectations for my first run. Definitely helped to break the 3-hour mark!
J. G. from West Palm Beach (12/6/2010) "Fun Marathon" (about: 2010) 3 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Ran the 5K Friday night and enjoyed the great food and music. Course was a little dark at the turnaround. Ran the full marathon on Sunday and would have loved to have oranges and bananas along the course. Thanks for a great time.
B. B. from St. Augustine Beach, FL (12/6/2010) "Much improved over last year" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran this race last year and it seems that the negative comments have been addressed. The new course is way better (please keep it!), and the expo is more intuitively organized. We got very lucky with the weather this year, as it was maybe 50-55 at the start and probably 75 at the finish. I got a PR here, so Palm Beach will have a special place in my heart - flat and fast for sure!
K. P. from CT (12/5/2010) "good December race" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is the 5th time I've run the half marathon in West Palm. The event is seven years-old. I come down from CT, and hotels are plentiful and cheap. Parking is fantastic - free and within a half-mile of the start. It's and early start at 6:15. Post-race food is incredible - this year they had rice and bean with chicken, yogurt, bananas, bagels. The start is chaos - they need to work on corrals. That said, the course has been straightend out for both the half and the full. Weather this year was perfect - very sunny with low humidity.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 11 > ]

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