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May 17, 2024

Tybee Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Tybee Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 3.8

Organization 4.4

Spectators 3.7

Number of comments: 64 [displaying comments 51 to 61]

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

T. C. from Atlanta, GA (10/16/2003) "Decent race if you like 'small-town' atmosphere" (about: 2003) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Nice flat course, great for friends or family spectators as you will pass them three or four times on the course. Scenery, for the most part is nice. Course is POORLY marked in some places. Several mile markers are simply spray painted on the street and if you don't run with your head pointed at the asphalt, you will miss these markers. Some turns are indicated only by spray painted arrows, again painted on the asphalt, and easy to miss. Saw two or three runners ahead of us miss turns and we had to scream at them to turn around! Also, and this may be a small thing to some, but NO marathoner wants to see '5K, Half Marathon and Marathon' all on one shirt. I can see saving costs, but I bet any marathoner would pay another $10 or $20 to get a shirt that simply said 'Marathon' on it. All in all, a good race, nice scenery, and my wife and kids enjoyed being able to see me run past them four times, including once down the finish chutes.
S. C. from Huntington, WV (3/3/2003) "Nice race needs some minor improvements." (about: 2003) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I liked the fast, scenic course. Any race on the coast will have some wind, so that was no surprise. Tybee is a very pleasant place. Course needs a little more care in markings, especially one spot around mile 22 where I and several other runners went off course. Volunteers were great. There was supposed to be a pasta dinner at a local church but I couldn't find it. Gear check was non-existent, which was a pain.
J. D. from USA (2/12/2003) "Points on which improvement is imperative." (about: 2003) COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 1) The arrows indicating turns on the course absolutely need to be NEON or DAYGLOW. 2) An ATTENTIVE HUMAN BEING needs to be posted at each turn in the course (I saw at least one runner run astray somewhere between miles 14 and 16, on the southernmost portion of the course; and, at around mile 21 or 22, I missed a turn). 3) A system of regularity needs to be established with the water stations such that there is always BOTH water and Powerade available for the runner's choosing (I was unable to obtain Powerade at a station somewhere near mile 20). As a result of these three factors, I bailed out shortly after mile 23 and what was meant to be a marathon was forcibly transformed into a training run for the upcoming Macon Marathon.
J. K. from Athens, GA (2/5/2003) "Fine small marathon" (about: 2003) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is a well-organized event on a potentially fast, mostly scenic course. Volunteer support is very good. The $35 entry fee is a great value considering the nice long-sleeved t-shirts, unique finishers medals and free race posters. This year it was rather windy which slowed times somewhat, but you expect this on the coast. If you're around 3:15 or faster be prepared for a lonely second half. The first 13.1 are run along with the half-marathoners but after that you may be on your own; I hit the half in just under 1:28 and didn't see another runner for nearly 9 miles so it was hard to maintain pace (and I didn't!). Tybee Island is a neat place and this makes for a fun family weekend.
P. R. from Albany NY (2/4/2003) "Good course, but needs to be better marked" (about: 2003) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was a good experience that could have turned into a really bad one. I'm not the only one who had problems with going the wrong way at an intersection between miles 22 and 23. Luckily someone else who made the same mistake told me and others on his way back. I believe there was an arrow pointing left for the 5K which caused the confusion. There should have been a sign showing others to keep going straight. The same intersection cost a team mate of mine about 4 minutes as he didn't realize that he had gone the wrong way and ended up running an extra short loop. There's no plausible excuse for something like this. Get this fixed and it would be a great small Marathon.
H. S. from Georgia (2/3/2003) "Great Race-Fun Time" (about: 2003) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Fun Race. The volunteers and race organizers did an excellent job. Packet pick up was easy, and the volunteers were knowledgeable and helpful. The course is a double loop that is very flat. The race is run on open roads, but traffic was not a problem. Support was terrific. Crowd support was decent for a small race of 300+ marathoners. Thank you for a great time. The weather was perfect for running.
B. C. from Chicago, Illinois (2/3/2003) "Not very friendly to those from out of town" (about: 2003) COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 I was disappointed in the organization of the race. The water stations were far apart (2 miles) and the volunteers weren't attentive to the runners, especially on the second loop of the course. For one example, at the water table near mile 21 the volunteers looked at me as I approached. Even though I called out to identify a need for water, they just kept on talking to each other. I had to stop and pick up the water cups from the table. The race is not accommodating to out of town runners. There was no gear check. The weather was great for running, but cold enough for warm-up clothes. But there was no place to store them. One official told me there was a gear check, he just didn't know where. Then I was told there was none and I could leave my stuff with whoever was present with me (there was no one) or I could leave my gear in the school building at my own risk. Then a third official told me I could not leave my gear in the building. There was no race day information in the packet pick-up. There was a parking permit, but no instructions as to where we could or could not park (important information for out of town runners so we aren't towed while running the race). There was no information about the layout of the start finish area or the start time of the race. It seemed the race is designed only for local runners without much consideration for out of town runners who are unfamiliar with the area. My hotel refused to give me a late check out (even though this is not the high season for tourists) and there were no shower facilities or changing rooms available after the race. It was pointed out to me by hotel clerks that there were showers available on the beach but these were open to the elements and not condusive to a post-race cleansing. I used towelettes in my car and changed in the parking lot, the only alternative available to me. The roads are open to traffic, so runners need to be aware of cars along the course. There was a lot of construction on the course (I know this is outside of the control of the race officials), so the footing was bad over much of the course. There were very few spectators along the course, though some small groups were very enthusiatic. On the positive side, having massage therapists available after the race for a free massage was a very nice touch. I have run over 35 marathons in over 20 states, some large and some small, but I would not return to Tybee unless I were assured improvements were made in the organization and the race were made more friendly to out of town runners.
J. S. from KY (2/2/2003) "Very, Very nice smaller marathon" (about: 2003) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Refer to NC Runner's comments from 2/3/2002. They are very accurate. Besides that I will say bathrooms were readily available and very easy parking. We arrived a 7:00 for an 8:00 race and parked 1 block from the starting line. There were also free parking passes in the runner's packet which I thought was a nice touch. They did a very good job of having water, Powerade, oranges and bananas thoughout the whole course, even still there for the slower runners. Another nice thing about the double loop, you you park on the main street, you will pass your car 4 times and can pickup food, leave clothes, etc.
Kevin P. Donoghue from New York, NY (2/2/2003) "Great Course to Improve Time and Focus" (about: 2003) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This is a course to improve your times on. (I used it to qualify for Boston) In addition to improving my time, this course helped improve my mental focus. The lack of large crowds, and too many runners, really helped to maintain focus on mileage splits and the runners ahead. Being a loop course, you can focus on the known course ahead the second half, especially the last 10K. The race was well organized by Savannah Striders, and staffed with numerous, cheerful volunteers (~every 2 miles). It is flat but can get tough when the coastal breeze picks up. I would rate this a solid marathon to run.
A Runner from North Carolina (2/3/2002) "Terrific race" (about: 2002) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 While I give the race high marks, the pasta dinner was easily the worst I've attended at a marathon. It was promoted in the race materials, I don't think it was directly run by the race officials. I began talking to a couple that was in line ahead of me and they didn't even know there was a marathon this weekend and obviously weren't runners. It was at a small school and was a spaghetti dinner that I think benefited a civic group. The portions weren't that big and the spaghetti was hard, stringy and sticking together. I asked if I could get seconds and they said I'd have to wait until after the line went down (it never did). There also is a 5K and a half-marathon (I like this MUCH better than marathons that also have relays.) All three races start at the same time on a four-lane road. The half-marathon and the marathon start together in one direction on one half of the road and the 5K starts, going in the OTHER direction, on the other half of the road. The course, of course, is nothing but flat and it's scenic. The marathon is a double-loop course, so during the first half you see a lot of other runners but it kind of thins out for the second half. Other than the pasta dinner, I give Tybee high marks. It's not too big, the fees are fairly reasonable ($35) and every race official I spoke with was very nice. There were enough water stops and the volunteers were excellent. The quantity of crowd support wasn't great, but the quality certainly was. There were built in pockets of supporters at the start/finish area since you go through there three times between starting and finishing.

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