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May 14, 2024

Tallahassee Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Tallahassee Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.5

Organization 4.8

Spectators 3.6

Number of comments: 120 [displaying comments 61 to 71]

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P. P. from Georgia (2/27/2011) "A Good One" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Tallahassee Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my second consecutive Tallahassee Marathon. A true pleasure to run, despite the change in course for this year. Really nice tech shirts and a real keeper of a medal. Unique awards crafted by a local artisan. To the runner who didn't like that others were using MP3's, despite the ban: you could not have run 11-50 marathons and not have seen this before. Possibly 4 in 10 of the runners were wearing them. Why would you want others DQ'ed? Did they harm you? Did the race rules stipulate DQ for this violation?
S. P. from Tallahassee, Fl (2/18/2011) "Great first race, but boring at times" (about: 2011) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Tallahassee Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Great first marathon because the course was mostly flat. It DID have a few hills in Southwood, but the spectator support in the neighborhood took my mind off of them for a bit. Organization was GREAT- consistent water/gel stops every 2-3 miles with friendly support. I also liked that they announced everyone's name and home town while they crossed the finish. However, I'm not sure if it was because this was my first marathon or if it was just the course, but the portion on Tram Road was painfully boring - flat with just trees and few houses and very little support; most of the St. Marks Trail was like this too. But, like I said, it's a nice, laid-back race perfect for first-timers because of its mild course. Oh, and the weather was great too!
K. L. from Fort Walton Beach, FL (2/18/2011) "Well organized and great volunteers" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Tallahassee Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I really enjoyed this race. It was well organized, well staffed, and well executed. Spectators were sparse, but the volunteers were enthusiastic. The course was varied enough to keep things interesting, and it was pretty flat. Will definitely do it again.
T. B. from Ga (2/17/2011) "Good job, organizers" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Tallahassee Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Well-organized outing. Spectators were few but very helpful, especially the ad hoc aid stations in Southwood.
M. A. from Atlanta, GA (2/14/2011) "PR-friendly, small-town race!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Tallahassee Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This is a great small-town race... I ran the half in 2010, and ran the full this year in 2011. The course is as advertised, fast and flat. Set a new PR on it! One kind of steep hill right around mile 13 at the turnaround, but that is due to the fact the St. Marks trail is under construction, so it should be gone next year. Plus it's short! I'll take one short hill over a long incline any day! Actually the right number of porta-potties at the start - I only had to wait in line about 5 minutes! Also, you get to stay inside the gym facilities until shortly before the start, so it's easy to stay warm. They had free coffee from Community Coffee for everyone - not just volunteers - at the start! I don't see that very often, and I do love my coffee! Really nice touch. They did have self-seeding pace signs - a nice improvement from last year, and I felt folks generally abided by these so I didn't have trouble starting out on pace! You lose the half marathoners at about mile 5.5... the marathon is a small group, but you're never totally alone. Well stocked aid stations, and in the middle miles a really nice guy handing out oranges at an unsanctioned station. :) They really swanked up the medal this year! Much bigger than last year, and it has their cute little groundhog mascot on it! Also the shirts were fabulous - light blue for the ladies, with the same groundhog mascot - I've gotten compliments on it at a couple runs already, which is not something that happens often with free race day shirts! You finish on the FSU track, and your family can actually be right down by the finish line - no worries about meeting up. The organizers do a great job making this move smoothly, and the pasta dinner was fun with a great speaker, as always.
p. r. from marietta, GA. (2/8/2011) "VERY LONELY MARATHON" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Tallahassee Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I am very thankful to all the volunteers who came out for the events(1/2 & full). I came out to run my 1st FL marathon from GA with 3 other friends. We stayed at the Doubletree Hotel (which was recommended on the site). The website said it was at about 1/4 mile from starting point, but it was more likely about 2 miles. No sign of any marathon close to the starting point; we had to drive out little with other people that were finding as well. Somewhat hilly on the half point of marathon - not flat. The worst thing was that, on the bib number, there is no mention of the Tallahassee Marathon no any of date for this event; my little, hometown 5K organizers provide better bib info than this big event. Extremely disappointed about that because I collect all of my bib numbers from other state marathons, and this is the only one that does not mention where it is from. Coming back to the course, I had to run by myself; there were not enough people to run together. My friend told me that, after he was done, he was lost two times about where to go. Well, I had never run such a small marathon before, and I will not run this one again. I am sure that the people were nice, and I am very thankful to the volunteers again, but know and expect what you are getting into.
J. K. from Baker, Fl (2/8/2011) "Very well organized" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Tallahassee Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Great new course. The Southwood addition was nice - yes, some hills, but nothing too challenging. Spectators were sparse but that really isn't under the race's control. I have seen races have a "Chaise run," which rewards the spectators with little freebies for sitting in their chairs on the side of the road and cheering the idiots running 26.2 miles such as myself; it tends to bring more spectators to the scene. The tram road section was totally forgettable with a long stretch out and back with no spectators or anything worthwhile to look at. Volunteers were the best so far of any race I have been to. Literally had one bearded fellow run back to the table, grab a cup and sprint up alongside of me 50 yards after I left the mile 19 aid station because he handed the cup of water I was about to grab off to someone else. The finish on the track was a great touch, but traffic control the last 1/2 mile in was a bit sketchy, as I had to dodge several cars leaving even though I was finishing in just over 4 hours. I will run Tallahassee again!
L. D. from Florida (2/8/2011) "Nicely done!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Tallahassee Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Course: Being from Florida, I would call this race pretty flat. There were some small rolling hills, but great scenery with the exception of a short boring part on the out/back. A few miles through a greenway, a few more through really pretty neighborhoods, and a finish on the FSU track. The entire course was extremely well policed, and very little "running with traffic." Volunteers: They were FABULOUS!! Water stops were every 2 miles or so, and most had candy, pretzels, vaseline, GU, etc., water, and Gatorade, and accompanied by a porta-let. Organization: Great value, especially if you're a Maniac or 50-Stater... nice discount. Pickup was allowed race morning, and it was especially nice to be able to wait in the warm gym with complementary coffee before the start. Pretty tech shirt and nice medal. One negative (big one for me) was the ban on headphone use. If you're marathon is on the small side, there is alot of solo running unless you're with a buddy doing the same pace. The website clearly stated that headphone usage was banned, and so did the email updates that were sent out the week before. Despite this, I saw at least 30 people running with them. When I asked an official if they were going to be DQ'ed, why were they still on the course, she evaded my question. I'm fine if you're going to have the rule, but not so fine if you're not going to enforce it. Big negative for me. On the other hand, they advertised a 6:00 time limit. There were several runners who did not make this deadline, and they kept the finish line open until the last runner came across (about 25 extra minutes). I'm sure that was much appreciated. Nice race overall, and one I would do again.
J. R. from Lansing, Michigan (2/7/2011) "Very good, small race" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Tallahassee Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The course is flat and fast. They hand out Gatorade, water and GU every 2 miles, and the post-race food has a lot of variety, including pizza, fruit, candy, Gatorade, coffee, bagels, and more. This is a very well put-on race.
B. D. from Tallahassee, FL (2/7/2011) "Great small-town race!" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Tallahassee Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This was my first "smaller" marathon - I have run several large ones to compare - and I had a great time. The organization was superb, and they had adequate aid stations both during the marathon and post-race. The course is flat and I loved the new course though the Southwood community this year. The hills were extremely mild; I would barely even call them "hills." Not too many spectators. Overall, great race.

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