Gateway To The Pacific Marathon

The guy who puts these races on has no reason to do so. He doesn't promptly return any emails or calls, and takes WEEKS - I kid you not - three weeks to post results from a race with fewer than 100 people. No organization, poor mile markers, lack of food at the finish and two slovenly teens at the finish to take your time and rip your tag off. I had to ask for my medal - no one knew where to go - from all three people at the finish. No "good job," no "thanks," and a boring, unorganized marathon. Course is fine; it's a flat country road, out and back.

Just as the final score does not necessarily measure the excitement of a game, nor do the number of "stars" adequately reflect the overall quality of an event. First, I am surprised that no one else has rated the 2006 edition of the Gateway to the Pacific Marathon due to its unique circumstances this year. So my focus will be on the PEOPLE, not just the rating "stars." It was hotter 'n Heck out there with temps topping 100 - a relatively rare happening even for Elma. Race Director Bob Green afforded all participants a start earlier than advertised for their safety. Due to the double out-and-back course for marathoners, aid stations were certainly often enough (for me) since they were each tapped a few times. The volunteers at each were encouraging and enthusiastic. Due to my quite slow outing, indeed some of the locations were unmanned upon my return, but at my not-so-blistering pace, it was not a hardship to slow down enough to take a cup off a table instead of its being handed to me. As others have said, there ain't no one else out there to cheer you on, 'cept'n if you count the one fellow who was out on his lawn to help slow down traffic as it sped by on the parts of the road which were under construction by his house. (He was very kind and sprayed me with his watering hose, though!!) Remember, if you want lots of cheerleaders, the New York Marathon is in November! The course itself was not exciting and with my generally being a barefoot marathoner, I had been cautioned by Barefoot Jon that this course was NOT barefoot-friendly - but with shoes, it was quite doable. Basically, it is kind of your country course with no city frills. Even with all of the support, I - along with many others, including Marathon Maniacs - felt the effects of the heat (I, more so than others). Toward the end, it was none other than RD Bob and his lovely wife Kristina (she is still lovely even when I am not on the brink of exhaustion!) who encouraged me and provided even more support in order to allow me to finish. Other friendly finishers (thank you Pigtail, Jason, and Jon!) even came back out on the course to help us tail-enders. Because of my own personal trials en route, this was one of the toughest of the 202 marathons I had completed to that date. But certainly worth it to get to the still-there and enthusiastic finish line - even when I was finishing dead last after 8.5 hours!! Again, say what you will about this event - but if there was a "spirit" or "friendliness" rating on this one, I would give it a 10! This is the first time I have never left a review for a marathon on this site, so I must actually believe in it!! All said, this is definitely more well-suited for the more experienced marathoner or those who do not require constant cheering or coddling en route. But those who do it will definitely be rewarded by participating with some of the best people I have ever met - including the event staff!!

We decided to run this on Friday. I flew in from the east coast on Saturday. We ran the race on Sunday. The weather was perfect for this girl from the Southeast. Temperature was fine for me and the low humidity was a real treat. The course was exactly as promised. 13.1 miles out and the same 13.1 back. We expected no spectators and there were none. That was fine with me. One runner's wife drove the course a few times during the race and that was a real blessing. She was quite enthusiastic! Meeting her and her husband was fun. I waited to post my comments because I wanted to be 100% positive in my words but, alas, I cannot... I am disappointed that more care was not given to the results. The finish line was not staffed properly. For as much as this race day registration cost, I expected better organization at the finish. Heck, there were only 32 runners in the marathon! And my time is wrong on the results page. Even our home state is posted wrong. Our last marathon was in June in West Virginia. The Hatfield-McCoy. That one was fantastic! The finish line was staffed by folks who wanted to be there and the race only cost $45 and that included the pasta dinner the night before and a barbeque lunch after the race. I would still recommend this here Washington race for experienced marathoners who need 'Washington' and want to run in July.