Marathon Details - Great New York State Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > NY > Syracuse > Great New York State Marathon

Great New York State Marathon & Half Marathon, 10K, 5K

Syracuse, NY USA

October 15, 2023

http://www.greatnewyorkstatemarathon.org

Results:

2023 | 2022 | 2021
Top 3 Finishers by Year

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Address:	The New York State Fairgrounds, 581 State Fair Blvd., Syracuse, NY US 13209
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Reviews

Course 2.0

Organization 1.0

Spectators 3.0

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Number of comments: 1

R. C. from Western New York (10/21/2022)

"A Great Disappointment" (about: 2022)

50+ previous marathons | 1 Great New York State Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3

This race has a lot of potential to be great if the race director is willing to put in the effort to make it so.

I'll begin with the good things:

1. 5K/10K and HALF MARATHON/MARATHON COMBO - I love this option. People who took part in this Excelsior Challenge earned an extra medal.

2. PLENTY OF FREE PARKING ON THE FAIRGROUNDS: But you had to walk about a quarter of a mile from the parking to get to the start/finish line.

3. REALLY NICE SHIRTS AND MEDALS: They offered jackets from the previous year for $10, and I found the jackets to be of really good quality.

4. DECENT BAG DROP: The bag drop was conveniently in the building right near the start/finish. Runners who utilized the bag drop had to fill out a ticket, one half of which was taped to the bag. There was a bit of a wait while people filled out their tickets (there was only one pen available). I really don't understand why the ticket was even necessary. Why not just put a piece of tape on the bag and write the runner's bib number on the tape? The entire process would've been much quicker if it had been done this way.

5. PLENTIFUL BATHROOMS AT THE START FINISH: Bathrooms were located in the building right next to the start/finish. I didn't have to wait for a stall at all (unusual for females ... usually there's a long line), and they were clean and warm (the warmth was nice as the temps for both mornings were pretty crisp).

Okay, now the bad stuff:

1. LACK OF SIGNS ON COURSES. I ran the 10k on Saturday. There's a point where the 5k and 10k runners split, but there was no signage at all to indicate who goes where. They had a person yelling out, but what if a runner is hearing impaired or reaches that point when the person yelling it out takes a breath? A sign at the split indicating 10kers go one way and 5kers go the other is absolutely necessary. There was another point near the end when the 10kers had three road options, but there was no one there to direct which option to take, and there were no signs. I followed the person who was a bit in front of me as it seemed like he was familiar with the course. It happened to be the right choice, but if no one had been ahead of me, I wouldn't have known which way to go. If I had taken the wrong way, I would have been really angry as I had just passed the third place female overall. In the marathon on Sunday, there were at least two places where I wasn't sure which way to go, and there were no signs indicating the correct path.

2. LACK OF ORGANIZATION: I took third place female overall and first for my age group. When I went into the building to pick up my awards (there was no award ceremony, as far as I could tell), I discovered two things: 1. They only recognized the top male and top female rather than the top three males and top three females, and 2. They had given my first place age group plaque to someone else. I still really don't understand how this happened. They said they would mail it to me, but I haven't received it yet. When I finished the marathon, I had to ask around to figure out how to get the extra medal for completing the Excelsior Challenge. One would think that the extra medals would be available at the finish line as those who completed the Excelsior Challenge were wearing unique race bibs.

3. LACK OF PORTA POTTIES: I didn't see the first porta potty until around mile 15. There was at least one public bathroom in the park we ran through that I utilized, but that was at least six or seven miles into the race. Unfortunately, I experienced some stomach issues during the marathon and really needed the porta potty support. The vast majority of the marathons I've run (this race was my 50th marathon) have porta potties at least every three miles or so. Sadly, there were long stretches of the course where it was impossible to find a place where I could duck and go.

4. LACK OF AID STATIONS/SUPPLIES: Aid stations were too few and far between, and for most of them, they only offered water and Gatorade.

5. LACK OF POST-RACE ACTIVITIES/FOOD: Our bibs got us into the Oktoberfest for free, which consisted of fewer than five vendors and no free food/beer. We had to pay to eat/drink. At the finish line, there was chocolate milk, water, bananas, and apples available to runners. How is it that there's an Oktoberfest at the finish, yet runners don't get a single free beer? This is a crying shame.

6. A COURSE THAT DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE: The marathon consisted of a couple of very long out-and-backs on roads that had a lot of traffic and were crowned. There were no timing mats at the turnarounds, either. The placement of the timing mats that were there didn't make any sense. Also, this area is beautiful. I would think that there are much better course options out there that are a bit more runner friendly (and not as crowned) and beautiful to look at. Also, runners were forced to run with traffic, which always makes me really nervous. I had one vehicle that ended up speeding by so close to me that had I reached out my hand, it would've hit me.

7. MILE MARKERS WERE WAY OFF/COURSE WAS TOO LONG: For a long stretch of time (I want to say it was from mile 15 until mile 22), the mile markers were WAY off. I know that some runners don't run with GPS watches. Had I been utilizing the mile markers to establish my pace, the inaccuracy of their placement would have thrown me completely off. The 26-mile marker was nearly a half a mile away from the finish line. While it's not uncommon for my GPS watch to be over 26.2 miles when I finish a marathon (typically 26.3-26.4, especially if the course has many turns), my watch said I had run 26.81 miles for this one.

Overall, I'm really disappointed. I was hoping to have a decent time for my 50th marathon and was on point to have a 4-hour finish by mile 9, but stomach issues made much worse by this course's lack of porta potties had me so frustrated that after mile 9, I decided to dial it back and wait for a friend who was a little more than a mile behind me to catch up. While it was fun running the rest of the race with her, I definitely won't be coming back for this one.

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Marathon Details - Great New York State Marathon