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☰
Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 4.4
Number of comments: 330 [displaying comments 121 to 131]
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Rui Guimaraes from New York
(4/28/2009)
 "Truly a race to remember" (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The expo: The expo was well organized and despite a line that seemed never-ending, we all moved quickly along. With so many volunteers helping out, the entire bib and chip distribution was very well-organized. The expo itself was okay--I was hoping that there would be representatives from the major athletic companies present. However, the vendors there did have many of the last-minute items that runners might want to pick up before the race. I enjoyed seeing and talking to Bill Rogers and Dick Beardsley, both of whom were really affable and enthused to speak with their fans. The course: the course itself is not tough, and no one should concern themselves with the elevation chart: Yes,there are some hilly sections, but for the most part you're on fairly flat road. What was an absolute nightmare (far beyond what I could have ever expected) was the wind, which on this day was 35-40 miles per hour and came from the south. Thus, during the final 10 miles, we were all facing an unyielding wind. Drafting was a necessity and even that didn't help very much. The people and the crowd: Awesome is a word overused and misused, but I mean it when I say they were worthy of awe. Everyone had cheers and smiles. The people at the water stations were friendly and yelled and encouraged us when we were dying and fighting the wind. The opening ceremony was especially touching and the singing of the national anthem and the moment of silence in honor of those killed in the bombing was incredible; you could hear a pin drop in a crowd of 19,000 total runners. Incredible. Post-race: Yummy! All sorts of goodies were there for us. Great cheeseburgers (and I haven't had red meat in years), cookies, juice, fruit, everything you could want after a marathon...except for beer. Medics were there to greet us just to check up on us and make sure we were fine. Overall: This was a great marathon and OKC proved to be a great host city. I highly recommend this as a first marathon for those interested. Just don't be disappointed by a slower time if the winds are coming from the south, and yes, they will come from the south. 2008 was an anomaly. | |
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christine holt from Dallas, TX United States
(4/28/2009)
 "Worst Organization EVER!!" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 I have run 16 big and small marathons all over the world and OKC was my worst experience BY FAR! The city is beautiful and the memorial is amazing, but whoever was in charge of this race made HUGE mistakes: I had to walk all over the expo and wait in lines everywhere just to get my packet materials (which was enough to scare the crap out of a first timer), the trolley system was not sufficient to get everyone to the start in time, it was pitch dark at the 6:30 start so we couldn't even SEE the memorial, and they RAN OUT OF MEDALS at 5 hours and didn't have any plan in place to take names or give us anything to make us feel like they cared! I even spoke to the race director and he gave me no answers. I left OKC feeling like a loser and I will never do that race again. I don't recommend this race to anyone. | |
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C. M. from Pensacola, FL
(4/28/2009)
 "Whew!" (about: 2009)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I enjoyed the course, and there were great volunteers. I did not expect so many long hills, and the wind made the going tough, but I know nothing can be done about that-- just expect it. I also enjoyed the entry to the museum, which is a must-see. My only disappointment was that they were out of finisher medals and the size of the finisher shirt I preferred. If this had been my first marathon, I would have really been upset. I hope they get them out soon and order enough next year. | |
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m. b. from Dallas, Texas
(4/28/2009)
 "very warm, humid and WINDY" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I liked the 6:30 a.m. start, and the 168 seconds of silence to honor the persons killed in the bombing were very moving. It went downhill from there. I trained well for this race and then chose to ignore the terrible conditions: it was warm and very humid, with unbelievable wind. Sustained winds of 25 mph with gusts up to 40 whipped me into submission for the last half of the race. I was foolishly hoping for a PR and instead got my running shoes handed to me. I will only run this marathon again if I'm running with no expectations of a fast time. There's too high a risk (in late April) of conditions like those I just ran into. | |
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E. F. from Los Altos Hills, CA
(4/28/2009)
"Tough conditions, terrific organization" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The winds and humidity made this a struggle, especially heading back after the park. The entire time, though, I kept telling myself how much worse it could have been. (The predicted thunderstorm never materialized.) I have nothing but great things to say about the organization of the event; smiling volunteers and supporters were in abundance. Also, the 168 seconds of silence for the 1995 bombing victims before the race was a moment I'll never forget. Marathons are supposed to be challenging and inspiring; this was definitely both! | |
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S. L. from Texas
(4/28/2009)
 "Nice event" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is a nice event that is for a good cause. I haven't run 12 marathons, so I don't know if I would put it on my list of "12 must-run marathons." Pros: - Nice city - Nice course - Friendly fans (though sparse) - On-course support - Finisher shirt - Early start (6:30 was fine) - Decent snacks at finish Cons: - Terrible weather (hot and windy)! - Many runners didn't honor start corral staging by pace - A couple of water stops were not well-organized, but these were anomalous. | |
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A. T. from Keller, TX
(4/28/2009)
"No Debate... Windy" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Pros: * Nice course, nice city, good cause. * Great fans. * Well organized. * Plenty of well-handled water stops. * Plenty of grub at the end. Cons: * Too long going shoulder-to-shoulder (they need to separate the routes shortly after the start or stagger the race times for different distances). * Windy, hilly, and warm (temp and hills were tolerable, but the wind got old). * No beer (liquor laws, I assume). Yes, I'd do it again. | |
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T. F. from Fairless Hills, PA
(4/28/2009)
"Awesome experience!" (about: 2009)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Yes, the wind was tough, but the temperature was decent (low 70s with cloud coverage), so it felt cooler. The spectators throughout the city were awesome, even for the people finishing after 4:30. The volunteers were great, and all the water stops were well stocked. The course was nice, with great scenery. But most importantly the purpose for the marathon was very inspiring; the names on the banners along the course definitely helped me to keep that in mind and pushed me to finish. | |
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W. C. from Tulsa, ok
(4/27/2009)
 "Worst ever!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my worst marathon ever. I hated the 6:30 start. The entire starting line and corral system were complete chaos. I know that they can't control the weather, but the fact that it was 78 degrees with 90% humidity at gun time sucked. The 25-40 mph winds made the entire second half brutal. I will not run it again. | |
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Tom Arnold from Houston, Texas
(4/27/2009)
"Emotional; friendly folks; good swag." (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Expo is decent. Big names come, like Rodgers, Tuhabonye, Beardsley, and Benoit-Samuelson. Good course, decent support, and wonderful, friendly fans. Memorial and Museum are must-sees. Windy!! One of the toughest (after Chicago 2007) in terms of weather. Good hotels, with restaurants proximate to the expo and race start. |
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