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☰
Long Beach Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Long Beach Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.0 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 240 [displaying comments 151 to 161]
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Otto Ruettinger from San Diego, CA, USA
(10/23/2005)
"Flat course, lots of water but a little warm." (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I'll preface my comments by stating that this 2005 race was my first marathon. The course was nice and flat except for the slight incline of a freeway overpass or two in the very early few miles of the race. The start time this year was at 7:30am; while that allowed the bikes, walkers and inline skaters to get underway and finish sooner, it didn't help the race day temperature or the southerly head wind along the beach stretch. (I began drafting other runners on this stretch and it made a major difference. :)) Just weeks (or was it days?) before the organisers announced a little-known sports drink manufacturer as the sponsor, and their product was available at the plentiful drink stations along the course. Unfortunately, I didn't appreciate the concoction - a little too gluggy and seemed to give me stomache cramps right away. Considering that you should never try something new on a race-day, I was disappointed that they didn't choose a more established drink earlier so I could test it in some long-distance training. Billing the course as one of the most scenic is something I could only agree with for the opening ten miles of foreshore and beach area, which are quite beautiful (check the gallery on their site). After that section, parts are increasingly industrial-looking and some sections even smell bad. All in all, it was very well organized. I would definitely recommend this marathon, especially to first-timers because of how flat the course is. Run on. - Otto | |
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A. B. from San Diego, CA
(10/21/2005)
"Just ok" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I went into this marathon expecting a FLAT and FAST course. It was relatively flat with the exception of a few bridges. Due to strong headwinds on two sections of the course (mile 7-10 along the beach) and also I believe miles 15-17, it was hard to remain on my goal pace and PR, but I at least ran a Boston qualifying time. There were NO CLOCKS at any of the mile markers which shocked me. Sometimes there was not even a person yelling out splits. I would have figured at least at the halfway point but just a mat and I had to yell at a volunteer who was sitting down reading, 'split??' and he was puzzled as to what I was talking about. I did like the last 3 miles since they were on a slight decline. The downhill finish was great to see. Where were the pacing groups? I was looking for the 3:00 group but could not find anyone with a sign. | |
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N. V. from Los Angeles, CA
(10/21/2005)
"Awesome race..." (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Great race. The only problem was the traffic.... The 710 freeway was backed up and it took forever to get to the start. This problem can be easily avoided by leaving earlier, or getting a hotel near the start. As far as the race itself, the course was cool, spectators were cool, medal was cool, and the organization was great. Thanks Long Beach!! | |
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H. V. from US
(10/20/2005)
"Business oriented; where was the running spirit?" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 No food on the course. Only oranges, bananas and water in the post-race area. We paid $95. I wouldn't come back. There are much more quality marathons out there with the running support spirit. | |
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k. m. from Central Valley California
(10/20/2005)
"An Average Marathon in All Respects" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Reading the comments section here is interesting; you see good, and bad and flat ugly. This marathon like all has good and weak points. The course is a course in a city; the streets were clean, no trash. The markings were a bit sparse at times. The spectators along the northern most point were like no other marathon - thank you. There are comments about traffic and parking. Sometimes people wonder how some park so close: it is called planning. Just as we should plan for the race and re-read the info, parking and travel should be part of the plan too. I recommend Long Beach not as a first marathon but third or fourth; it is a good course and the size is large enough to enjoy the crowd and small enough to have a strategy to finish well. | |
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Howard Ackerman from Princeton, NJ
(10/20/2005)
"Nice course, good weather, awful drink" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 I lived in Long Beach for six years, but didn't run the race until 12 years after I moved to the East Coast. That being said, I enjoyed the course immensely as I knew every inch of it and loved seeing how the area developed and running in all the old places I had years ago. The organization at the start of the race was pretty poor. Having the half/full marathon along with starts for wheelchairs, walkers, bikes, inline skaters - it was a big mess. They really need to do something about that - like maybe making the starts at different locations along the shoreline/pike area. We went to the carbo load dinner at the Queen Mary and it was good but nothing spectacular. On the email confirmation for the dinner, there was a big section with a Gatorade advertisement saying it was going to be the drink on the course - and it wasn't. They had Ultima and it tasted like garbage! Also, in the final emails from the race, they decided to eliminate the gel at the 10 and 20 mile-marks. Aside from the issues, the fans were awesome wherever they were. Good music along the way. Some people were out along every section of the course in addition to the popular areas. Overall a good race, but could use improvement. | |
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M. M. from Gilbert Arizona
(10/18/2005)
"After 22 years there's no excuse" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 While 90% of this event was first-class, it only takes 10% to spoil the day. I'm finding this all too often at races on the west side of the country. They put on a race for 22 years and figure they can do no wrong. Turns out, they forget that basic needs of even the slowest runners are their responsibility. Case in point. They know they are running a race with lots of out of towners coming in and it's in an urban setting which means lots of traffic issues. They make no attempt at traffic control, directions to parking, or police presence. Took me almost 45 minutes to travel 5 or so miles. No chance to warm up. I see this complaint on this site from previous years so obviously they don't care enough to fix the problem. Case #2: They advertised that if a runner got in trouble and had to drop out, there would be support, direction, and a ride back. On the course, it was impossible to discern anyone who was clearly a race official. Not once did I ever see any sign of a pickup vehicle or medical team, until 23 miles or so. My story was two badly-strained quads, probably as a result of a pre-race injury. The early stretch on the beach into a headwind and on cement did me in. No blame here, this is life in marathon running. I gave it my best shot but by 17 miles I has slowed to a crawl and both legs were in extreme pain. I needed to drop out or risk serious injury. I started to look for the promised course support but nothing was to be found. At the water stop before the 20-mile mark, I found an official-looking woman with a bullhorn, encouraging runners. I explained to here that I was in extreme pain and needed to get back to the finish. Were the promised pick up people here? She looked at me blankly and said she didn't know about it. When I asked if anyone else would know, her response was 'Well, it's only 6 more miles, why don't you just RUN in.' The sensitivity was underwelming! I answered that if I could run 6 more miles, I wouldn't need to drop out. I thanked her for nothing and continued. At the 20-mile chip stop I asked the timer the same thing. Not only couldn't he help but his advice was: 'You should have asked at the water stop.' Totally frustrated, I explained my previous encounter there. He looks at me like I'm not speaking English, so I moved on. By now, it's raining. There was no one at either miles 21 or 22. By then, I realized that there was no hope from the race team, so I continued to hobble on in pain. So I sit here in pain, holding my medal with my worst finish time ever. The rest of the race was fine. I liked the shirt, the beer tent was awesome, the course was scenic although too many turns for my liking, and the water stops were great and plentiful. It's unfortunate that the race directors could put on a decent event but be so insensitive to runners needs. Maybe in another 22 years, someone will figure it out. | |
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J. P. from Huntington Beach, CA
(10/18/2005)
"This was a fun race!" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I enjoyed this marathon. The run was not as flat as I expected even though the highest point is only 45 feet above sea level. The changes in elevation helped keep it interesting. I enjoyed the variety of sights, including the harbor, sandy beaches, parks, wetlands, big-city streets and nice downtown. I am impressed with Long Beach and their marathon. It was nice to run with the half marathoners for the 1st 10.5 miles and then settle in with the hardcore runners for the full race. I wish I could have stayed with the pacer I picked out during the race, but she outdid me. I'll be back next year for a challenging and fun 'victory lap.' | |
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T. R. from Santa Monica CA
(10/17/2005)
"Absolute heartbreak" (about: 2005)
First Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 Thanks to the organizers of the Long Beach Marathon for taking my $70 and wasting 15 weeks of training. I was supposed to run my first half-marathon, and I was very excited. I arrived for the half-marathon an hour late due to traffic (my fault, but it took an hour and 45 min to get from the exit to parking). I crossed the starting line alone, 5 minutes before the 5Kers. Apparently I missed a turnoff for the half-marathon route, and found myself at the 5K finish line. I asked a volunteer where the half-marathon route was, and she vaguely pointed back behind me and named a street at least a half mile back. To turn around (into oncoming 5K finishers) would have added way too much time and distance to my run, not exactly what I had in mind. I'm a reasonably intelligent person with the same visual acuity and hearing as everyone else. Wherever the turnoff was (was it marked at all?), I find it hard to believe that not a single volunteer was at the turnoff to say, 5K this way, half-marathon that way. I understand that it was unusual to still have to direct a half-marathon runner an hour after most of them had passed; on the other hand, I was wearing a big red number, whereas the 5Kers were wearing big white numbers. Also, I'd been stuck in traffic with several hundred people, so I was not the only one starting late. No one passed on a communication about the traffic situation to the volunteers on the course? I still feel ill this morning. I'll be marking off my own 13.1 mile route around Santa Monica, and it won't cost me a thing. | |
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Kyle EricSon from Riverside, CA
(10/17/2005)
"Great Mid-Sized Marathon" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Long Beach Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Just ran the 2005 edition of the Long Beach Marathon and once again I thought it delivered everything a marathon should. This year's medal is pretty cool (and it changes each year which is nice) and the T-shirt and the expo were OK (I don't get real excited about T-shirts and expo's though so my review should be taken with a grain of salt). For whatever reason, this year the event was not able to provide gels out on the course, but I hope people don't rip on the event just for that (in fairness, the organizers sent out an e-mail alerting people to this fact a week or two in adavance; plus what's the big deal about carrying a couple of gels for yourself in your pocket?). Although the course can be a little boring between miles 16-18 (the part along Studebaker), the rest is nice, relatively flat and the downtown finish is great. If I had to pick out one thing that needs improvement (and this goes for all marathons it seems), it would be the start. There are no start corrals available which really makes for a jumbled mess and makes it hard to get on pace, although in fairness, we really need to police ourselves people! I routinely finish mid-pack (somewhere between 3:30 and 3:45), but am amazed at the number of people who insist on forcing their way up to the front at the start, when these people have no realistic hope of finishing in less than 4:30 or 5:00 hours. All in all though, I enjoyed Long Beach again this year and plan on being back next year. P.S. Thanks to all the volunteers out the course who for the most part appeared to be high school kids - thanks for giving up your Sunday. |
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