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Jul 2, 2024

Big-D Texas Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Big-D Texas Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 3.4

Organization 3.2

Spectators 2.8

Number of comments: 173 [displaying comments 91 to 101]

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L. I. from Houston, Texas (4/7/2008) "Good marathon - small, personal, will do again" (about: 2008) 3 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Before I signed up for this marathon, I saw the reviews on this guide and had a couple of concerns. I contacted the organizer, who quickly and graciously responded. In a nutshell, this was a very good race. The course was beautiful, with rolling hills at various points. Nothing too crazy (c'mon, this is Texas). The wind picked up for the second half, which was a challenge for me, but now I know I need to adjust training for these conditions. The lake provided a wonderful backdrop and the weather proved to be perfect. The police did an excellent job of directing runners and traffic. There were plenty of fluids and snacks along course. Pre-race there was plenty water and bagels (and other goodies); post-race there was lots of pizza, tacos, and drinks. I have been to larger marathons that did not supply anything pre-race. The bag check was quick and efficient. As soon as I crossed the finish line I was offered water, which I really needed at the time. My only suggestion would be to increase crowd support along course; that may just take time and word of mouth. This is a great marathon to run if you are a 1st-time marathoner, or a more seasoned one that would like something smaller, and more laid back. I met a man there who had done 200 marathons, another who had done 88, and a third who had done 50. I will definitely do this again.
B. F. from Plano, TX (4/7/2008) "Nice marathon - bad traffic" (about: 2008) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Big-D Texas Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The marathon course is very nice and gives you a nice tour of some of the neighborhoods in Dallas. The aid stations were very good with great enthusiasm and plenty of Gatorade, water and power gels. The race was very well organized and the fair park location is nice for a place to start and finish - plenty of parking, an inside area for after the marathon, etc. My only complaint pertains to the traffic getting to the race. Granted, it was not helped by some of the construction, but they need some more police letting traffic through. We sat in traffic for about 30 minutes with Fair Park in sight. Overall, though, it was a very enjoyable marathon.
Z. C. from Maryland (4/7/2008) "Challenging course and good scenic views" (about: 2008) 1 previous marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was the first marathon that I've traveled to participate in. The course was good, and the aid stations were excellent. The only problem that I had was that there weren't enough porta-potties throughout the ENTIRE course. But besides that, it was fine. I got a chance to see parts of Dallas that I would've never seen. The neighborhoods were gorgeous, the people friendly, and the police were on-hand to manage traffic. I did not know that Dallas had so many hills.
h. d. from us (8/13/2007) "Bummer" (about: 2007) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Big-D Texas Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 This was my first marathon, and despite leaving in plenty of time to be at the starting line on time, I didn't make it. My actual time is not reflected in the results due to the chip timer not being on when I arrived, which is a bummer to see. Being my first marathon, I was shocked that there was no one that I could look to for direction when I arrived. The course was fantastic. I never felt that I was running in a "race" though.
William Tichenor from Dallas, Texas (5/23/2007) "Pretty good time" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Big-D Texas Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I think this gets butchered by the running crowd! I ran the half the last two years, and have found it quite nice. Can't help a Dallas accident. They delayed it anyway. Weather was perfect, and the staging at Fair Park is perfect.
K. A. from USA (4/10/2007) "I loved this marathon!" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Big-D Texas Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I really enjoyed this marathon. I thought the course was really nice, with lots of rolling hills, and the lake was gorgeous. The race was well organized with plenty of aid stations along the way. All the people were very friendly and the volunteers were great! It was done really well for a small event and I really enjoyed it.
H. N. from Dallas, TX (4/10/2007) "Could be better" (about: 2007) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Big-D Texas Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This was only my second marathon, so I'm by no means an expert on what a race should look like, but overall I think The Big D was okay. I'm lucky enough to live in Dallas so I knew the back roads to take to avoid the huge wreck. Delaying the race by 15 minutes was fair for everyone. It gave the people stuck in traffic a little extra time yet it wasn't too long of a delay for the people already waiting at the starting line. The weather was perfect. Blue sky and a cool breeze - what more could you ask for?! The water stations were spaced just fine. If you need water more frequently than every two miles, then you need to bring your own bottle. Offering the best water station a cash prize helped a lot. Each station I ran into was clearly trying to do its best to provide me with what I needed and to cheer me on. I really appreciated that - however: I have no idea where I was supposed to vote for the stations. I never saw any signs or directions on that. Spectators were really scarce this year. I ran the half marathon in '06 and I swear that there were more people cheering us on. Was this race not advertised enough? My biggest disappointment was the finish line. Not only were the twists and turns in the middle of nowhere that led to the finish line confusing, but food and drinks finally at the finish line, left much to hope for. I finished in the top 200, so there were still another 200+ people behind me, and all that was left to eat were bananas and baked potatos. I managed to grab a piece of bagel, but those ran out within 5 minutes of me finishing. I stuck around at the finish line for a while and was horrified to see that the organizers even ran out of water when there were still another 100+ people yet to arrive. When I ran my first marathon in Montreal, Canada, the organizers let you go through the food line ONE time and then marked your bib number. This not only resulted in EVERYONE getting their fair share, it also allowed the sponsors to have a great variety of foods (fruits, yogurt, apple sauce, cheese, crackers, energy bars, juice packets, etc.). Please, Dallas, make sure to change something up so that EVERYONE has something to eat and drink at the finish line - no matter how long it takes them. Also, since we already have the Whiterock Marathon to run in East Dallas, couldn't we have a Big D run that actually takes you through the Big D (the city)??? I could picture many people in downtown and uptown cheering us on and there are so many beautiful areas there to run around... just something to think about.
G. G. from San Antonio,TX (4/9/2007) "Good alternative to December's White Rock race" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Big-D Texas Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran the half, which I enjoyed more than Runtherock in December. There are fewer people. So if you're an amateur runner like me, you're not constantly trying to navigate other runners and walkers the entire race. There were ample water stops and more fanfare than I expected. Both the half and full marathon course ran by White Rock Lake, which was soothing. The course also had a good mix of hills, but nothing too difficult. Dallas PD did a great job but keep in mind much of the course is through neighborhoods, so cars were coming out of everywhere and officers couldn't be at every intersection. I suggest clocks scattered throughout the course and better signage of mile markers. I noticed many water stops were at or close to a mile marker, but not all. It made it a little confusing to gauge my pace. Director made a good decision by delaying the start by 15 minutes due to the traffic accident. It's chip timed anyway... what's the problem? It's unfortunate some runners arrived very late due to traffic from the accident and didn't know where to start or made wrong turns. I was looking forward to the technical shirt, but was changed this year to a cotton shirt and sold the technical shirts for $5. Just increase my fee and give me the technical shirt. Looking forward to next year!
Steven Lauridsen from Geneva, Illinois (4/6/2007) "Very bad for me, partially the organizers' fault" (about: 2007) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Big-D Texas Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 A devastating crash on the main/only route to the race stopped traffic dead, so many arrived late. The organizers DID delay the race by 15 minutes, which was just enough to let almost everybody start on time, based on the Diff column in the official results showing gun time versus chip time. In the chaos, I saw no evidence of toilet facilities anywhere near the startjust a row of bushes. Pre-registered, it wasnt an issue for me, but I remember no signage about where anything was. The starting-line PA was mumbly, so that all I was hearing was wheelchair a bunch of times. Consequently, the starting gun found me unprepared, way in back of the pack. And theres a substantial pack, given that the half starts along with the full marathon. In the organizers partial defense: They have responded to criticisms by moving the start time earlier by 30 minutes (half negated this year by the traffic situation). Any earlier and it would still be dark. Also, the number of water stations must have been increased, because they were entirely adequate. Only one interval somewhere in the middle seemed a little long. Quality of stations has probably also improved with plenty of gummies and other comestibles, due to an incentive system whereby runners votes determine prizes for workers. I heard lots of 'Vote for #10!' for example as I stumbled past. However, I never saw my opportunity to actually cast a vote, which seems a significant flaw. Portable toilets, however, were few and far between, which I noticed with increasing alarm until finally one appeared near mile 19. My spectator wife swears that the course we followed around NW Highway diverged from all the maps. My untrustworthy Garmin says I ran about 26.84 miles. Do any of you think the course or its measurement were actually wrong?? I dont know. It was near the ideal of 54 degrees at the start. Some rolling hills near the start, and then it is flat for a long, shaded, cool, windless, enjoyable stretch along the east side of White Rock Lake. At mile nine we climb rather steeply into the warming sun, unmediated by any clouds. After that my pace declined gently at first, then catastrophically. For the entire 2nd half, I ran slower by far than any of my slowest training runs. The course is well designed for those seeking positive splits: the hills, the temperature, and the likelihood of headwinds (as you run toward the SSW) are all much worse in the second half. The fact that you run alongside half-marathoners for the first four miles also contributes to positive splits. For example, the impressive young woman who ranked 87th in the first half and 86th in the second half ran 8:24s followed by 9:39s. It was hard to be happy or look good doing it in the second half. The weather was the biggest thing for me. Other reviewers say the darndest things, but the heat got up to 80, (not 'the 60s') and I believe that makes this the coolest day for this race in its four years. After that 10th mile, the elevation chart shows choppy hills, and the FAQs on the website say miles 12-20 are the hilliest, but in reality they are not long or steep enough for me to even remember, except for the short one right after marker 17 and especially the long one from 19.5 to 21. It is impossible for a loop course to be 'mostly downhill,' but after that one long uphill it is gently downhill the rest of the way. But by then almost everybody in my cohort was walking most of the time; too bad my shuffle-running was barely fast enough to pass any of the walkers. Its an especially nice neighborhood from 22 to 24, but the residents along Swiss Avenue probably didnt know there was a marathon going on. Fan support, outside of water-station workers lobbying for votes, is close to zero. Traffic was controlled well enough, except for a long, dismal stretch after marker 24 along Haskell Ave. where cones dotted the center line, with no indication whether we should stay right or stay left. That street was so steeply crowned that I staggered along on the left sidewalk/dirt/grass which at least was closer to a flat surface. It is true that the final twists and turns inside Fair Park were poorly marked and interrupted by wandering spectators, such that I had to be calling out to anyone who could help, Where do I go? In the finish shoot, I was handed a medal reading Top 100 Finisher, which I knew couldnt possibly be true. I even asked, How many of these are you handing out? and was told what you would expect. In fact I found out the next day I was the 129th finisher. Although almost 300 more marathon finishers were still coming behind me (some delayed much by the pre-race traffic crash), all the empty pizza boxes were being removed from the barn where I went to console myself (on a time that was 20 minutes slower than my wildest nightmares and almost 50 minutes slower than my ambitious goal of Boston-qualifying). Bananas and baked potatoes were available. I make it sound dismal, but there was little that a more festive finish area would have been able to do at that point to make me feel better. There is no reason an out-of-towner like me would ever do this race twice, and little reason to do it even once, except that its date fell conveniently for my teaching Spring Break, and my wife preferred visiting Dallas over Yakima, WA or Olathe, KS. The course itself is not very hard and is rather pretty much of the time, but the conditions conspire for poor times, and there is nothing else especially great about the occasion: no pre-race loading feed, a why-bother-at-all goodie bag, and a routine shirt. For a special occasion, Im look next spring break at the Bataan Death March.
L. C. from Pittsburgh (4/3/2007) "No Clocks, But No Hills" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Big-D Texas Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I've run about 8 marathons, and this is the only one where I saw no clocks on the course. I don't like to wear a watch, and I had no clue what my split time was or how fast/slow I was going throughout. However, this marathon was, for the most part, all DOWNHILL. Quit complaining about the "hills." Poorly organized marathon, but GREAT weather. Some of us like it hot and sunny.

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