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Jul 2, 2024

Vancouver International Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.1

Organization 3.6

Spectators 3.9

Number of comments: 227 [displaying comments 141 to 151]

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T. K. from Marysville, WA (5/3/2005) "My first Vancouver Marathon-Won't Be My Last" (about: 2005) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Had a wonderful time at my first marathon! The course was mostly beautiful. Yes, there are areas of industry, but it's a marathon that takes place in a city and if you want the amenities of hotels to stay in, shuttle buses, and things to do before and after the marathon...suck it up and deal. Most of the course ran from visually interesting to breathtaking. Stanley Park was wonderful! Lots of waves and encouragement from people out walking along the water. One question, though...why in the world were there trees nailed to platforms in the park? Some were tipped over and others had brush covering the telltale signs of 'fake' trees. Very, very odd. Course support was ideal. No, there was no gel, but bring your own. That's what an intelligent person doing an endurance event does! There were Vector bars throughout and I found that even though I brought a lot of gels, I only needed two of them as the Vector bar pieces did a good job of fueling me. Ultima was available at most of the water stops, as were sponges on many of the later stops. The volunteers were AWESOME! I never ran into an empty water table, or even had to grab my own. They were right there to hand you water, Ultima, vaseline, Vector bars, or even refill your personal water bottle. Course support was so fun! Kitsilano neighborhoods seem to make a party of it! How inspiring to be running along and see hoardes of people cheering us on! I felt like royalty throughout the route! Music was AWESOME! Maybe one guy doesn't 'need' it but some of us are more interested in having a good time than making a good time since we know our personal challenge lies in toeing the start line, not breaking the finish tape. I needed the music and took every opportunity to dance/run through every single music station...except the one playing Britney Spears...that one made me run faster...away from the bad, bad sound. The starts were well organized. Walkers started an hour early giving them lots of time to get underway without being overtaken by the runners. Half marathoners were half an hour before the full marathoners. The announcer was awesome and he even pronounced my name correctly! Get that man a lozenge! He must still be hoarse two days later. The finishers' area was also very well organized. There were plenty of tables and I didn't have to stand in line. Can I just say: THANK YOU FOR HAVING THAT AREA FOR RUNNERS ONLY! There is nothing that torques me more than being in the finishers' area, food is dwindling, and you see 700 kids who did NOT run scarfing up the food, leaving little for people who really need it. Since their ineffective parents can't seem to say, 'No' it's very nice that the coordinators took care of that for us! Seriously! That is a MAJOR bone of contention for me. Make these events kid-friendly, but parents...unless your kids are participating, bring your OWN food for them. My only beef was after the race: it was near impossible, as an out of towner, to find my way back to the Skytrain. I knew how to get there, but some volunteers wouldn't let me through the fencing (and one was just plain rude...told me I could wait until 5:00...it was 1:15). Signs would be nice directing traffic to the detour to the Skytrain. Going up to the stadium and over the stairs...well let's just say whimper after 26.2 miles! Thank you for a wonderful event! Thank you, too, to the people in the city who turned out in support...and the fast runners who waited to cheer on us slowbees...and for reminding us what the human spirit is all about as you personalized the announcements (this is __ first marathon, ___ is running her second marathon and has just set a personal best, ___ is 76-years old and is running her 26th straight Vancouver Marathon). You made us ALL feel like Kenyans!
J. C. from Oak Harbor, WA (5/3/2005) "Had fun, could've been better..." (about: 2005) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Vancouver International Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is my first marathon... with that said, I have little experience to compare this to, but here is what I have to offer: First, Vancouver is worth a visit for whatever reason. It is a beautiful city, surrounded by millions of acres of playground. Just look to the north and all you see are snow-covered mountains. We stayed downtown at the Ramada Limited. It was just okay, with a good continental breakfast. Stanley Park is amazing; it's a must see. The expo was not what I thought it would be. There was a lot of advertising for other marathons that I will never get to run and little info on the one I was about to run. There was plenty of gear to buy if I had forgotten any of mine. The pre-race pasta dinner was good, but not worth the $21 for each of my family members. It seemed a little much for plastic forks and paper plates, oh and there was only water to drink; good for me, but my kids would have liked to have something else to choose from. The marathon experience itself was awesome for me, with a few exceptions. No gels, but they had Ultima, which has no carbs and few calories. I had to bring my own and run with a Camelback. The stop at 6 miles I noticed had run out of Ultima. No split times were posted. No pace groups. Finally the course leaves a little to be desired. It was less than scenic and the 2 out-and-backs were painfully drab. The half ran 2.5 more miles in Stanley Park than did the full. Also, I did not see any construction on the Seawall, which is the reason we did not run it. I could be wrong about that. Overall, a marathon is about you challenging yourself... I met the challenge and that is what matters. I would not run this marathon again even if I lived there.
A. H. from Woodinville, WA (5/3/2005) "Great race, good crowds and well organized." (about: 2005) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver International Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Course: Beautiful (for the most part) and challenging. The last 1/3 of the race had more challenging hills than I expected. You were either going up or down for most of it. I run on hills all the time, but this still caught me off guard. I still set a PR, but it was not near what I was shooting for. Spectators: Great. For the first 16 miles there is very little in the way of specators. But when you need them on the back half of the marathon going over the bridge and hills, they are there. Having run smaller races in the past, this was a new experience for me. Organization: My only complaint is how they organized the pacers at the start of the race. The problem is they didn't. Instead of having big signs out early so people could self-segregate, they had the pacers join the crowds only minutes before the start. By that time the crowds were to thick and I had first-time marathoners hoping for a 6-hour finish standing in front of me. Watering Holes: Well stocked for me. But I noticed some of the earlier stations having a hard time keeping up, so people farther back in the pack might have had issues. Weather: Fantastic. But spring in the Northwest is tricky. The very next day it was raining on and off. If you plan on doing this race, bring all types of clothes and be ready for anything. Overall: I will definitely consider doing this marathon again, but there are so many to choose from I am not sure when I will be back.
B. S. from Washington, USA (5/3/2005) "could have been better" (about: 2005) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Vancouver International Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The course itself was great and the volunteers were awesome as well as spectators. I was extremely disappointed in the fuel up stations. To me "fuel up" doesn't mean eat a tiny piece of chocolate... I'm running a marathon here! I need some thing like Powerbars or more oranges... Anyway, also at the end of the race I was very disappointed that because I did not run a 3-hour marathon, I also cannot get a shirt that fits me. It is disappointing to pay so much to do this run and then not even be able to wear the shirt... also the food at the end sucked... bagels are great, but seriously what did I pay for???
K. M. from Central Valley of California (5/2/2005) "Wow! What a great race!" (about: 2005) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver International Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a repeatable race. #15 for me and by far the best course, the best city, the best race. No, it is not a easy course, it is a challenge, but the scenery through every part of Vancouver is great. The support at the aid stations is very organized. The expo is lacking but remember it is catering to Canadian runners so it does not cater to American runners and our sometimes elite attitude. As they say in Canada this is a 'no worries' race.
M. K. from Vancouver (5/2/2005) "Great - don't make tired runners chase t-shirts" (about: 2005) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Excellent event. I am local and always appreciate the awesome Vancouver scenery. As a walker, and being near the end of the pack on certain occasions, it didn't seem like the volunteers displayed much appreciation for the effort that the last of the pack were putting in (standing in the middle of the routes, etc.). However, had a fabulous time - but wish that at the end I wasn't sent to the wrong place to pick up my shirt only to have to walk back to the finish line to spend another 5 minutes waiting. Thanks to the volunteer who helped me out! A little disorganized, but otherwise good.
M. H. from Louisville, KY (5/2/2005) "AVIM did a great job" (about: 2005) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Though I had a bad day and dropped out at 18, it was still a great day. The race was clearly marked, and the fans were great. Vancouver is not a flat town, but they try and make the route as smooth as possible. I had a bad day, but I'm not going to blame VIM for that. VIM did a great job with this race. When I was walking (very slowly) to the finish, lots of race officials talked to me to make sure that I was alright. I'm not sure if I'll be back, but I did have a great time in Vancouver.
L. N. from Chehalis, WA (5/2/2005) "Not as flat a course as advertised" (about: 2005) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver International Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Much as I enjoyed the course, I was disappointed that the mile markers and water/sports beverage aid stations were so few and far between. As the temperature for marathon day was not as cool as preferred by runners, we were all bemoaning the fact that water stations didn't loom ahead at every mile or two. Regardless, I enjoyed the run and the many friendly people I met along the course.
S. M. from Duncan, B.C. Canada (5/2/2005) "If you are over 4 hours, bring your own food" (about: 2005) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Vancouver International Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 I was disappointed in the organization of this race. This was my 11th marathon and I have to say almost the worst I have run in terms of the race organization. To start with, they have changed the expo location from previous years, and although I should have read this in the information, I did not, and showed up at the Plaza of Nations with several other people who had made the same mistake. We had no idea where to go and there was no sign to tell you where the expo was, which would have been helpful. The course was nice other that the first 8 miles or so of industrial area. Most of the course was quite hilly with long inclines. The worst part of the race was the finish area. It was a disaster! I finished in just under 5 hours and was very tired, and after waiting in an air lock area to get into the stadium found virtually no food. All there was to eat was some digusting looking sticky donuts, some crackers and white, bare bagels. I asked where the yogurt, bananas, etc. were and was told that they were all gone. There was no juice or power drink of any kind so they were handing out milk. The finisher's shirts were another disappointment as I was told now that there were no smalls left, and was given a medium which fit me like a dress. Not everyone is a fast runner. Slower runners pay the same entrance fee and deserve the same as faster runners. There were a few hundred runners behind me. What was left for them? The volunteers and spectators were excellent as was the music and camaraderie on the course. My thanks to these people. Unfortunately I could not face doing this race again. Definitely pack a lunch if you consider this race.
J. S. from Dallas, Tx (4/14/2005) "My very first marathon was a beautiful race." (about: 2004) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The Vancouver Marathon is an experience that I will never forget in my life. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. I am glad to know that even if I only do one marathon in my life that I chose what I think is the most beautiful courses around.

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