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Jul 2, 2024

Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 4.4

Spectators 3.5

Number of comments: 195 [displaying comments 91 to 101]

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J. R. from NJ (6/2/2010) "Fast But Hard" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Usually the words "fast" and "hard" are not found in the same sentence while describing marathon courses. However, in this case that's appropriate. I loved the course, but there are many uphills to go with the downhills. Miles 18-24 are pretty tough. I loved the small-town nature of it. It's so nice not to stand in line for bathrooms, to have a nice warm gym to stretch in beforehand, and not have to worry about zig-zagging around runners for the first several miles. Plenty of water and Gatorade along the way. Sparse but supportive crowds. Nice, quiet roads, which I found very enjoyable. Good sub sandwiches afterward. I highly recommend this marathon, but don't run it if you don't know how to run hills.
Don Pattison from Chicago, IL (5/21/2010) "There are a lot of hills" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The elevation chart on MarathonGuide.com shows a huge downhill for most of the race, but there are plenty of uphills in there too. If you can run the downhills fast, you can gain some time to give up on the uphills. It is a very hard course to try and keep even splits. They closed off just about every road on the course and you didn't really run into any traffic issues until the last mile or two of the race, but there were traffic controllers everywhere letting the runners have the right-of-way. I had my packet picked up so I can't comment on the expo, but it isn't one of those huge 30,000-runner type races. The host hotel didn't have late checkout, but they did offer the use of the showers in the exercise room, which worked out just fine for me. (They would allow late checkout for an additional $50 bucks.)
J. W. from Fort Bragg, North Carolina (5/20/2010) "Excellent Small-Scale Marathon" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Run for the Red Marathon was the best course I have done in my six marathons. The route was completely blocked off. The volunteers and spectators were TOP-NOTCH. Some of Mount Pocono's beauty is shown during this race. But the downhills and uphills make the course a great course for anyone to Boston qualify (BQ). Water points were plentiful, and support was excellent. Post-race support was excellent. Definitely will race in the Run for the Red again. Highly recommended!!!
J. P. from Sioux Falls, South Dakota (5/20/2010) "Great place for a first marathon" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 After reading the past years' comments, I decided to make the trek to the Poconos and was not disappointed. The first half of the course was as fast as advertised (I beat my previous best 13.1-mile time by over 4 minutes), but the last 4-5 miles are tough. I was ahead of BQ pace and it slipped away on the uphills from miles 20-23. There are definitely more downhills, which strained my quads and the toes that got jammed into the front of my racing flats. Fan support was great, and the volunteers were friendly. My only real complaint was in obtaining garment bags before and after the race. There were long lines of runners waiting for them prior to the race, and then there were only two people returning them afterward. Even worse: they couldn't find mine, and it took me 20 minutes to retrieve it myself. But overall this is a well organized event located in a picturesque setting.
L. B. from New Jersey, USA (5/20/2010) "This course did not disappoint" (about: 2010) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I wanted a quick course in the spring for a BQ attempt, as I had failed twice before, so I picked Poconos, which was only 2 hours away. I saw many good reviews about this small marathon, so I had high expectations. Although it is true that there is a small expo, it has a very bland pasta dinner, and there are somewhat sparse crowds, it was still really a wonderful experience. The day was very nice - a tad warm at the end (60's) - and scenery was picturesque. Wind was not a factor, and this was a very fast course. I BQ'd and PR'd by 9 minutes. Just maintain control through the fierce downhills and you will have enough fuel to finish. Your knees will ache. I did forget my chip and they were very accommodating in replacing my chip with very little time before the start of the race. The race volunteers were very helpful, and Bob Wert was available during the pasta dinner to explain the course to the participants.
M. W. from Pennsylvania (5/19/2010) "Not the best marathon, but a BQ nonetheless..." (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I expected the majority of the race to be downhill, and boy, was I wrong. Thankfully, I guess, there were lots of ups (my forte). The sun was brutal out there, but with my GUs (no gel stop, even though it was promised) nothing was gonna stop me. The volunteers/spectators were awesome, but the organization could have been a lot better. -only two people for bag pickup, which is something marathoners do not want at the finish, with their tired, cold bodies -limited post-race food spread -subpar expo -though they had us start at the elementary school, the course was closed the whole way (except Main St. in Stroudsburg) - though water stops were perfect, there was great charity, a free pasta dinner, and beautiful scenery I might do the half-relay next year for fun.
K. P. from Northeast (5/19/2010) "Fun race to run" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Overall a very nice job by race organizers. Advertised as a super fast course, it's not as downhill as the elevation map would indicate. There are plenty of inclines and lots of ups and downs. Large portions of the road are "crowned" - find the middle or high spot. I was warned not to charge down the declines, but if I did it again I'd go for it. The course is virtually closed to all motor traffic - incredible job. Spectators are sparse, but everyone is very nice. Plenty of Gatorade and water, but that's it. No noticeable food at the end - I saw some bananas. No merchandise at the expo. Pasta dinner was very spartan, but it was free. Nice, long-sleeve, tech shirt for all entrants. It's definitely a great race to run. I did PR by 13 seconds. Lastly, there were plenty of hotels around - they were cheap but not fancy. The Quality Inn on Main St. was under $80, had a good bed, and was about half of a mile from the "finish," which is where you go for the buses in the morning.
j. c. from Huntsville, AL (5/19/2010) "The course profile is deceptive" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I agree with others that there are many great things about the race. Well organized, friendly people, small race, nice scenery in parts, etc. And after barely missing my BQ time in 2 recent races, I did finally get it here, so I was excited. But the course is quite difficult, and although the descent starts around mile 10, it is spread out over such a long distance that I found the second half a good bit harder. Thank goodness I had plenty of banked time (at one point over 9 minutes), because I needed almost all of it to get my BQ time. The first half had steeper downhills and shorter uphills, and I was flying and felt sure I could maintain this pace with the majority of the descent coming in the second half; but later, the downhill grades were less and the uphills were longer, making it harder to maintain my pace from earlier. And I was counting on a gel station that I either missed or wasn't there. Parts of the course were shaded, but many sections were not, so if it's sunny and warm, it's tough. Overall, it's hard to complain when I achieved my goal, but I'm not quite sure how so many others have significant improvements in their PR times on this course, because it is not easy - and I have run lots of different courses.
b. h. from New Jersey (5/19/2010) "Fast course but really tough on the quads" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The director and staff were great - very accommodating. Nice, small-town atmosphere yet well run. Course is very fast; I set my personal best by 10 minutes and hit a BQ by 23 minutes, but I had to walk 3 times briefly, as my legs were totally shot after mile 20. Train really hard on hills and you may well run a personal best - but your quads will probably be hurting for several days.
l. r. from jupiter, florida (5/18/2010) "Much tougher then advertised, but I did PR and BQ" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 THIS COURSE requires serious training. Beautiful scenery, great volunteers, and awesome, friendly (but sparse) fans. The host hotel is a dirty, unaccommodating dump. They would not offer courtesy late checkout to marathon runners. What a joke. Avoid this place - it is a zero....

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