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Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 3.6 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 3.3 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 3.9 
 
 
Number of comments: 203 [displaying comments 121 to 131]
More Comments: [ < 1 .. 11 12 13 14 15 .. 21 > ]

 

Dallas Runner from Dallas (11/24/2008)
"Okay, but could be better" (about: 2008)

4-5 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 2  FANS: 3


Miles 16.5 - 20 were lonely, with no crowds, and no bands. No finisher's shirt. There's a hill after 26 miles. Parking was a mess. Too many people at the start. Will not be back. Dallas is better. Run the Rock!
 

Demetrio Bolanos from Mexico (11/24/2008)
"OK for the first one" (about: 2008)

11-50 previous marathons | 2 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathons
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 4


UP
-One more of the Rock 'n' Roll
-Nice course
-Wave start (good idea)
-Lots of music and spectators
-Lots of water and Cytomax
-San Antonio finally has a real marathon

DOWN
-Shuttle
-T-shirt (cheap)
-Finishing in a parking lot (BAD idea)
-Crowded expo
 

n. m. from Monterrey MX (11/24/2008)
"Great race weekend in San Antonio" (about: 2008)

First Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 5


It was my first marathon and I was so excited about it that I couldn't sleep. But it was for good, so my wife (half marathon) and I could catch the shuttle from downtown to the start line by 6 a.m. without any problem. The start line corral system works good, the people cheering were great, the cheerleaders and bands were amazing, the course was scenic but with some turns in the beginning, and the final part through the missions was fine but with few people on the sides. My only two complaints were that there were no technical shirts at the end (I have seen them in 10K runs - why not in a marathon?), and two uphills in the last KM (each one about 300 meters after 42KM or 26 miles). They caused me a lot of stress. But the finish line was okay, and I enjoyed my first marathon a lot.
 

D. S. from San Diego (11/23/2008)
"Overall good, but a few fixes needed" (about: 2008)

3 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 4


Shuttles from downtown sucked. If you are going to have 30,000 runners, make sure you have a good plan to get them to the start. Our group waited for an hour and 15 minutes for a bus, and we missed the start. How about a technical shirt!? Runners want them. Lastly, they need toilet paper in the porta-johns. Good stuff: Water stations, volunteers, expo, finish line food and San Antonio in general.
 

I. D. from Chicago, Illinois (11/23/2008)
"Well organized, scenic, supported inaugural race" (about: 2008)

4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 4


Met my expectations for a first-run marathon. Volunteers were great, with plenty of water/Cytomax to go around. I'm a fan of Cytomax, so I was glad that this was offered. The first half of the marathon was pretty scenic - Alamo, downtown, beautiful tree-lined stately home neighborhood. Lots of crowd support in the first half. Pretty desolate through much of the second half, though. Needed more bands during the second half. Nasty incline at the end of the race. Thoroughly enjoyed my visit to this historic city. My advice is to book a hotel room way in advance - I had a major problem getting a decent hotel room booked (and paid through the nose), even though I reserved the room in early June.
 

M. M. from Douglassville, Pennsylvania (11/23/2008)
"Nice Accommodations for First-Time Event" (about: 2008)

2 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 4


Even with this being the inaugural RNR event for San Antonio, they did an excellent job hosting, and it was a pleasure to have spent the week in the city. The only downside (and it didn't apply in my case because we stayed roughly 1 mile from the finish line and our hotel gave us a complimentary shuttle ride to the "start village") were the lines of people waiting for the exiting shuttles. I'm sure they'll learn from their faults and I would highly recommend it to anyone as a must-do.
 

J. J. from Albuquerque,NM (11/23/2008)
"Whiners galore here" (about: 2008)

1 previous marathon | 1 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 4


Ok, maybe it's because this is my first marathon, but I've run plenty of other races and this one was rather well organized. Let's see... 30,000 people expected and some people seem to think they can arrive at the bus shuttle area 1 hour before the planned race start (7:30 a.m.).

I was at the shuttle area at 5:45. Got on the shuttle at 5:50 and was at the starting area by 6:25. I can't vouch for shuttle lines back since I ran a very slow 6-hour run. When I got done there were no lines.
If you expect to run a race with 30K+ people, then plan to need to arrive early, bring toilet paper (as I do) just in case port-a-potties run out, and don't check gear (try garbage bags or goodwill clothes you can chuck).

As for scenery, hey, the back end of the course along the river was pretty nice (go compare to Phoenix's industrial nothingness and write back). Course support, especially water, Cytomax, sponges, medical aid, etc. were well supplied.

No, this isn't New York City - so don't expect spectators along nearly every mile (although there were plenty of people cheering everyone along).
 

C. P. from KS-USA (11/22/2008)
"Shuttle system failed" (about: 2008)

2 previous marathons
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 1  FANS: 4


I ran the HALF marathon and found the course to be nice, but I wished more of it could have been run through the pretty downtown area. The shuttle service was a disaster. Our hotel was roughly a mile and a half from the finish, so we walked back after the race; and after reading prior comments, I'm glad we did that! It was so disappointing to miss the official start (I moved from corral 4 to corral 6 to be with friends, but we didn't make it to the start line until corral 10, so the corral thing didn't even matter in the end). It was really tough to pass the slower runners/walkers as the streets were so crowded. It didn't thin out until we split from the marathon group. I felt the course support was decent and I really enjoyed the bands. This was my first Rock 'n' Roll event and I was looking forward to that aspect. The post-race concert didn't disappoint either. As far as the City of San Antonio, they were very kind, friendly and hospitable, and I am still amazed at how they expedited the post-race clean-up. We couldn't tell there had been 25,000+ cups, GU wraps etc., all over the street. Great job!
 

P. G. from Houston, Texas. (11/22/2008)
"Good marathon, poor planning." (about: 2008)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and 1/2 Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 2  FANS: 2


This year we were blessed by unusually cool weather, and the new course was a bit hillier than the previous one, which is O.K.; but I was disappointed by the way this marathon was managed compared to previous years.
The good:
- The corral system was a plus.
- The water stations were great and well manned.
- Clocks at every mile were helpful.
- The bands along the course kept us going.

The bad:
- The venue was not big enough for 30,000 runners and their friends/relatives; 20,000 should be the maximum allowed.
- The shuttle system was poorly planned, and this caused delays. Many got to the start line late because of this. We had to stay in line one hour to ride the shuttle back out.
- No technical shirts were given out, you had to buy it if you wanted one, just ridiculous! even small marathons give you these.
- The bag drop-off/pick-up was poorly manned; more trucks and space was needed to avoid the long lines.
- The expo was fairly small for an event this big.
- Marathoners and half-marathoners started out together; they should be separated.

I`m glad I registered well in advance, paying less than most for an event that had that many flaws. It sure was well below my expectations. If Elite Racing wants to make this one a quality marathon, they need to come to my home town and check out ours, because they have a long way to go.
 

E. E. from Everett, WA (11/22/2008)
"Good Weather" (about: 2008)

11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 4


The course was easy, and the weather was good. Porta-potties could have used toilet tissue. You need to get yourself an early start to the buses to make sure you aren't late. I was at the parking lot of the finish by 5 a.m. I left on the bus by 6 a.m. Allow plenty of time at the start.

The first R&R at San Antonio was worth the trip.
 

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