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Pittsburgh Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Pittsburgh Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.6 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 4.6
Number of comments: 226 [displaying comments 121 to 131]
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S. D. from usa
(7/9/2010)
 "Awesome!!!!!" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Pittsburgh Half Marathon was my very first race I've ever run. This experience changed my life forever. The course was very nice - there's so much to see and the City of Pittsburgh is beautiful. The crowds of people cheering you on are something that just brings tears to my eyes. I ran 11 miles in rain and these people stood out there cheering us on; it was the most awesome experience ever. Well organized from start to finish, and the expo at the convention center was really nice as well. I can't wait to come back next year. | |
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A. D. from Erie, PA
(6/22/2010)
"My favorite marathon" (about: 2010)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first full marathon. I had previously done 6 half marathons and I have since done one more full marathon, and Pittsburgh was the best experience of all of them. The course was perfect - for every uphill there was a downhill to go charging down. Fan support was HUGE despite the pouring rain, and the early start made me comfortable enough to know that I would finish in a timely manner. The only thing I would improve upon is the finish line experience; there was not much food to rejuvenate with. | |
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Joe Maletta from Pittsburgh, PA
(6/15/2010)
 "Great Adjustments from Last Year's Marathon!" (about: 2010)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was an excellent race again, but even better than 2009. Improvements in the course included taking the dead-leg west of the West End Bridge out (no crowd support) and replacing it with the Clemente and Warhol Bridges (huge crowd support!). Masterful! (In fairness to 2009, I think one of the bridges was being worked on.) Other improvements: (1) The bands were up and playing early, and there were many more of them. (2) The finishing medals were 1000% better than last year. I was impressed and shocked when I saw them. (3) The water stations didn't use those horrible styrofoam cups this time. (4) Crowd support seemed to be even better even though the weather was much worse than 2009. (5) The finishing area was better than 2009, but it still needs to be improved. (6) Much better job with on-course porta-johns. This race was very fun and there was a very diverse group of folks on the course simultaneously, with the relay, half and whole marathon cutting loose at the same time. The shirt was of nice quality, but I am not a fan of the electric-blue color. I'll get over it. See you again in 2011! | |
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David Weiss from Cleveland, Ohio
(5/28/2010)
"A first-class event" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Overall, an excellent event... and I'm from Cleveland, saying this about Pittsburgh! The Good: 1) The course: beautiful, and featuring bridges and interesting parts of the city 2) Spectators: on a terrible, rainy day, to me they seemed plentiful and very enthusiastic and friendly 3) Fluid stops and bathrooms: there were plenty, and there were great volunteers at them - although at several of the stops, the water I drank had a really bad aftertaste... I don't know what that was about 4) Medal: a very heavy piece of hardware - well done 5) Organizational communication: emails before the race as well as a comprehensive booklet and website with all necessary info 6) A Great deal for signing up: they had a booth at the Chicago Marathon expo last fall, and if you signed up at that expo, you got a 50-buck gift card to Dick's; so along w the 10-buck one in the goody bag, I paid 75 bucks for the race, and got 60 bucks in gift cards back-the cheapest marathon I've done! I would not have ran this race without that incredible incentive last fall (those ladies at the expo did a nice sell job!), and I'm glad I did! The bad: 1) Parking: with all of the different races starting at similar times, it was a logjam to park on race morning; I ended up having to park at a garage a long walk away; and had to hustle to start line 2) Packet pick up: it's a general complaint for me about many races; I HATE when race morning packet pickup is not offered - at least for those who are coming from out of town for the race. I've had races where, if a race organizer was contacted, he'd make an exception, but others won't budge. I actually had to drive in on friday, get my pack, and then go home, and then come back race morning - a pain! But I have work obligations that made it necessary. I understand the reasons for not offering it, but I wonder: if someone is traveling into town for a race, can't something be done to make the experience better for them with regard to this? 3) Goody bag: kind of flimsy for a race of this size; but I do love the gift card - also, many races give race posters to marathon runners, but here they were charging for them, which I did not care for The Ugly: 1) The finish line: I know that they had an issue, but it was extremely congested, and the food was not great. Overall, it was my least favorite part of the experience. I think the last image of the race should be positive, and it's a shame when it is not. All this being said, I tremendously enjoyed the course, and the race itself, and the people, and the entertainment on the course. In short, I truly enjoyed the race! | |
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m. i. from pittsburgh, pennsylvania
(5/27/2010)
"awesome experience" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my first-ever half marathon, and I wasn't sure what to expect. The whole experience was great, from the online information to the expo, to the incredible crowd support. I was lucky and got through the finish right before they re-routed people, so I have no complaints about that. I think they did a fantastic job, and it's just one more thing to add to the list of why Pittsburgh is such a wonderful place. I'm so glad that I made my first half marathon my hometown race! | |
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R. R. from State College, PA
(5/25/2010)
"fantastic all around" (about: 2010)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The course: challenging, with some hills (both up and down to burn hamstrings and quads), and a very nice tour of the city. The crowd: up even more from a good turnout last year despite more rain; there were people nearly lining all 26 miles (minus bridges and one stretch on the south side)! The guys in Homewood (I think out every year) were grilling again - it does make you hungry!! Water stops: plentiful, with Gatorade, gels later in the race, and even some churches/neighborhoods adding their own stops. Stuff: great shirt, even better medal (really, really nice - barely even "tagged" with the sponsor), and Nike socks. New stat: "Bomb time" defined as the time spent on the side of the road waiting for the all-clear - as in "chip time minus bomb time = running time!" It actually shows great organization that my bomb time was about 2 minutes and I didn't even realize they'd re-routed the course until after I was done. Overall, a great race, and one that I'll probably try to do annually. | |
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S. R. from Columbia, SC
(5/14/2010)
"Great first-marathon experience" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Pittsburgh Marathon definitely delivered for my first-ever marathon. Despite the rainy and hot/humid conditions, the crowd support was phenomenal and not just at the beginning of the course. Spectators covered the vast majority of the course. Bands were stationed about every mile - not to mention the other groups that came out to cheer us on like cheerleaders, school groups, etc. Organization was great; I had no trouble whatsoever. I think it speaks to the tremendous organization and quick thinking of the organizers that they had to move both finish lines DURING the race because of a bomb scare. They did so flawlessly - I never knew anything was amiss until we got back to our hotel room and saw the news. Course was great. There is a steeper hill at 12, but it is maybe a quarter-of-a-mile long and then there are just long, gradual hills after that, with shorter downhills to recover. The last several miles are downhill or flat, so that was fantastic. Overall, pretty darn flat for a Pittsburgh race. Water/Gatorade stops were frequent. I didn't see the GU stops, but I don't use GU, so I wasn't looking for them. I did see the two PowerBar stations. I did think it was nice that at least the second station was just handing out unwrapped bars - a big help when tired hands and rain made it difficult to grip packaging. Best swag I've ever gotten at a race. Nike socks, a $10 Dicks Sporting Goods gift card, and a really, really nice, long-sleeved, technical shirt (Nike and fitted for men or women, which is great). The best was the medal - on a really nice ribbon printed with the race's bridges logo and a really heavy, nice medal. Seriously, this medal could double as a weapon it is so heavy. I have had so many comments on the medal alone about how nice it is. Everyone involved with the race and the City of Pittsburgh deserves a big pat on the back. Well done! I will be back! | |
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R. V. from Pittsburgh
(5/9/2010)
"Nice course change, adding the bridges" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 It was a nice touch, adding the 9th Street and 6th Street Bridges onto the course. There were plenty of water stops, volunteers and great music along the way. No problem at the start, but I ran into a crowd right after crossing the finish line. Keep up the good work. See you next year. | |
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R. R. from Pittsburgh, PA
(5/8/2010)
"Great race - better than last year." (about: 2010)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I live in Pittsburgh and love this race. This course is as flat as you can get in Pittsburgh. Glad the course went past the stadiums this year. | |
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D. C. from Austin, Texas
(5/7/2010)
"Nice race, GREAT city" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Pittsburgh is a very scenic city, and the race organizers did a masterful job taking the course through many interesting neighborhoods and past many of the attractions while still avoiding any really punishing hills (which Pittsburgh has in spades). There's only one significant hill on the course, and that's heading into Oakland between miles 12 and 13. I don't know why the elevation profile shows it being so long; it's no more than a half-mile long and not terribly steep. There's also a wonderful, long, downhill piece in miles 23 and 24, which came at a perfect time for me. Traffic on the course was never a problem; all roads on the course were closed to cars. Crowd support on the course was great, with lots of enthusiastic people and music the whole way. Nice, beefy finisher medal and a good Nike long-sleeve tech shirt, plus a $10 gift card from Dick's Sporting Goods. I never saw the promised GU and PowerBar stops along the second half of the course, but maybe I had the blinders on and just missed them. Fluid stops were plentiful and well stocked and staffed. Extra credit to the race for starting on time too. Pre-race parking seemed like it may have been a bit tricky, I had my driver just drop me off half of a mile from the start once we ran into sticky traffic. Recommended race. |
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