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Jul 2, 2024

Omaha Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Omaha Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 3.3

Organization 3.7

Spectators 2.9

Number of comments: 183 [displaying comments 111 to 121]

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Rob Klein from Aurora, Colorado (10/1/2007) "Omaha Fans are Top-Notch!" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Omaha Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Omaha Marathon was a great race. The fan support was the best I have ever seen - this is marathon #5 for me. So many people - total strangers - personally encouraged me with "Good job, number 205," and other similar comments. I am glad I participated - even though my time of 5 hours and 28 minutes was far from spectacular. While running the race, when we crossed over Interstate 80, coming back from the Zoo, and up the 10th St. hill, I could see a whole congregation of people in the road. They were all cheering and encouraging me (and other runners too, of course). And I thought, these are like personal cheerleaders! It is amazing. Then when voting for the best water/aid station, I saw that in fact these girls were cheerleaders. So I had to give them my vote. (I hope they won the competition.) Thanks to Race Director Susie for a great marathon experience. Thanks for all the hard work of Susie's staff. And the volunteers truly made this the best it could be. P.S. The pre-competition pasta diner was included in the registration fee and the Gatorade was not watered down as some races have a tendency to do. These were added pluses to the rest of the marathon experience.
P. B. from Belmont, CA (9/27/2007) "Fun event if you're not obsessed with a PR" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Omaha Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran the full marathon in 2006 and had such a good time that I came back to do the half (due to time constraints) this year. The revised course for 2007 contained fewer hills than last year, and most of those were not too steep, just long and steady. The riverside is a great start/finish venue. I also enjoyed seeing the building where TV dinners are created. While the heat and humidity definitely made for a slow pace, I had a beautiful race experience. Spectators, while sparse, were vocal. If you don't take yourself too seriously, this is a fun event.
J. H. from Salt Lake City, Utah (9/27/2007) "Difficult course with poor organization" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Omaha Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 The first 15 miles of the Omaha Marathon were very difficult and hilly. I enjoyed running in the zoo and by the baseball stadium and along the river at the end, but at the end there was someone with cold water but not other food to speak of (just some cake). My brother-in-law ran the 10K and he said they had lots of fruit and bagels, but not much for marathoners. Also the shirt was just a plain, long-sleeve, cotton t-shirt. There were a number of spots along the course with fans cheering, and that was helpful. The medal also was not the most attractive medal I have seen. I probably would have to recommend people look for another marathon unless they want a real challenge with not a lot of benefit.
D. F. from Ralston, NE (9/26/2007) "GO FOR A CHALLENGE!!" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Omaha Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 4th Omaha Marathon, and first with the new route. I did well in it; I had a great day and I look forward to running it every year. Being from the Omaha area, I have always had a soft spot in my heart the Omaha Marathon! I ran by lots of personal memories from the zoo and Rosenblatt Stadium from when I was a kid to some of the companies that our company had done business with in more recent years. Race Director Susie Smisek, as always, did a great job with organizing everything - volunteers, awards, the bands etc.... The new course was kind of like a "revised" version of the old one. I loved the new start/finish area of the Lewis and Clark landing along the Missouri River. Some of the hills from South Omaha were not on the new course. The previous course's mile 20 - winding uphill between Carter Blvd and Florence Blvd. - is now run in the opposite direction. Going DOWN that hill as opposed to UP that hill for mile 20 is a big change! From the marathons I have run, I would still rate the new Omaha marathon slightly above-average difficulty - a bit easier than the previous Omaha course, but certainly not nearly as challenging as Boston or others. I think we should WELCOME the challenges instead of daydreaming of a pancake-flat course with perfect weather conditions. The hills on 6th, 13th and 10th Street are tough, but they absolutely CAN be done (and done well) if you put in your "homework." Although there were not big numbers of spectators, I still gave them 5 stars because they made up in heart what was missing in numbers. You have to remember also that Omaha doesn't have the monster population that Chicago and New York do! Please run Omaha and support our wonderful community! See you in 2008!
C. S. from Nebraska (9/26/2007) "Well-organized" (about: 2007) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Omaha Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Marathon was as advertised. It is a regional marathon that is well run and worth the effort. Half the course was hilly and definitely took its toll on me, but I knew that going in. There were plenty of well-manned water spots and ALL of the intersections were manned by police officers. I thought it would be confusing with a 10K and half-marathon, but it was no problem. As for criss-crossing other runners, it consisted of exactly one spot where you rejoined the half-marathon. At worst, that would have cost a runner about a tenth of one second. Very nice medals. My two suggestions: have the pasta dinner at the same place as the expo and have more Clif Shots/Gu, as I was pretty drained by mile 18.
J. J. from Omaha, NE (9/26/2007) "Hilly first half and not-so-scenic second half" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Omaha Marathons COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I live in Omaha and have now ran the marathon for the third time. I was anxious to run the new route. The weather was perfect and the timing of the marathon was great as I planned to use Omaha as a training run for a later fall marathon. The hills from miles 7 to 12 are killer. They are not rolling but fairly long and steep. They took there toll on my quads later in the run. The first half was nice, running through the zoo and Conagra, but the second half was not a pleasant sight. The older, rundown neighborhoods are not something I would think the organizers would want out-of-town marathoners to see. I was also disappointed in the packet pick up. Using the lobby of In-play, with no room and virtually no expo booths, was disappointing. All in all, I was disappointed in the marathon. I finished with a PR but don't have much good to say after that.
K. A. from St. Louis Mo. (9/25/2007) "Poorly organized, little traffic control, no fans." (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Omaha Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 If you like being on your own through most intersections, if you like 1-mile-long hills, if you like no fans, and if you like criss-crossing other runners, then you will like this marathon; otherwise you will not. I finished in the upper 50% and found most intersections un-manned. If you need Nebraska for a state, then lower your expectations and do Omaha; otherwise, I cannot recommend this marathon, or Omaha for that matter. The pasta dinner was free (yeh), but directions to find it were missing from the race packet, making it very hard to find. Sorry guys - just being honest. I will say that the people working at the pasta dinner were very nice. Please keep trying Omaha.
Grannie Annie Singer from Suffern, New York (9/25/2007) "Warren Buffet & Omaha Nebraska" (about: 2007) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Omaha Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Pros: 1. Well organized-good packet pick-up 2. Good bus tour - orange cones along whole route for direction 3. Pasta dinner was nourishing 4. Nice purple long-sleeve shirt 5. Excellent informational packet; maps were beyond great 6. Lewis & Clark start and finish are SUPER 7. Polka band music was very uplifting 8. Band at the zoo - great music 9. Run through the zoo - loved having the animals cheering us on 10. Take a day and visit the zoo; the gorilla Eexhibit is worth the trip Cons: 1. Pasta dinner was very nice in a tent... but the music from the D.J. was so loud that runners could not talk 2. Concrete course; can't believe a man came in 4th running barefoot 3. First 13 miles are hilly 4. Stay in the hotel out by the airport; bums around downtown make it feel very unsafe - especially in Levy Mall Park 5. Six-hour limit - at 6:15, mats were taken up 6. Award ceremony was very early; if one wins a trophy, it costs $5.00 to have it mailed 7. Some scenic areas, but other areas were very industrial
D. S. from Michigan (9/25/2007) "Nice marathon with improvement opportunities" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Omaha Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Ran the marathon. Hilly and hot, as mentioned. Overall, it was a good event that leans a little toward average in regards to course and fan support. Running through the zoo is the highlight; long, lonely industrial back stretches with only the crickets are the low points. You received a pasta dinner, long-sleeved, purple, cotton shirt and a nice finisher medal in regards to frills. Organization had to be well done considering the course, multi-run events, and all the meanderings and direction changes (traffic control was a little "looser" on the back half). Only saw one gel station (apple pie was an odd handout choice). This was my first marathon where your actual time was displayed at the finish line (excellent feature!). The finish area was a nice venue along the river with a live band, but I thought they could have done a little better on the runner food (maybe they ran out of the good stuff?). Now my "concerns".... Considering the out-of-towners (and I met a lot of 50-staters) and that there had been course changes from last year, an elevation guide would have been very helpful. Despite the course tours on Saturday, there seemed to be a general feeling that we were all running this course blind. A description of "2 miles of hills" and so many miles of rolling terrain didn't work for me. This was much hillier than anticipated. The starting line was a cluster of organization of all the running events. I saw two pace signs - 3:45 and 4:15 - and I placed myself in the middle. However, I found myself dodging WALKERS in the first 100 yards or so!!! I was disappointed with the Doubletree as a host hotel. You got a reduced rate and that was about it (OK maybe a basket of fruit for the runners in the lobby for early breakfast on Sunday). The staff did not even know about the marathon. It was a six-block walk to packet pickup and a much longer walk to the pasta dinner, start or finish with no shuttle support. So if you are flying in to Omaha, there are closer hotels to the start/finish.
Jessica Kahnk from Omaha, Nebraska (9/25/2007) "Great virgin marathon" (about: 2007) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Omaha Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Although I have never run in a race prior to the OM, I heard positive things about the encouragement found at the Omaha Marathon. I signed up for the full marathon from the get-go and loved the affirmation and positive attitudes had by all. I never had to worry about dehydration due to the many Gatorade and water tables, and never lost momentum as I returned high fives, sang to the bands songs along the way, or simply smiled as my number was cheered. Despite the dreaded hills, the support staff along with other racers were a phenomenal group of people.

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