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☰
Hartford Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Hartford Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 3.9
Number of comments: 306 [displaying comments 211 to 221]
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Kevin O'Neill from Barrie, Ontario
(10/15/2007)
 "New England Charm" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Hartford Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Definitely one of the best marathons I've run. The course wound its way through some really nice neighborhoods, along the river (twice) and had a great finish in the park. Having the mile markers on the road, literally, was something I had not experienced before, and since I'm usually running with my head down, it was perfect! Not sure what people mean by "hills" at the end... maybe slight inclines, but if you do any hill training at all, it was nothing. Besides, if it was easy, heck, everybody would be doing it! Great organization, small vocal group of supporters, great volunteers, and lots of GU, water and sports drink.... I'll be telling all my running buddies here in central Ontario about Hartford. | |
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A. B. from Glastonbury, CT
(10/14/2007)
"Fantastically Fast" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Hartford Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The organizers of the Hartford Marathon have successfully made a great marathon even better! They kept the South Windsor out and back, giving all runners a true taste of New England. We were treated to fall foliage, quaint farmhouses and picturesque tobacco barns. We also ran alongside the CT River on beautiful bike paths. At the finish I feasted on a tasty organic dish, a banana, yougurt drink, Peanut butter and jelly, and a bagel. There appeared to be plenty of food left. (The clock was at about 4:20 at that time) Sometimes its the little things that organizations do that really set them apart. Not only were the water tables well stocked with Gu and energy drink, they had course marshalls out on bikes handing out energy gel. The miles were marked with wide labeled tape accross the road. Once I recognized this marking method, it was a welcome change from traditional signage. The new course gets rid of the assault of Asylumn Hill and trades it for several smaller rollers along the river. The first of a few hills at the end is an overpass that appears worse than it is. After the climb there is a nice prolonged downhill that allowed me to make up anything I had lost on the way up. After passing the boat house, there is a minor hill as one rises up from the river's edge. The toughest hill on the river is the final hill. However, this hill is not Heartbreak, nor the Queensboro, its just slightly larger than the last hill at Chicago. I do not need a crowd to make me run fast. Just give me a nice course like Hartford. I will run Disney this year as training, and for family fun, Boston for the tradition, and Hartford next year to go sub 3 hours. This is now the perfect mid sized marathon. | |
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S. B. from Cheshire, CT
(10/14/2007)
 "Beautiful Course!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Hartford Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The marathon course was very scenic with a lot of course support, and the weather was awesome. Since the course ran a loop, it was great to pass the elite runners. This was my first full marathon, and I plan to return (after I can walk again)! | |
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J. S. from CT,USA
(10/14/2007)
"First marathon; why the hilly finish?" (about: 2007)
First Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon and all my friends said there would be food along the way. There was one Gu station early in the run. I had never heard of Ultima, and the way it tasted, it seemed that it might not have calories. This was bad, psychologically. And: Why have the course be hilly at the end? I had to stop and walk after mile 25 on those hills and I found this to be demoralizing. The other tortuous thing was that there are painted mile markers on the way and these were often hundreds of yards before the actual mile markers. The course is beautiful, and the spectators were great, but the last mile should be either flat or downhill. I don't know if I will ever run a marathon again. | |
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R. B. from Concord, MA
(10/14/2007)
"Great race, but the 2006 route was better" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Hartford Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I liked the 2006 edition of Hartford so much that I signed up early for 2007. This is a great race, well organized, with a nice field size and mostly flat course. Unfortunately, in 2007 I think it took a step backwards, mainly for two reasons: The new course route seemed to me to be a tougher finish, despite the organizers' claims to the contrary. The last 10K was mostly uphill, with virtually no spectator support until the last 0.2 miles; the other issue is that unless I was unusually distracted, several of the mile markers were missing, making it difficult to gauge pace and plot strategy. | |
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John Grieco from Bedminster, NJ
(10/14/2007)
 "Reverse the course" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Hartford Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great "small-town" marathon! Everything seemed to go off smoothly, although it seemed there could be more porta-potties. Then again, I guess that can be said about most races. :-) The start was relatively uncrowded - I lined up near the back and still took only 2 minutes to cross the starting line. Post-race food was good and there seemed to be enough fluid stations and, considering the small size of the field, really good crowd support and music. The one thing I'd change is to reverse the course. There were a series of small, relatively steep inclines starting at mile 20, mostly due to going over bridges. These would not be a big deal in normal circumstances, but seemed a bit draining to me after running 20 miles (and I train in a hilly area). | |
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R. L. from Connecticut
(10/14/2007)
 "Horrible Planning, Horrible Event" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Hartford Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 What a disaster. The new course was a joke. On the website it is billed as scenic running along the revitalized riverfront. It is also billed as spectator -friendly. It was none of the above. If scenic is running through an electrical power plant, then it was scenic. Over the last 6 miles outside of volunteers at water stations and homeless people, there were about 45 spectators. The police did a nice job closing the course and collecting overtime but they had no idea where they were on the course. My family was sent into one of the worst areas of Hartford to try to find mile 18. This is after showing the officer a map of where they wanted to go. The final insult is that they ran out of finisher's medals. Not a big deal, but after 6 months of training and finally finishing, a medal would have been nice. Wild Oats sponsored the food and I just think Spanish chicken and spicy orzo was not the best choice for a post-race meal. | |
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A. O. from CT
(10/14/2007)
"Great, Fast Course - Well organized" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Hartford Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my first non-mega marathon. I LOVED it. Great course . Flat, scenic country setting, and the new part along the river is really something to look forward to! The end of the marathon - through Downtown Hartford and thru the arch and into Bushnell Park was a terrific ending to the race I have gotten tired of the big races where you are in a mosh pit for half of the race. This is a great race to run a PR on and to try to your reach goal. It was the first marathon I was in where you could actually see/find the pace runners! Frankly, I did not expect much from this course, and I was pleasantly surprised. I know the last six miles were changed this year to make it more scenic and faster and since I don't have experience with the previous course I can't compare - but I certainly liked this last 6 miles. There were not tons of spectators, but the ones there were great. It was up to me yesterday - and with the course, the organization, and (thank GOD, literally) a perfect weather day...I was FINALLY able to qualify for Boston! YEAH! for Hartford! I HIGHLY recommend this course. By the way, I picked up my number and race packet the morning of the race - talk about your 'ho hassle' marathons! Don't know why more people don't put this on their marathon calendar! It's a very well kept secret! | |
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N. S. from West Simsbury, CT
(10/13/2007)
"Fantastic spirit! Crowds give great cheers!" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 3 Hartford Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This year the race course traveled in loops around the center of Hartford. The constant turns were a distraction. The crowds gave wonderful pep and vigor to the race. | |
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C. E. from New London, CT
(7/2/2007)
"Good race" (about: 2006)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my very first marathon ever. I enjoyed the crowds and there were kid volunteers on the course cheering on the runners. The course is flat until the end. We ran past farms and beautiful country neighborhoods. I am excited to see there is a new course for 2007 - I will be there again. There was a candy station with soda too at mile 21. The food at the end seemed to be running out. (I finished in 4:18 try to finish earlier if you want food.) Good overall, but I have nothing to compare it to. |
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