Charleston Marathon: mixed review


As you can tell from the title of this post, I have some mixed feelings on this one so here it goes.

First, this was my first attempt at pacing a half marathon.  I loved it!

My running partner CSR and I paced the 2:30 group for TrySports.  We got to wear some cool bright yellow pacer shirts and hold “2:30” signs the whole race (that was the hardest part of the race – the signs, not the shirts).  

CSR and I had just run the Goofy Challenge last weekend, but the 39.3 miles did not bother either of us at all.  CSR came up with a new name for what we were doing, “Marathon Sandwich”.  That’s a half marathon, full marathon, and another half marathon within a week.  I think the name will stick!

I was so inspired by the people I met on this run.  Some people were either running their first half marathon or were going for a PR in this distance.  I met a guy who had lost over 100 pounds (like me!) and a woman who just had a baby ten weeks ago (not like me)!  I ran with locals, people from other parts of the state and several people from out of state.  I absolutely loved hearing their stories, I loved crossing the finish line with all of them and I loved being part of their amazing journeys.

Here is what I did not love…

There were only 14 port-a-lets at the start of the race (there were over 3,000 people registered for the race).  There was very little signage at the start to direct people and I cannot even remember if there was an emcee at the start. 

I don’t really have much to say about the route.  It’s a long race - some parts are nice, some parts are not.  What I did not like was that at mile four there were no cups!  In fact, there were no cups after this point until the table at mile twelve!  

Luckily, the weather was cool enough that this did not become a safety issue.  But I could tell that the people around me, who had never run this far, were starting to panic.  People were even picking up used cups from the ground to get some water or PowerAde.  The volunteers were so apologetic and I could see they were really upset that the race organizers had not given them enough cups for the runners.

The finish was not much better.  There was food, but no water bottles.  We did manage to find some volunteers who were filling up cups with water toward the back of the finish area.  

I later found out that the race had run out of medals for the finishers after our pace group (almost as bad as not having cups).

The finish festival was nice.  It was inside a tent (although it was a little cramped) and they had shrimp and grits (every race should have this at the end), but there was no water!  Plenty of sweet tea, but again no water…

I do want to end this post on a positive note.  My son ran the Youth Marathon the day before and had a blast!  He received an awesome shirt and his medal was over the top!

I really hope this race gets better.  

Charleston is an amazing place to run and I want people to come here and enjoy this place I call home.

13 comments:

  1. I feel horrible for people that this race was their first half! I cant imagine there being no water during my first half. And not receiving a medal, expecially your first time, is ridiculous. Not the way to end an awesome accomplishment!

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    1. These are two things that just have to be done correctly. I wonder how many people signed up the day of the race. Could it really be so many that it would throw your count off for medals and cups???

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  2. I ran the marathon and luckily had a handheld water bottle so I did not notice that they ran out of cups. Later in the race there seemed to be plenty of cups and food. I did notice the porta potties and I heard they ran out of toilet paper. I did not think of it at the time because I was on cloud 9 from finishing my first marathon but I kept asking my family where the heck the water was at the finish. Glad I ran it but I think Charleston Marathon has A LOT of work to do. Sad because I'm local and I would run it again because I live here but would not have someone travel for it. I ran with the 4:30 pacer for the marathon for quite sometime and didn't catch her name but she was awesome!

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  3. This infuriates me. LUCKILY the weather was cool.. unlike the past months of 70 degree days we've had. What a dangerous oversight to run out of cups. I spoke to someone whose daughter ran and went without water for 8 miles and finished feeling as if her kidneys were hurting. Running out of medals.. disheartening and annoying. Running out of cups and leaving people to either go without or risk disease by using discarded cups is negligent. Last year my sister in law ran the marathon, she was a later finisher and by the time she got to the food tables there was no food. I stood out there in park circle handing chocolate and oranges to the 6+ hour runners, she said it saved her.

    I won't even go into my thoughts about how uninspiring and dull the course is.

    Thanks for being a pacer. I used my first pacer at Savannah to PR by 6 minutes and couldn't thank him enough for leading the way. He was truly my hero.

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    1. I totally agree JHo! Also, thanks for volunteering last year! I ran the full in 2011 and it was brutal... I loved pacing and will hopefully be asked to do it again for another race. There really is nothing like finishing with a group of people that are pushing their limits! It was very inspiring.

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  4. I did Goofy last week too and all I have to say is GO YOU for doing another half so quick!! :)

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    1. Congrats on the Goofy Hannah! How crazy was getting up so early those two days?! After waking up that early, it felt like I was sleeping in this past weekend :)

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  5. I just ran the 5k and was pretty shocked that the water was so hard to find. I mean, boiled peanuts are good and all, but I wanted to hydrate! They ran out of medals for the 5k too - much less of a deal, but I think it showed poor planning overall. I think I would have been CRUSHED if I couldn't have my half-marathon medal that day! Hopefully, they'll take the feedback to heart and next year will be even better!

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    1. Hey Sarah! I think anytime you are expecting a medal and they run out it is a big deal. I really do think the race director wants this to be a great race. I sent in my feedback too so hopefully they will work on it for next year.

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  6. Hi Noah! Just found your bloglink through Charleston Daily Photo Blog! So impressed! Keep up the great job on this!
    Leisa (Rice) Shea (I didn't think you would recognize the nickname or the new name.)

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    1. What's up Leisa?!!! So glad you found my blog! I love Charleston Daily Photo Blog! Joan is a friend of mind and she takes amazing pictures. Congrats on the recent marriage too!!!

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  8. My review of the Charleston Marathon this year is much better! http://www.mooreonrunning.com/2013/01/charleston-marathon-recap-from-proud.html

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