Charleston Marathon costs runners BQ

Charleston native wrote:

You know the charleston marathon has been where I race the half always, but I'm thinking after this year and the buyout I'm going to have to give Kiawah a shot

I've done the various Kiawah races many times, I think they have recently improved the course to reduce the turns. One of the best things about Kiawah is the incredible spread after the race, especially if the day happened to be a cold one.

Tybee Island GA is a nice race and Save the Light is a fine local race too. Heck the half in Georgetown is a cool race, try it. Just no need to support races who are mainly there to milk the runner's money.

The BQ times for Boston are a joke. Lol.

I ran in the race and can give my take. I drove down 10hrs to get away from the cold and was really excited for the course. Things went smoothly until mile 19 when myself and the 2nd 3rd and 4th runner all took wrong turns. There were no markings in the park with two aid stations with staff that didn't know what to say. Another runner had it around 22.5mi. I didn't even finish and just counted it as a progressive long run. The race director refunded my entry but I still booked a room, drove 10 hours one way, and was on pace for my lifetime hobby jogging goal. At least they refunded the entry.

Pretty much 99% of us were able to follow the on course directions. Seems like this one is on the runners.

You knew what the course looked like before you signed up. Can’t complain after the fact.

Not today wrote:

You knew what the course looked like before you signed up. Can’t complain after the fact.

yeah, but one also assumes the wacky turns will be marked. if you're running sub 3, you know how to follow arrows. For this many people to be confused, there clearly were not enough.

That map is a disaster waiting to happen, so it's on the RD to make sure it doesn't. How hard is it to get out the chalk paint and mark a line? I'm really bummed for the runners.

If you belong in the field of a major marathon, you will be invited and offered an appearance fee.

Have you seen the race map?! It's crazy and should be properly marked

This person gives his race review. Charleston Marathon likes what they see so they share the link.

Then he updates the review to include the course confusion. That’s a good term for it.

“Turned out some people who ran the full marathon had problems with course markings. Several of these were Boston Qualifiers who only wound up running 23. This is a problem that race directors had to fix. I qualified in 1987 and it was a huge achievement for me. If London Marathon that year had a jacked up mile posting I would have freaked out and I don’t blame runners for being annoyed. So I guess be careful if you need to qualify for a marathon when you sign up in 2018. Do your due diligence. .”

Link:

https://shanktraining.wordpress.com/

My two takeaways (again I ran the course correctly)... 1) it shouldn’t be a guessing game. As someone else mentioned, from mile 20 on it’s crucial at that point, more so than any other, that there is no guess work. 2) why not do an out and back? Nearly every single complaint I’ve read includes that the race doesn’t end downtown on King St. Having never been to Charleston, SC... I’m certain I could’ve devised a better course (with far less turns, less street closures, no shuttles, and less volunteers) by using GOOGLE MAPS. I could’ve done a better job than the folks who live there that created it.

Not a second tier race...... wrote:

The obsession runners have with qualifying for the Boston marathon is very detrimental to the sport of marathoning. If I ever start a marathon, I will intentionally make it ineligible for a boston qualifying time.

It bugs me when people say "BO ..." But, at least they have a time goal and aren't out to just finish.

I know a guy who barely broke 6 hours and he thinks he's a god.

That course map is a joke. I wouldn't run a race like that even if I was comped an entry.

course mark vs course map wrote:

Not today wrote:

You knew what the course looked like before you signed up. Can’t complain after the fact.

yeah, but one also assumes the wacky turns will be marked. if you're running sub 3, you know how to follow arrows. For this many people to be confused, there clearly were not enough.

That map is a disaster waiting to happen, so it's on the RD to make sure it doesn't. How hard is it to get out the chalk paint and mark a line? I'm really bummed for the runners.

Most of us were able to follow the course markings.

EliteHobbyJogger wrote:

I ran in the race and can give my take. I drove down 10hrs to get away from the cold and was really excited for the course. Things went smoothly until mile 19 when myself and the 2nd 3rd and 4th runner all took wrong turns. There were no markings in the park with two aid stations with staff that didn't know what to say. Another runner had it around 22.5mi. I didn't even finish and just counted it as a progressive long run. The race director refunded my entry but I still booked a room, drove 10 hours one way, and was on pace for my lifetime hobby jogging goal. At least they refunded the entry.

Actually the first and second place in the results did not miss turns. I talked with them after the race and they confirmed that they were 1-2 and never passed by another marathoner from the first mile. Nasty shock to them when 1st place was actually second in the "unofficial" results you could get right after and 2nd was 13th. I helped them track down the race director and get things straightened out.

Not a BQ course wrote:

That course map is a joke. I wouldn't run a race like that even if I was comped an entry.

Agree.

The date and location of the Charleston race could make it a great event, but the convoluted course has scared me off numerous times.

Longish Runner wrote:

... suggest you look elsewhere for a fast race... the Swamp Rabbit ...

Do you mean the half-marathon in Greenville? It's not on the website but if you contact the RD they will let sub-1:15 guys/ sub-1:30 girls race for free. Certified point-to-point with a net drop and prize money.

Palmetto State wrote:

Longish Runner wrote:

... suggest you look elsewhere for a fast race... the Swamp Rabbit ...

Do you mean the half-marathon in Greenville? It's not on the website but if you contact the RD they will let sub-1:15 guys/ sub-1:30 girls race for free. Certified point-to-point with a net drop and prize money.

Not certified

BQ lol wrote:

The BQ times for Boston are a joke. Lol.

+1. It's a problem when the race is choked with hobbyjoggers. They need to lower the standards significantly and make it a great race again.

Totally agree wrote:

BQ lol wrote:

The BQ times for Boston are a joke. Lol.

+1. It's a problem when the race is choked with hobbyjoggers. They need to lower the standards significantly and make it a great race again.

That's called the Olympic Trials.

Btw any race could start having higher (!) standards and try to one-up Boston.

Totally agree wrote:

BQ lol wrote:

The BQ times for Boston are a joke. Lol.

+1. It's a problem when the race is choked with hobbyjoggers. They need to lower the standards significantly and make it a great race again.

So what if the race is choked behind you? I assume you're in the first corral with Galen and folks like that, why do you care what goes on miles and hours back?