worst big city marathon

grumpyoldman wrote:

you wrote:

Not a big city, but big marathon. Disney. Things they DON'T tell you in their ads:

Shuttles to start begin at 3 AM. Race starts at 6 AM, in the DARK. Hurried to leave park as soon as you cross the finish. No fans for 65% of race

Disney is the evil empire. Sponsoring these races is all their grand plan to put people in hotel beds and bodies in the park during non-peak periods. F them.

A business coming up with ways to increase revenue during non-peak times is evil?

Ackley wrote:

I am surprised no one has said San Francisco. Except for being able to say that I ran back and forth across the Golden Gate Bridge, there is nothing good about the race. No spectators to speak of and the City is a complete sh!thole. Seriously, it is like they put on a fairly big Marathon and didn't tell the local residents. The year I ran, they only served Nuun (no carbs) so, even though I had my standard three gels, I bonked pretty hard.

I second that. The only highlight is being bottlenecked on the Golden Gate Bridge. Now they're thinking of cutting that out, because they fear a terrorist will run over the runners like that van in Barcelona. Also, starting at 5:20 a.m. with a bunch of wave starts, no fans, and running in the dark is a drag. Then there's the race director who has to show off that he knows German, by making a bunch of announcements in German right before the start to somehow make his race seem international. Get a clue, no one is coming from Germany to run your notoriously unorganized race.

Also, running on the outskirts of the city is uninteresting. Why not have the race go through Chinatown, like it used to. Why not have it go through Union Square and the Financial District/ How about along Market Street, or a cable car line, or the crooked street?

vivalarepublica wrote:

Change @ Park wrote:

0/10

Wasn’t trolling. I hate running in straight lines for that long of a distance.

Have you run it before? I felt like there was enough going on that it didn't become boring. And "everyone in the area seems miserable" is just flat wrong, the day is a big party for the Metro area.

Honolulu

-5:30 am start time is early

-start line is a complete free-for-all (walkers toeing the line, etc) with 25K runners

-It will be hot at the end when the sun comes up

-Kalanianaole Hwy out and back is not scenic or interesting, but can be windy.

Matt' wrote:

Baghdad

Guessing you have never actually ran this one? To be honest this is actually a very well organised race

Boston is the biggest marathon I've done. I've also run Monumental in Indy - big city, small race. I've spectated but not run Philly, Chicago, and Twin Cities. (Limited data points.)

Is the amount of spectators an important criterion for the quality of a race? Not to me.

What's going to get me to run another big city marathon?

1. Interesting (scenic) course. Loop or point-to-point. No out and back. Scenic doesn't necessarily mean nature scenic. I like the idea of NYC.

2. Race facilities, logistics, and course that can accommodate the huge number of runners.

3. Someplace I'd like to visit even if there wasn't a marathon.

That's pretty much it.

I agree that Philly is a good race now. Its only problem is the lack of portalets from miles 15-23. That is a long stretch to go without any really available. The course is interesting and you run through its best historic areas, downtown areas, and parks. A great mix not seen in most races. The second half is out and back but it is super fast and scenic with plenty of people at the key spots.

Bio Dome wrote:

PortlandXCgirl wrote:

Lots of competition for this title but the winner has got to be...

PORTLAND!!! ????

Portland isn't a big city.

I liked that race the time I ran.

The race has been going down hill the last few years - the last 2 specifically being dumpster fires (the race almost didn't even happen the last two year). The number of people doing the race has plummeted as well, down something along the lines of 55% over the last five years! (Not even 3,000 finishers this year in the full) The city has pulled it's permit 3 TIMES in the last 13 months because the race director Les Smith has become incompetent (not to mention he and the marathon are under an Oregon DOJ investigation). The fact he hasn't resigned yet is beyond me. There is speculation among the PDX running community that this may be the last year of the race.

Bangkok. 3:30 am start. Out and back on a dark super highway. Aid stations are great though. Lots of volunteers at the ready to massage your cramping legs with Tiger Balm. Does finish in front of a temple, but overall, not recommended.

Boston is awful.

Overrated hobby jogger fest with terrible logistics.

thons wrote:

BALTIMORE - not a race but a walk through the hood for 3/4 of the field

I struggle to consider Baltimore a "big city marathon" - 2,100 in 2016 and generally declining over the past few years. Obviously I also don't consider Baltimore a big city. I'd consider that list:

NYC

Chicago

Boston

Houston

Los Angeles

San Francisco

Phoenix

Miami

In that mid-tier:

Philadelphia

Atlanta

Orlando

Austin

Dallas

Baltimore

New Orleans

Indianapolis

Milwaukee

While I don't have much of a desire to run Baltimore Marathon myself, it's really not that bad of a race, and I'd contest it being in the "hood for 3/4."

Most of the 5Ks in Los Angeles are pretty good. As long as there are a few water stations I'm okay. Parking can be tough though. I haven't run any marathons in other big cities though so I don't have anything to compare to.

and that's bad? wrote:

grumpyoldman wrote:

Disney is the evil empire. Sponsoring these races is all their grand plan to put people in hotel beds and bodies in the park during non-peak periods. F them.

A business coming up with ways to increase revenue during non-peak times is evil?

It is when you live in your mom's basement.

Strange list... SF, Phoenix, Miami as big city marathons? Then, in your mid-tier, including both cities with larger populations and races with more finishers?

Ho Hum wrote:

vivalarepublica wrote:

Wasn’t trolling. I hate running in straight lines for that long of a distance.

Have you run it before? I felt like there was enough going on that it didn't become boring. And "everyone in the area seems miserable" is just flat wrong, the day is a big party for the Metro area.

No, I'm just anti-Boston.

feldman wrote:

Pretzel Man wrote:

But yet you went back 2 more times ?

Yes, I acknowledge my post is rather contradictory. But the first time it was on the bucket list, but had a terrible race. Went back two years later to get some level of revenge. Then the bombs went off and knew I had to be there a year later.

Yeah, I was done with Boston also until the attack. I went back the next year. I was in no shape to race so I jogged it. It was one of the greatest experiences ever. The mood amongst the runners and the crowds was hard to describe.

Yeah, I don't think RM gets out much. Philadelphia is the listed as the fifth largest City in America by population but its City limits were frozen in 1854 so the City itself is a lot more densely populated (because of the smaller area) than newer cities like Houston and Phoenix. In addition, the Philadelphia suburbs go on forever (including far into New Jersey and northern Delaware).

you wrote:

Not a big city, but big marathon. Disney. Things they DON'T tell you in their ads:

Shuttles to start begin at 3 AM. Race starts at 6 AM, in the DARK. Hurried to leave park as soon as you cross the finish. No fans for 65% of race

Well that's just plain GOOFY!

Pyongyang- my friend ran it and hasn't been seen since.