Marin County Marathon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Charles L.
San Francisco, CA

  (04-28-2010)

"So last week was the Marin County Half, I have to say I had my reservations leading up to the race. The website was a mess, completely incomplete and in disarray. They posted a map, then mentioned off-hand that there would be 1500 feet gain, but offered no elevation chart. The race also had a steep buy in fee, and I think the fact that it came across as a big time race, but would be traveling on a hybrid course (half road/half trail) was a bit off-putting to first time racers (not to mention the elevation change).

There was also the issue of race day logistics, you had to either purchase a parking spot at McNear State Beach Park, for something around $20-30, or grab a shuttle to the race if you parked outside of the park. This was due to the fact that half the roadway leading into and around the park was closed for the race. Sort of a hassle, especially since you had to get there before 7AM, because at that time the entire roadway leading into the parkwould be closed off to all traffic.

However, when I finally got to McNear State Beach Park on the day of the race (after a very early wake-up call on a Sunday), I was kind of impressed. I should point out I got into this race at a discount, thanks to my wicked fast friend (my "WFF").

I was impressed because of the level of organization and professionalism of the staff at the race start/finish area. The organization around the finishers chute was great, and the expo space had some cool participants. The event being staged as an earth friendly venture, by Sustainable Sports Foundation, was also a neat concept. They actually had a staff member there who was responsible for picking items out of the trash that could be recycled and adding them into the recycling bins (he used a special tool and wore gloves of course).

I will also say that they could have offered more post-race food, but it didn't take away too much from the event because they did have some food/recovery fuel vendors on hand to help out. Since I finished early I didn't notice the lack of food as to much of a drawback, but that might have been different for the runners who finished a little later on in the day. Another area in which they should focus next year is timing.

The Half started only 10 minutes after the full marathon. The other distance (10km and 5km) seemed better spaced out, as the 10k'ers were finishing just a little before the half-marathoners, as were the 5k'ers. The marathon participants, though few as this was the marathon distance's first year in existence, were the last to finish. Before the first marathoner had even returned to the race start/finish area the MC had begun raffling off prizes. This seemed somewhat of a futile activity as many racers had either already left or not yet finished (because they were still racing the half or full marathon distance). So next year they might want to figure out what time is best to send the marathoner's out, and then when to start the awards ceremony/raffle in relation to that change, so that all the participants get to rub shoulders at the end of the race.

All in all, the weather was great, the race was fun and it seemed like folks were enjoying themselves. I would race this event next year if they lower the buy in fee, cleaned up or spruced up their website, and sorted out the timing issues."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2010

naomi n.
san mateo, CA

  (04-27-2010)

"This was the first time that the full marathon was held. They were great in purpose and intention but there\'s a lot of things that need to be improved on.

1. Pre-race info was lacking. The Web site did not have much information. The maps were not good. There was no communication about anything. But to their credit, if you contacted them to ask, they responded immediately.

2. Expo: Beautiful location, nice giveaways for a small race. Not crowded. Very relaxed.

3. Course: TOUGH hills. This was my first marathon and I would not recommend it for any first timer. Even experienced marathoners said it was tough. The course was also poorly marked and ran through parking lots, back yards, along highways with lots of traffic. Parts of it was also trail - tough gravel to run on.

3. Crowd: Other than the aid stations (which were great until they all left before the event was over), there was zero, ZERO crowds.

4. Organization: see above comments. The road signs said the roads were closed till Noon. The course max time was 6 hours. The race didn\'t start until 7:45 am so by the time us back-of-the-packers came around, the cones, volunteers, aid stations, etc were all gone. We were abandoned out there on roads where there were on sidewalks. We were basically out among the traffic.

5. Course and logistics need to be improved. The first half of the course and the Start/Finish areas were beautiful. When the aid stations were manned they were great. "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2010

Loan L.
San Jose, CA

  (04-26-2010)

"Would I do this marathon again??? NOOOOOO

Let us begin with the poor/disorganized website.
Ok..I was already sketched out at the very limited and generic website for the Marin County Marathon. To top this off, I purchased a reserved parking place online and a week passed when I still have not received it in the mail. ( I don't understand why it can't just generate a PDF for me to print out).
The parking spaces are handled by a sub-company called Greenlight Organic.
So I emailed them and did not receive a response. I called them and some woman answered. I seriously thought I got the someone's home number because she just answered.."Hello?"
I explained to her about my conundrum, and she said she would look into it. Really? What kind of shop are they running over there?

And onto the race. I've ran races where there were over 14,000 runners and it had to be one of the most organized races I had ever run (San Jose Rock n' Roll). I've also ran Napa Valley which had about 2000 participants and again, everything from the expo to the race itself was so organized.
I've planned my own wedding by myself and it was a helluva lot more organized than this event.

The course was just down right awful. The never-ending rolling hills were brutal and just when you weren't in enough pain at mile 22....you have to travel upwards toward more hills. I would suggest that they rethink the course layout and not have upward hills past mile 22.

The course was also very hokey. We first ran through some school parking lot through a tiny gate. If a volunteer was not there with a flag, we could have easily ran off course. Then you run through unblocked busy streets. No, not just little streets in the neighborhoods, but busy main streets. You either had to run on the side walk and dodge the oncoming runners that are finishing early, dodge the untrimmed bushes....or you can take your chances and run on the narrow shoulder and hope that a car doesn't clip you as they speed past. Running through those streets didn’t feel like I was running a race, I felt like I was running one of my long runs again.

Parking lot #2. This one was a treat. It looked like a soccer tourney was going on, but part of the course was through that parking lot. Since the parking lot was part grass/gravel, cars were all crowded getting into the lot and out. Not only were you trying to climb this hill in the lot, you had to make sure a car doesn't back into you. Oh..and you probably lost some time because you had to yield to the cars pulling in and out of the lot.

Since I am a slow runner I miss out on a lot of things such as volunteers being present, cold sports drinks and directions on how to get back on the course.
Yes...you would think that a course would have clear arrows and cones set aside for the runners. There were so many points in the course coming back where the cones were gone and you literally had to figure out where to run. Good thing I took mental images of the storefronts I passed so that I knew how to get back.

And finally, the finish line. Apparently they closed shop after 5 hrs, so if you were like me running toward the finish, you were confused. The cones were misplaced and so when I was nearing the finish line..I literally ran around in the grass in circles. People didn't give a darn anymore because they were all busy packing up. It was not only confusing but very disappointing to those like me who finish near the bottom and not have anyone around there to cheer for you….or tell you how to get to the finish line.

If you want to make this marathon your first, please look elsewhere. If you want to run this event at all, again please look elsewhere and save your $120 registration fee.
"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2010

Tanya R.
San Jose, CA

  (07-17-2009)

"This was the first year that they held this race, which was very well organized and in one of the most beautiful settings - AWESOME views.

When I initially signed up for the event, it was going to be a road course. It ended up being half trails, but the views were fantastic, even if I was a little under prepared for the trail experience. :)

This race was "green" and they were very careful to have low/minimal impact to the environment with everything they provided/used."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009