Philly Marathon vs. DC Marathon

karenvictoria

karenvictoria

Cathlete
My friend and I are thinking of a marathon for the new year as one of our goals. We live in Maryland and both Marathons are accessible to us. Has anyone done one or the other or both and what did you think of each. We are leaning toward Philly for the simple fact of the great number of people in the DC one plus the problem we will have with parking in the DC one. Any thoughts would greatly be appreciated. How orgnazied are either of them.
karen

www.picturetrail.com/karenvictoria
 
Hey Karen!! I have not done a marathon at either (I did the Quad Cities, IA marathon in Sept), but I have heard bad things about *both* being unorganized. I had 2 friends run the Philly half & it was terribly disorganized (they couldn't find the bag drop-off & other problems) & there was not a lot of crowd support either. One of my friends had a PR & said it was a decent course to run though! BUT, I also know someone who ran the Marine Corp marathon (that's the one you're talking about for the DC marathon, I'm assuming) & they had some disorganization there also. Check out the link Elaine listed! Good luck training!!
 
Karen,
I did the Marine Corps Marathon in DC 2001 and it was great. This was my first marathon and was very impressed with the organization, the crowd support and the marines themselves. Would recommend it!

Gin
 
Thanks everyone for giving me input. Elaine it's been a long summer and fall with many issues which are finally resloving themselves. I hope to be on the boards more often come Jan.

Gin, How crowded was it and did you have issues with parking. I'm hoping with dh and the kids coming to watch me as well as my friends family that we could easily get accomadations.
karen

www.picturetrail.com/karenvictoria
 
I ran the Marine Corps this year in DC with a couple of friends. We live in Frederick Maryland and drove down on the day of the marathon at 6:00 a.m. and was able to find parking fairly easy. We ended up parking in a parking garage (for free!) where they bus you to the starting line. It was fairly uncomplicated. Even though there were 34,000 people that started, I never got the feeling I was running with that many people. The only problem was with potty breaks. You would have to wait "forever". The people I went with all ran at different speeds so we agreed to meet under the bell tower at the end and we had no problem finding each other when it was over. There was an issue in getting back to where we parked though. There were very long lines waiting for the buses. And once you got on the bus, it took a very long time to drive back to the parking garage because of all the traffic because of streets being closed off. This was the first marathon for me so I can't compare it to any others. I told my family I didn't think it would be a good idea for them to come (there are 6 of us) because I didn't think I'd see them, and it would be hard to find them at the end. I wish they had come because I believe it would not have been a problem, plus I could have used the moral support!
 
Karen,
It was 5 years ago, so I don't remember the parking issue very well. I do remember riding a bus to the start line. And since the last poster mentioned the "lack of potties" issue, I do remember that as being a problem. It was also difficult to locate family after the marathon. It helps YOU so much if your family and loved ones can meet you somewhere along the course, if they can figure it out.
BTW, I have also done the Chicago Marathon and it is VERY well organized with tremendous crowd support, but is also one of, if not the biggest marathons in U.S.

Good luck!
Gin
 
Thanks, Elaine! That was an upper! :)

You marathoners will be happy to remember that the legendary Lance Armstrong ran his first marathon this past year, and said that it was the hardest thing he's ever done. If he's saying that, well . . . props to all of you for doing it!

Just in passing: Minnesota has two highly regarded marathons at awesome times of the year in terms of climate and scenery:

The Twin Cities Marathon, that spans the galaxies of Minneapolis and St. Paul; and

Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, I believe in the fall when all the fall colors are peaking and the air is cooler and drier.

Just a thought . . .

Just a little thought . . .

A-Jock
 
I ran the Philly marathon in 2005 and had a great time. There were about 10,000 runners but they "corral" you according to estimated finish times so it wasn't too bad. They have pacers available for free, you just sign up when you pick up your packet.

DH and I spent the night at one of the hotels that was a mile or two away from the start/finish. DH walked with me to start, came back to the hotel for a three hours then went up toward the finish line to watch. Choose one of the hotels from the marathon site and they give you a discounted rate when you make a reservation, and they also give you an extended checkout time which is nice so you can shower!

The course itself is cool, you run through downtown Philly for the first 5 miles, up through Manayunk (those people are crazy! they offer you beer and donuts, lol!) and back around to the Art Center. There's a bit of hill about mile 8 or 9 and a few up and downs but overall a flat course. HTH.

Kathy
 
Kathy...how are you?....I've missed you from the cheetah check-in. Are you healing up well?

Karen...I've missed you too. Good Luck in your marathon adventure. I have not run either as I seem to be stuck on the West Coast...:)
 
I'm way over on the other side of the country, but my goal is to run a marathon this year too -- The Seattle marathon in November.

Good luck runners! Run on!

Charlene
 
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