makopoetic.com - 2008 Seafair Marathon

2008 Seafair Marathon

Ratings: (1-5) Course: 2 Organization: 4 Fans: 3

Overall:(15 max) 9

Course:

Running across the 52 bridge was absolutely awsome! This was a fantastic opportunity to be able to run a route normally unavailable to runners. The clear morning offered many views that were truly amazing. I have previously ran accross the I-90 bridge while completing the Seattle Marathon and I was not going to miss this chance to add another bridge to my running experiences.

Unfortuanately, that was the best part of the route. I had heard comments that the hills on this marathon were rather daunting. YEA! I cannot believe that the organizers would include the 'mountain' around mile 7. As soon as I saw it I decided not to kill myself and to walk all of it. I believe that this hill, so early in the race, coupled with the heat of the day was to blame for the poor marathon finishing numbers. With only 533 finishers I'm happy with my choice of taking it slow payed off when I crossed the finishline.

Running up Bellevue Way was nice as there were a lot of spectators along this part of the route. Another hill awaited me as I entered Kirkland. On any other marathon route this one would not have been a big deal. However, after the mile 7 mountain, this was just more insult to injury. The Marathon group had thinned out dramatically by this point so crowding was not a problem.

I enjoyed running through downtown Kirkland and along the water front back towards Bellevue. Unfortunately, by this point the temprature was between 80-90 degrees and I could only focus on finishing. I walked up the final large hill southbound on Bellevue Way saving what little energy I had left in order to cross the finish line.

Finishing in Bellevue Downtown Park was nice. It was great to be able to lie down on the soft grass and relax for a little while under a large shady tree before leaving.

Organization:

Where to start? First off, the busing system to get runners to the start line worked great at the beginning. I was on one of thte first busses that left the park at 6am. It was slick. However, the dropoff area at the start needed to be much larger. The area soon became too crowded thus leading to busses not leaving in a timely manner which, as I understand from reading other race reviews, caused major transportation problems leading to many runners missing the start of the race. This area desparately needed to be larger, with more porta potties, and there needed to be more busses to transport runners.

I enjoyed seeing the Seafair Pirates at the end of the bridge, but where did they go after that? The next 20 miles or so was very boring even though there were many of other areas that they could have also cheered on all the runners.

Dealing with the heat... Each and every race director needs to have a comprehensive heat plan that they can implement as needed. Did the debacle in Chicago last year not teach us anything? I could tell even the night before that heat was going to play a major role in the marathon, boy was I right! How can a marathon run out of water cups? Especially with so many stores nearby. This is a big black mark against the organizers as it directly affects the safety of the runners. Near the end of the course I witnessed a few runners fall out of the race due to overheating and cramping, conditions brought on by lack of fluid intake.

I expected to see a larger expo area. It also needs to be moved from out of the garage. It just gives a good event a tacky appeal.

I also heard about half-marathon finishers not receiving their medals due to them being handed out to marathon finishers who switched mid race. I fail to see how this could happen? The race bibs were different colors to distinguish the runners. Were the people handing out the medals just not paying attention?

Fan Support:

Fan support was decent in areas, and non existant in others. The Seafair Pirates were a nice addition but I would think an event associated with Seafair would have many more groups like the pirates along the course. A special thank you to all of the residents along the course for spraying us down with water. I know I appreciated this a great deal.

Overall Experience:

I would not run this race again next year if it was run by the same organizers. However, since the Rock 'N' Roll marathon company is taking it over, I feel that next years race will be a lot different and I am looking forward to running it.

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