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Submitted by Abigail Michelle B
August 22, 2013
Review
Very poorly organized and over-priced. The race happened to be during a heat wave, which is not their fault, but they sent out an email the day before promising extra water and ice along the course. There was no ice and no sports drink, only hot water sitting out in the sun. I heard from people who finished later that they even ran out of water at some of the stations, which is unacceptable and dangerous in the brutal heat. There was also nothing at the finish line but water (probably because the finishers’ area wasn’t blocked off, and spectators and random people walking by could help themselves to food and drinks). I finished the half in about 2:15, and they were already out of medals. They said they would mail them in 4-6 weeks. Two months later, I still haven’t gotten it. I don’t really care about the medal, but I’d like to know where my $110 registration fee went.
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Submitted by Rocky Morales
July 2, 2013
Review
I am one of the biggest critics out there of this race, my hometown race that I have run each and every year. Even so, I think this race was not bad but I can only report from the perspective of a well trained sub 1:45 finisher who had no issues with water, cups, not receiving a medal, etc., and who was prepared to run in the heat and adjusted my pace accordingly.
The expo at Fuller Seminary was much better than having to go to Santa Anita racetrack last year. I was able to park a block away for free and get in and out in 5 minutes.
The race started just a few minutes late, at 6:37AM, no big deal and about typical. I guess the course was pretty good but it is a hilly course as should be expected in Pasadena. I enjoyed running through Old Town, past City Hall, around the Rose Bowl, over the Colorado Street Bridge and finishing at PCC. The only part I didn’t care for was running on Orange Grove but it wasn’t horrible, although I do prefer the RNR Pasadena Half course which takes runners east on Green Street which is much nicer.
The water stations were adequate and I counted three different aid stations that passed out energy gel and for a half marathon that is really great as most marathons don’t even pass out energy gels at three different aid stations.
Mile markers were all easily visible and pretty accurate. Traffic control was also very good along the route and the course was well marked.
Post race was as good as most races although I didn’t bother going deep onto the PCC campus to listen to the post race band.
I guess my biggest issue with this race was the horrendous finishers medal. Ugliest finishers medal I have received in 150+ marathons & half marathons and the race shirt wasn’t much better.
All in all, though, I think too many runners are being crybabies and were not adequately prepared to run a half marathon on a summer day. The blame for that is their own and not that of the Pasadena Half Marathon. Know your own capabilities and don’t push beyond those capabilities without expecting disastrous results.
I do hope a different race director takes over this race and it does not become extinct. This race belongs in February, March, April or even in November but certainly not on June 30th, and the marathon distance needs to be reintroduced but with a better course than it had before.
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Submitted by seesarahrun
July 2, 2013
Review
I ran the 1/2 marathon in 2012 and again in 2013. Completely different experiences. In 2012 the expo was held at the Santa Anita Racetrack. It was a decent size with quality vendors. The 2013 expo was much smaller and held at Fuller Theological Seminary. Even though the expo went till 7:00, many vendors were already tearing down when I arrived at 4:30. I easily saw everything the expo had to offer in under 10 minutes. In 2012 the shirts were black in color and made out of tech material. In 2013 the shirts were white. Although I’m not a fan of white shirts, a lighter color shirt was probably a good choice given the heat. Women received tech material shirts, however men received cotton shirts due to an ordering error. They also ran out of many sizes.
The morning of the race, everything was fine both years. Parking is free at PCC. Both years I got a parking spot immediately. There were adequate restrooms. From this point on, I will primarily focus on the 2013 race. The race started late because the City Of Pasadena was clearing parked cars from the course. That is not the fault of the race organizers. Although the City Of Pasadena contracts with 4 different tow lots, I’m sure they had their hands full that morning. Normally I wouldn’t care about a late start, but given the extremely high temperatures, I was very anxious to start running. Again, not the fault of the organizers. Fast forwarding into the run — the race did not provide adequate water stops provided the heat. Several water stops ran out of water and cups. The water they served was very warm. To my recollection, all but one of the water stops provided only water — no sports drinks. On a hot day such as June 30th, electrolyte replacement is extremely important. This did not affect me as much as it did others. I always carry my own sports drink of choice. I only partook in the water stops for the second half of the race. I’m glad I was “fast enough” to hit these aide stations before they ran out of water and cups. I have read many horror stories on the Pasadena Marathon facebook.
The other big issue with 2013 — they ran out of medals. About 500 runners (including myself) did not receive one. I read that the 5k and 10k medals were handed out to the kids run. When they ran out of 10k medals, they started handing out the 1/2 marathon medals to the 10k runners. Once they completely ran out of medals, the 1/2 marathoners who then crossed the finish line were told they would be mailed a medal in a few weeks. I’m not sure if this was bad planning or bad organization…or both. At this point, I honestly don’t care about my missing medal. I have a decent number of races under my belt. I only wear my medal the day of the race. After that it goes into my box of medals. However I do care about the people who were running their first 1/2 marathon not receiving a medal. I care about the mother running with her two teenage children who finished right before me. It is a wonderful feeling crossing the finish line for the first time and having a medal being placed around your neck. It is such a feeling of accomplishment. These people were unfairly robbed of that experience. Receiving a package in the mail a few weeks later? Not the same. Although from what I can see…the medals were extremely cheap. I’m not sure they are actually metal. They looked like painted plastic with a sticker placed in the center. I guess I’ll know for sure once mine arrives. The 2012 medal was really cool. It was nice heavy metal and doubled as a bottle opener.
The refreshments were lacking at the finish line. From what I have gathered, part of the problem was the fact that the finish area was not restricted to runners. Many spectators helped themselves to the fruit and bagels. By the time I crossed the finish (my time was slow, but not horribly slow), there were only orange slices left. Every race I have ever run I have received a bottle of water at the finish. Here it was only a cup which was about halfway full. As for the VIP tent? Only a small bowl of muffins.
There were no photographers at the finish. During the course itself I only spotted one person who might have been an event photographer…but then he also could have been some random dude out taking pictures. I don’t know. I’ve only run one other race that had so few photographers — and that was a marathon with less than 200 runners. A race of this size should have at least a few photographers scattered throughout the course.
My final critique is probably one that wouldn’t bother most people. The back of the bib did not have an area for you to write down your emergency contact information and medical history. This really surprised me. I believe this is common practice to have this on the back of the bib. Having suffered a brain aneurysm and having gone through heart surgery less than a year ago, I have started paying extra attention to filling out the back of my bib. Although I have been cleared to run, I take a certain comfort in having important medical history and emergency contact information on the back of my bib. Again, a complaint that wouldn’t bother most people.
Many people have posted that they will never do this race again. I may only because it is conveniently located in my hometown. If I had to travel to this race, forget about it! The 2014 race will have a new race director. If they don’t make some serious changes, this race will go under. I personally look forward to seeing how next year is different.
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Submitted by licidi
July 1, 2013
Review
It’s not the organizers’ fault the weather was so darned hot; the city forced them to push the race to June (bad, bad idea). It’s a shame about what’s happened with this race. The organizers want to do a good job, and they’re not in it to make a profit, but with the Rock n Roll people coming to town, this race seems to have suffered.
With that said, I ran the 5K instead of the half marathon because I knew the conditions would be unhealthful. Most of the course is on asphalt and that just makes the heat worse. These comments apply to the 5K:
There was a mile marker for mile 1, but no markers for miles 2 or 3 that I could see (I looked hard. Did I just miss them?) I use a Garmin, which ordinarily would make mile markers less important, but this time the mile markers might have helped.
I started my kick with what I thought was a half mile to go in the race. Unfortunately, the finishing banner was obscured by a hill, so I didn’t discover until too late that there was about 500m (more than a quarter mile) extra tacked on to the end of the race. It was about 3.4 miles in all. So my finishing time was slow AND I was cramping from starting my kick too soon. Ouch! Since it was so hot, I got out of there ASAP. The next day, when race results went up online, mine were missing. Oh well.
On the other hand, the shirt was made of a nice material and they had medals for everyone. If I had known they would run out of them, I would have just left it for someone else, though. Sorry for those who didn’t get them.
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Submitted by Rocky Morales
May 22, 2012
Review
The first half of this course is a B+ but the second half of the course is like a C-minus and almost as bad as the second half of the OC Marathon. Running up North Raymond and on Washington west of Lake takes you through a couple of the less scenic parts of the city and it makes no sense to have this stretch in the race. Would be much better to travel east on Mountain and then north on any street east of Lake Avenue.
I did not care for the Expo at Santa Anita Park and it makes no sense to have it there. It’s very unusual to have an Expo in a city other than the race city and it was a minimalist expo so not worth dragging runners out to Arcadia to attend. It’s one thing if there were horse races going on but it is stupid, otherwise, even with the free parking.
While I appreciated the post race concert, it was wasted given that it was set back so far from the race finish and by the fact that there was neither an accompanying beer garden nor a shaded area for runners to enjoy the concert. Nobody was willing to stand up in the scorching heat so the band may as well have been rehearsing for a real gig since no runners really came anywhere near the stage to listen.
This race is getting too old not to be developing into a better race. In its very first year, the Rock N Roll Pasadena Half Marathon was FAR superior to this race in every way and I do hope RNR Pasadena will add a full marathon option. The mid February date is the much more logical choice for a Pasadena race than a mid may date that meant temperatures were already approaching 80 degrees by the finish for 4 hour marathon runners and probably approaching 85 degrees for 5 hour marathon finishers.
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Submitted by TAlbright56
May 21, 2012
Review
I ran the 2012 Half Marathon. The course was very scenic, but hilly, so don’t expect to PR. Several of the mile markers seemed to be off, especially miles 5 to 10. The pre-race communication was accurate and timely. The expo event was OK, but nothing special. Race-day organization was very good, but after the race there was really not that much to do…especially for so many people. You couldn’t even find liquid refreshment (even water) after exciting the finish chute) I preferred the Long Beach Half Marathon, they had a sponsored beer garden:)
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Submitted by rgagne
May 21, 2012
Review
A rather underwhelming event compared with previous 69 marathons. Registration was easy. Good location for the packet pickup but very few vendors for venue and number of race participants. The map of the start/finish area was too small and contained very little logistics information. Many waited in line at the porta-potties without knowing where others were located. The VIP tent was located on top of the sidewalk and forced participants to walk on the wet grass. Minor details but annoying. I could tell announcements were being made but couldn’t hear, apparently not enough speakers. Marathon/half marathon start lineup was disorganized — should have been pace placards and someone letting participants know they could use both sides of the street. Nice singer for the National Anthem. The first half of the course was very nice with the historic sites and shady streets. The first water stop was unprepared, hopefully they learned how to hand out water cups by the time the other races came by their table. The course/fluids went downhill by the time marathoners got to about mile 12 where they had run out of water cups. Most water stops after this point had few if any cups. Volunteers did the best they could with the lack of cups, but not having something as basic as cups in excusable. Fortunately I haven’t heard of any major medical issues given the very hot temperatures. The course is in the sun the last 8 miles of the marathon. Very few spectators along the route, not sure why? Very limited selection of post race food. The water spray at the finish was nice, walked through that several times.
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Submitted by martyracer
May 17, 2012
Review
Speaking for my experience for my first half marathon in 2011:
Registering was easy enough and the race material pick up was great at the Pasadena Convention Center.
I loved the course, but then again it is Pasadena with the Old Towne, lots of trees along Orange Grove, around the Rose Bowl, and that killer hill up to Washington. I felt that there was ample support along the route with water and other necessities.
There were lots of stuff to do after the race with booths all over the PCC campus. Luckily I got dropped off and was picked up after, so parking was not an issue for me.
My first half marathon was so much fun that I’ll be running it in 2012. This time weather will be better than last year’s rain.
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Submitted by eddied26.2
April 3, 2012
Review
I ran the Pasadena Marathon in 2011. While it didn’t have all of the problems of the inaugural race, there are still a lot of improvements to be made. I felt this could have been a solid B race with some minor tweaking but as is its just an average C race.
One of the good things about the Pasadena Marathon is that you can take the Metro Gold Line from Downtown LA and walk to the start of the Race. The bad part is that it was painfully difficult to find the start of the race. I walked around Pasadena College where there were no clear signs or directions. I finally found a crowd and made my way to the start… of the Bike Tour. *sigh* the actual start of the race was on the other side of the college and to add to the confusion the starting line sign was backwards.
The race itself wasn’t terrible. Not the best course but still a pretty nice one all things considered, yet there were a couple of things that made it worse and held me back from giving it a B.
1. There were a lot of hills on this race which I expected, but many of them were not advertised. Runners were led to believe that there were no hills after a certain point. NOT TRUE! The unexpected hills were the biggest soul crushers. Pasadena Marathon, please provide Accurate elevation maps on your website!
2. There were way to many out and backs. I know that some of them cannot be helped but on a hilly mostly quiet course the out and backs really start to wear on your nerves after a while. There was one point where there were 2 out and backs back to back, why would someone thing that was a good idea?
3. Lack of crowd support. Okay I know some of this may have had to do with the rain earlier in the day but there were long stretches in this race with no crowd support and the crowds themselves were pretty thin too. Normally this doesn’t matter to me but I could have used some extra motivation dealing with those hills!!! I know this is something that the race director has limited control on, but there are ways to get locals interested in supporting the race!
4. Mile Marker Gaffes. I know that I’m not the only one to notice misplaced mile markers along the course! Some mile markers were missing and it just added confusion to the race situation.
Honestly I didn’t remember too much about post race. I got my medal and kept it moving so I will give them the benefit of the doubt there. After such a tough race I just wanted to make it back home! That said there were no major issues with post race.
Despite my criticisms this race wasn’t all bad. The price of this race was very affordable and the t-shirt design was one of the favorites I’ve got so far. Also Pasadena is just a nice place to run. Also add the already mentioned convenience factor of taking the Metro Gold Line to the start. I would consider this race again although it wouldn’t be my first choice, Hopefully some more improvements are made as I know this is still a young race.
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Submitted by gavini
February 29, 2012
Review
The first year of the Pasadena Marathon, it was supposed to run in November. That week wildfires ravaged the foothills around Pasadena. Smoke filled the air for days but the race organizers sent out an email to everyone less than 12 hours before start time letting everyone know that the race was on as of then and that a final decision would be made 4a, 2 hours before start time. When 4a rolled around conditions hadn’t changed (note that no one in the world expected them to change, there was a snowballs chance in Pasadena that they would have changed in that 12 hour span yet they held off cancelling until the last minute inconveniencing the runners and incurring all sorts of costs for the race itself that could have been saved) air quality was not safe and surely the title sponsor Kaiser Permanente didn’t want people passing out on the course or running in a smoky haze. The race was eventually re-scheduled for March 22nd. Runners like me who got nothing more than a t-shirt out of our $90 entrance fee were told we could sign up again, this time for $45. meanwhile, new people who didn’t get a t-shirt or have a weekend ruined could pay $90. so I proceeded to pay $135 for a race many others would pay $90, does that seems fair?
On to march. I had a friend who followed the directions to the race and was stuck on an off ramp from the freeway for half an hour, he was less than 2 miles from the start line 90 minutes before race time yet missed the official start. I got off 2 exits early and easily found street parking close to the start line.
The race starts on time but with no announcement or gun or anything, 4 or 5 people nearby counted down 3, 2, 1 and we started- strange way to start a race with thousands of people in it.
The course is VERY hilly, there was a hill that lasted a couple of miles and a nasty one at mile 21.
From mile 22.5 to almost mile 25 is a steady uphill that would not be great but not too bad if you hadn’t already run 22 miles, this was tough.
highlight of the day was the announcer at the finish line who had a stoners enthusiasm for the runners finishing the race which was actually amusing and quite welcome at that point.
i encourage everyone i know to stay away from this poorly organized event.
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