Tyler Rose Marathon 2010 – Review

I completed the Tyler Rose Marathon on 10 October 2010 — 10/10/10, in other words, the same Sunday as the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Here is my review of the good and bad aspects of the 2010 event.

Exposition

• Good: Held in the lead hotel for the race
• Good: Colorful variety of jersey, cap, and drinkware memorabilia for sale
• Bad: Almost no sponsors, so almost no freebies or give-aways

Toilets

• Good: Seemed brand new near start line — at least, smelled that way!
• Bad: Extremely few beyond the start line

Start line

• Good: Efficient start (~1-2 minutes total for marathoners alone)
• Good: Near the finish line
• Good: Plenty of free parking nearby
• Bad: Churches forbade parking in their lots, given that the marathon and half marathon started at 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., respectively, that Sunday morning, near Tyler’s city square, which is extremely close to several churches
• Bad: About six miles from the lead hotel

Police

• Good: Blocked car and truck drivers well
• Good: Very friendly and encouraging to racers
• Bad: Could not be at all intersections, most of the residential ones of which were open to all traffic

Water-station people

• Good: Cheered racers onward
• Bad: Sometimes told racers to get out of way of oncoming motorists, instead of telling motorists to steer clear of racers

Water stations

• Good: Heavily manned; always had water and Gatorade or Powerade; sometimes had food such as bananas
• Bad: Spaced at two-mile intervals, which is too far apart in a marathon-length race for adequate hydration of many racers without those racers taking extra time at those stops to pour extra water or electrolyte drinks into bottles in their hydration belts

Bibs

• Good: Included Chronotrack B-TAG technology, which eliminated the need for a timing tag on the shoe
• Bad: Racer name in 12-point font, so invisible to spectators

Spectator turnout

• Good: Very supportive, with local residents sitting on curbs or on front porches and one resident even handing out small bottles of water from his cooler
• Bad: Relatively sparse

Timing mats

• Good: Reliably picked up B-tags on bibs
• Bad: Only at start line, 13.1 miles, and finish line

Course

• Good: Fascinating twists and turns through Tyler and surrounding, small towns
• Good: Volunteers at every corner that required a turn, of which there were many
• Bad: Very hilly (the “other Hill Country” of Texas, after Austin), with several ups and downs
• Bad: Many noisy segments in right, cone-protected lane along highways with 60- or 65-MPH speed limits
• Bad: NO cones on one highway segment!
• Bad: Many residential streets and intersections with NO protection by cones, police, or volunteers

Weather

• Good: Did not become windy until six-plus hours after start of marathon
• Good: Cool temperature at start
• Bad: Warmed up relatively quickly (rising to the mid-80s Fahrenheit)

Race photographers

• Good: Shot some high-quality photos
• Bad: Very sparsely distributed on course
• Bad: Did not announce themselves or otherwise make themselves very visible to approaching racers

Finish area

• Good: Medals put over heads of finishers
• Good: PA announcement of finishers’ first and last names
• Good: PA recognition of birthdays, significant marathon counts, etc., for some finishers
• Good: Water bottle given with medal
• Bad: Frustration near end of race with twists-and-turns routing AWAY from in-view finish line before return to it for actual finish

Medals

• Good: Hefty medal for marathon finishers
• Bad (to some): Half-size medal for half-marathoners

Post-race area

• Good: Endurance-training groups allowed to set up tents along final block leading to finish line
• Good: Trailer for finishers to take private, warm-water showers, with body detergent and separate wash cloth, towel, and bath mat given to each user
• Bad: Minimal food and drink provided by sponsors

Conclusion

I give Tyler Rose Marathon a “B-” grade for the 2010 event. As several fellow runners in my training group said, it felt more like a training run than like a race. If this marathon had been around for a while, then I would have given it a lower grade. But I give it a “B-” in anticipation that the organizer will improve the event in subsequent years. Keep in mind the “Bad” aspects so that you are prepared for them.

Have you had a similar set of experiences? Where? Please leave a comment. Thanks!