Seattle Rock'n'Roll Marathon & Half Marathon

Yes, the weather was great and the eagle in the tree was amazing, but the RockNRoll people didn't organize those!

However, they DID "organize" the traffic to the start line, which sucked completely. No traffic cops directing traffic along the route they published in the instructions --I asked at the Expo for directions, the lady said "follow these instructions exactly" so we did. I ended up, along with a bunch Read More »

of other people RUNNING the last mile and a half to the start line to try to get there before the start of our corrals (and yes I allowed plenty of extra time).

The other major problem with the lack of organization was the lack of portapotties along the route. Yes I went before the start of the race, but I needed to go again after a mile or two --it's first thing in the morning, I've had some coffee, you get the picture. At mile one there were 6, count 'em, SIX portapotties, for how many people? 25,000?! And at mile two, there were TWO portapotties. It continued like that along the course, plenty of water stops thank you but almost no portapotties, so there was a huge line every time. I'm not an elite runner, my time doesn't matter to anyone but me, but I'm still trying to do the best time I can after months of training. Standing in line for ten minutes because there are so few portapotties is just not something we should have to do when we pay $100 entrance fee. Other races provide them, and charge less to enter.

It's not like it's the first race the RockNRoll people have ever done. It is, however, extremely expensive, so where did the money go? Are they just keeping so much profit that they don't care about providing the basic necessities?

I was all set to register for next year's run, but I'm not going to if the organizers don't step up and put some effort into providing proper facilities. « Less

Good course in minimizing the hills, but maximizing the views; outstanding scenery; obviously we were lucky with the weather, so we could see!!!

Traffic flow to start needs better organizing;

The marathon "detour" at mile 9 is fine, but then brings marathoners back into a narrow Read More »

outlet to mix with slower halfers and is very disruptive to maintaining a pace;

Running the hard concrete highway was tough over last miles; How about running along the nice flat Waterfront instead? « Less

Beautiful weather, challenging course, great water stations, great volunteers, great set up for the finish! Not so great traffic management for packet pick-up (sat in traffic approx 2 hours to go less then 1 mile! yes we carpooled), traffic management for race drop off zone - luckily I was in one of the last corals, free concert - why sooo far away from race finish or start where most racers were staying?

We chose not to go because it would have cost at least $120 to get to and from via Read More »

taxi/shuttle. Besides the fact we were in SEATTLE - why would you choose a Blues singer - poor choice (I'm sure he was good but really?!). Also recommend having the ability to sign up for discounted rates for the other RNR's and future RNR's after the race - who knows if they want to do it again until you finish it? « Less