The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Curtis Pfaff came to Atlanta last year for the ING Georgia Marathon, his 50th.
It was not much of a celebration.
The airing of grievances: At the start of the race, there was inadequate signage to help him find his assigned corral and then he had trouble finding an entrance to the corral once he found it. Toward the end of the race, the course was narrowed down so much that, to pass runners, he had to run outside the path marked with cones and onto a road with car traffic. At the finish line, after having run 26.2 miles, he and his running partner had to "walk and walk and walk" before they could find the volunteers handing out medals. The food and refreshments that typically await finishers appeared to be gone, taken by faster runners. And, lastly, the tent where runners could leave bags with their belongings before the race was unguarded, and his bag was lying in a puddle.
"Of the 51 marathons I've done, that was probably the worst organized race," said Pfaff, a running-store manager from the Kansas City area. "The guy I was running with -- he's run thirty something [marathons] -- he said the same thing."
Jeff Graves might not have heard from Pfaff directly, but evidently he has heard from others like him. Since becoming the marathon and half-marathon's third race director in its four years last July, Graves and his staff have been addressing problems with last year's event.
"Has it been busy? Absolutely," Graves said. "But it's given us the time we've needed to hear what needed to be changed and to implement the changes."
It bears mention that not everyone was dissatisfied. Race organizers expect a field of about 16,000 marathoners and half-marathoners for the March 21 race, the most since the inaugural race in 2007.
"I thought it was a delightful marathon," said Tom Adair of Alpharetta, something of an expert on marathons, with 306 to his credit. "If you live nearby, I'd say it's a great one to go to."
Andy Velazco of Jonesboro, who like Adair has run marathons in all 50 states, said the marathon's first-year problems were inexcusable, but that the organization has vastly improved.
The race will implement a number of changes in the hope that runners will enjoy the race more, as Adair and Velazco did. Graves said there will be 11 light towers and signage in the start area to help runners navigate in the pre-race darkness. The estimated field of 16,000 will be herded into 16 separate corrals based on expected race pace, several more corrals than in past years, to make the race start smoother. That is similar to the system Graves used when he directed an Indianapolis half-marathon with 35,000 runners.
"When we started doing it, people were blown away on how well the race [start] went," Graves said.
Time clocks will be posted at all of the mile markers. When the half-marathon and marathon courses join for the final two miles, fencing will separate the two races.
In past years, Graves said, "the sea of half-marathoners was nearly impossible for the marathoners to get through and maintain a good pace."
And, Graves said, the bag drop-off tent will be staffed by 64 volunteers. The race expects to have 2,300 volunteers, 500 more than last year, to direct runners, give out water and hand out medals, among other tasks.
As previous race organizers have learned, getting all of the details tied down isn't easy. In the first Georgia Marathon, some aid stations ran out of water and sports drinks, a problem magnified by the unusually warm weather of the day. The lapse drew severe criticism. Another complaint was the joined finish for the marathon and half-marathon.
Graves, who runs an event-management company that the marathon has a contract with, is confident in an improved experience for runners.
"We kind of have a formula that works," he said. "Every city's different on changes we need to make sure we take care of, but we've been doing it long enough and we've got a good staff here and a good crew of volunteers. Let's just hope we've got good weather."
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