Carmel Marathon

Carmel Marathon

Carmel Marathon

( 26 reviews )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Carmel,
    Indiana,
    United States
  • April
  • 3 miles/5K, 6 miles/10K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon, Virtual Race
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Melissa

Indiana, United States
42 13
2014
"My First Half - Carmel Hills and Roundabouts "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Melissa 's thoughts:

First, let me just start by saying I'm biased and I know it. This was my first half marathon, the weather was PERFECT for racing, and in a strange case of luck and/or fate, I met one of my now-best-friends during mile one and we bonded throughout the race.

Aside from my bias though, let me talk specifics. Signing up for this race (put on by Carmel Road Racing Group Events) was easy, and I had no issues with my confirmation. The Expo was well done, and included a ton of local vendors which was pretty fun! It was also conveniently located in the Carmel Community Center, which offered a ton of parking as well as a pretty large space for everything - I never felt crowded or rushed through the Expo.

On the actual day of race, everything was smooth. There's plenty of parking around the Carmel area, just make sure you give yourself a few extra minutes to park and walk over to the start line. In the corrals, pacers were easy to find and carried huge signs with their pace group time throughout the race. The race started on time, and there was only a 30 second or so delay from gun time to net time - meaning we didn't stand around in the corrals for long!

Out on the course, there was PLENTY to look at, as Carmel has huge homes and beautiful landscaping throughout the town. The course support was great, volunteers were happy to help and other racers were cheering each other on. It was also really cool that the half and full courses came back together towards the end of the half course; watching the marathoners run by was not only fun, but also super inspiring as a lot of people in our group were doing their first race that day! They were on mile 17 (or so) while we were around 8, so it was pretty incredible to watch the leaders speeding by us.

Of the day, my one and only complaint would be that our pacer - while wonderful at keeping up the conversation and keeping us all happy throughout the course of the race - didn't get us in on time. I know part of that always comes down to personal responsibility and checking yourself to ensure you're on track, but with it being my first race I was a little disappointed when I finally realized we were going to come in just over our set group time.

I'm already signed up for next year! Perfect weather, great course, great management behind the event - count me in!

For a more personal review: http://www.girlinaredsundress.com/2014/04/13-1/

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