Georgia Marathon

Georgia Marathon

Georgia Marathon

( 5 reviews )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Atlanta,
    Georgia,
    United States
  • March
  • 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Stephanie

Marietta, Georgia, United States
5 5
2016
"A Beautiful Tour of Atlanta! "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Stephanie 's thoughts:

This was 10th annual Publix Georgia Marathon and Half Marathon and the first since Atlanta Track Club acquired the race.

This was my first time running the course. Out of all of the Atlanta races I've done, this might be my favorite course now. While certainly hilly, it takes you through some of the most beautiful and coolest areas of Atlanta. With about 2,000 marathoners and 8,000 half marathoners registered, it was just enough to keep the course fun without it being too crowded, despite not having the full road at times.

Registration:
Registration was easy. ATC has always done great with this through Chronotrack and Athlinks. They even offered a deal on the half marathon in January for $50 right after they acquired the race!

Expo:
I'm not a fan of expos but this one was certainly one of the most tolerable. Easy to get to with Marta. Parking lots were $10 if I remember correctly and across the street from the Georgia World Congress Center. Tip: Volunteer for the expo and you'll get free parking plus a volunteer shirt and hat!

Packet pick-up was EASY. All you needed to know was your bib number. Nothing to print, no ID. Then you picked up your shirt after the bib and you could then leave immediately after if you didn't want to go through the expo. There was a desk to help you look up your bib, another to help you drop from the marathon to the half and then a registration desk if you were registering that day.

As you entered the expo there was the Mizuno store. They had a lot of great stuff and knowledgeable Mizuno reps there to help. I liked it a lot better than the typical Brooks stores at other races. Then you could go throughout the expo and check things out. It felt a lot more organized and less chaotic. There was a table to register for pace teams and they had options from 1:30-3:30 which was nice to see! At the end, ATC had a bunch of previous race shirts that you could buy for $5. That was a fun surprise.

Race Day:
So many options to get to Centennial Square! Marta, parking, walk/bike. Prepaid parking through Parking Panda was $16 for a lot that was usually $20. This was .1 mile away from the start.

There were tons of tents in the park for the different groups which was a nice way to gather. The park itself was beautiful and just being in the middle of the city filled you with energy.

Race Start:
Race start was organized and quick! There were 5 waves. Wave A started at 7am and wave D started at 7:09. So not a lot of waiting around.

The Course:
While they say the most of the hills are on the last half of the course, I remember about 4 really good hills early on. So if you don't train on hills, these might come as a shock. I felt like they were manageable though and didn't last forever. We went through downtown, Midtown, Piedmont Park, Little Five Points, Virginia Highland and Georgia Tech. It was a great tour of Atlanta!

There were 9 aid stations were very organized. The volunteers did a great job of communicating to the runners where the water vs the Powerade was. I never felt like I had to stop to get water...they were great and getting it out to the runners. They also provided, jelly beans, sports beans and oranges.

The cheer stations were a pleasant surprise! They had different groups sponsor cheer stations. They would have big groups cheering, dancing, playing music and just having fun. the Phidippides Running Store cheer station in Piedmont Park was by far the best! There must have been 40-50 of them all in orange with loud music and it was like we were running through a tunnel of cheers!

The medal was one of the best I've received with a beautiful etching of the Atlanta skyline which is cool to receive as you are viewing the skyline itself!

The employees and volunteers for this race were outstanding. I couldn't believe how peppy they were after being out there so long in the chilly wind!

ATC is dedicated to making Atlanta active and healthy and it showed by their support of the walking community. This is definitely a friendly race for those intimidated to try a half marathon (just train for the hills!) but still a great race for a more advanced runner looking for a challenge and to tour Atlanta!

I loved it so much, I think I may do the full marathon next year!

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