Race Review: Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon

The Columbus Marathon sold out again this year; on October 17th, a record mob of 15,000 runners and walkers descended on downtown. Having that amount of runners and even more spectators concentrated into such a small area has to be a logistical nightmare. Maneuvering through the bottlenecks of cars and crowds on race day morning was a slow process, and I figured so would be trying to maneuver past fellow racers during the first several congested race miles.

I hoped that there may be a remedy at this race for the foot traffic jam so predictable at a race this size. Upon registering for the race several months ago, I was happy to learn that there would be designated corrals at the start to separate runners according to planned finish time.  Runners would have to qualify for a corral using an official time from another race. Unfortunately though, the corral plan turned out to be pretty half-baked. Anyone could wander into any corral, and I even past a few walkers whom had taken it upon themselves to start toward the front of the pack. Hopefully organizers will recognize this problem and work on improving it for next year.

Although the first year attempt for corral organization wasn't a success, some other modifications Columbus put into place this year were. For the past two years, the race expo has become quite streamlined and organized. Packet pickup is held in a large room at the convention center, and the large amount of people navigating the area stay well spread out. The race also used a new timing system in which the disposable chip was part of the bib. I loved not having to deal with lacing a chip onto my shoe and having one less piece of stuff to keep track of. Columbus also improved the weather this year- after it being literally freezing the past two years, the temperature at the start was a much improved 45 degrees.

I love the whole marathon experience- the personal challenge and competition, the excitement, and the comradery. One of the things that really gets me motivated is when the city is enthusiastic about the race. Many cities with marathons of comparable size (such as Philadelphia and Portland) really celebrate their race, but this just doesn't seem to be the case in Ohio's capital. There was hardly any media coverage or buzz throughout the city leading up to the event. There was an ample supply of spectators condensed downtown, but as a whole they weren't as positive and interactive as I've come to expect in other Ohio cities such as Akron and Cincinnati. Perhaps they were downtrodden due to OSU's devastating loss to Wisconsin the day before. Fortunately for me I'm not a Buckeyes fan so my mood and attitude were fairing just fine.

The post race spread left little to be desired, which is often to be expected at larger races. Still, it would be nice to have a couple drink tickets and a little something worth snacking on. I do wish Columbus would get a bit more creative with their finishers' medals like Akron, Cleveland and Cincinnati have. It is a one-sided design with an outline of Ohio.

Finally, I must add a couple musings that entertained me. Around mile 6, there was a musician playing the theme to original Mario Brothers on his keyboard as we ran by. It was so appropriate and fitting and made me laugh mid step. Also, after the race I saw a fellow runner puffing away on a cigarette. I figured it was definitely a better choice to partake in smoking after rather than before or during the marathon. I don't plan on doing this race again next year. It offers a fast course and other positives, but just isn't the right fit for me. With detachment of the race from the feeling of the city, it just doesn't provide the ultimate experience for me. I did still have a lot of fun though and it was a great way to finish race season.