city is great to visit but the marathon is poorly organized and the course is easily the most difficult I have been. Usually the biggest concern for me when running … MORE
city is great to visit but the marathon is poorly organized and the course is easily the most difficult I have been. Usually the biggest concern for me when running a marathon is the weather and the course difficulty comes second. With this marathon I realized the hard way how a really badly designed course and a poor execution can ruin one’s marathon experience. Main cons:
1) runners start in large numbers (and not gradually) so the roads are full with slow runners for the first 10k. This makes you try to avoid them and not take the optimal route to the next turn.
2) there are so many turns, probably more than 50 90 degree turns. Ultimately, you end up slowing down on the turns, run more distance as you never take the optimal route and start straining your feet and ankles from the turns.
3) the pavement is sloped towards the sidewalks (probably for better drainage in wet weather) which caused to me a great strain on the ankles as my feet never landed flat as they are used to. I was in pain from the 12k and by 25k I was in immense pain. The crowded streets also contributed to this as I was running on the sides of the road to avoid people running slower.
4) there are too many steep and sudden elevation changes. So you run on a straight line and then you find a sudden drop in elevation followed by a steep incline. This is the recipe for a a marathon disaster.
Water and sport drinks are readily available, no complaints there. Overall it is a not a good course and frankly I find it to be the worst I have run. The bad pavement reminded of trail running.
Please login to reply to this review.
marathon to avoid
city is great to visit but the marathon is poorly organized and the course is easily the most difficult I have been. Usually the biggest concern for me when running … MORE
city is great to visit but the marathon is poorly organized and the course is easily the most difficult I have been. Usually the biggest concern for me when running a marathon is the weather and the course difficulty comes second. With this marathon I realized the hard way how a really badly designed course and a poor execution can ruin one’s marathon experience. Main cons:
1) runners start in large numbers (and not gradually) so the roads are full with slow runners for the first 10k. This makes you try to avoid them and not take the optimal route to the next turn.
2) there are so many turns, probably more than 50 90 degree turns. Ultimately, you end up slowing down on the turns, run more distance as you never take the optimal route and start straining your feet and ankles from the turns.
3) the pavement is sloped towards the sidewalks (probably for better drainage in wet weather) which caused to me a great strain on the ankles as my feet never landed flat as they are used to. I was in pain from the 12k and by 25k I was in immense pain. The crowded streets also contributed to this as I was running on the sides of the road to avoid people running slower.
4) there are too many steep and sudden elevation changes. So you run on a straight line and then you find a sudden drop in elevation followed by a steep incline. This is the recipe for a a marathon disaster.
Water and sport drinks are readily available, no complaints there. Overall it is a not a good course and frankly I find it to be the worst I have run. The bad pavement reminded of trail running.
Heja! Heja! Heja!
*Late review* The words "heja, heja, heja" that Swedes/spectators called out still rings in my head! LOL It was my first trip to Stockholm, Sweden (2018) so I figured why … MORE
*Late review*
The words “heja, heja, heja” that Swedes/spectators called out still rings in my head! LOL
It was my first trip to Stockholm, Sweden (2018) so I figured why not sign up for a marathon? The expo was so-so. It’s not big like the others I’ve been to. It was a very, very hot race and I’m from California! I believe it was considered to be an unseasonably hot weather that they had ‘shower stations’ set up along the course. I expected refreshing, cold water bursting from shower heads, but it was basically low pressured mists like the ones you see at the produce section at the groceries! LOL 😀 Speaking of groceries….I was surprised to see them serve cola (pepsi or coke) and pickles on the course….something us ultra/trail runners really appreciate. Overall it was a fun and very organized race. I enjoyed the crowd cheer/chants (heja) and volunteer support.
Okay marathon
From the beginning.... Expo and package pick up - expo held at the tennis center near the start / finish. For the amount of people in the marathon - 20,000 … MORE
From the beginning….
Expo and package pick up – expo held at the tennis center near the start / finish. For the amount of people in the marathon – 20,000 (sold out) was expecting more vendors. Maybe 20 vendors total. Other than that package pick up was easy in easy out.
Web site / transportation / info – very good. Race day called for high temps and web site and emails on preparations were good and consistent.
Took the train / subway to the start. Instructions to the start were clear and easy and subway was free for all marathoners on Marathon day.
The start – started outside the Royal stadium. Were allowed to sit and wait inside the stadium until race time. Bathrooms were plentiful. Also could wait in large field outside stadium.
The race…..
The bad – starts at noon. Was sunny and 82 at start. Sunny all run with temps in the mid 80’s. They added extra water stops / showers / water troughs along the course to accommodate the heat. But why start a major marathon at noon? Even if it was not exceptionally hot why not start it at 7 or 8?
The water stops were horrible. First they were all almost flooded due to the extra water at each stop. It was like running thru a creek at each stop. And I hate to ever say anything bad about volunteers but at every water stop they waited until you came up the water stop to pour you a glass of water or Gatorade. Had to stop at almost every water stop.
The good – very organized. Scenic course.
The course – depends on how you like your marathon courses. Long straight aways or lots of twist and turns. This one fell into the twist and turns category. Was mostly flat but quite a few rolling hills and the famous 2 mile ‘Climb’ at mile 20. Passed some of the same sites 3 times. Finished with a lap inside the stadium on the track.
Bling – very avg medal and running shirt. Had to finish to get the shirt.
All in all some good some bad. New course this year so can’t compare it to previous years.
Biggest Scandinavian marathon
Stockholm Marathon 2018 was held for the 40th time and the organisers celebrated it with a new course. The race expo is the Royal Tennis Halls next to the Olympic … MORE
Stockholm Marathon 2018 was held for the 40th time and the organisers celebrated it with a new course.
The race expo is the Royal Tennis Halls next to the Olympic stadium where start and finish of the was.
The race starts Saturday at noon and the expo was on Thu, Fri and Saturday morning. I went there on Saturday since I only got in on Friday evening. I considered the expo as fairly small for a race of 20,000 runners (it was sold out this year), but I wasn’t looking to buy anything anyway. Next to the stadium, a big finisher area with showers, massage tents and bag drop off was organised. The weather forecast was unusual hot for 2018 with 28-30 degrees C and luckily the organisers paid tribute to that by adding extra water stops and showers al my the course. In regards to the official Stockholm marathon webpage runners from 102 nations were present, however: out of the 20,000 registered runners only 15,500 started. The race start was impressive with jets in formations above us, the singing of the Swedish national anthem and the “starting gun” were several guns shot by guys in historic Swedish army costumes. There were vitals but the beginning felt very narrow. There was a 90 degrees turn just 400m after the start where people started waking again. The course is stretched along 7 boroughs of Stockholm with a repeat section along the water, castle and opera house for the last 7km. As I said there were plenty of water stops and besides having run in the heat before I think I have never drunken as much on the course as in Stockholm. Besides water and energy drinks, several stops offered Pepsi and warm coffee. Besides bananas, apples and energy gels, there was also a stop with gherkins/ pickled cucumbers- very Swedish. Stockholm has several music areas with music boxes spread a couple of hundred meters which I appreciate cause one has a longer boost from
The music and not just for 10 seconds. The finish line is in Stockholm’s Olympic stadium from 1912 and after one gets the medal, we were led outside to the finishers area, where we got an anniversary water bottle, a bag with food and the finishers t-shirt. All set up very efficiently. Also, you could get free Hot Dogs, Erdinger alcohol free beer and kanelbulle (cinnamon buns) and coffee. A friend of mine got a massage and he said it was less then 2 minutes waiting.
When I compare the races of Stockholm and Copenhagen -without any doubt- I can recommend them both.
I think Stockholm is a bit more scenic but the crowds were more enthusiastic in Copenhagen and Copenhagen had warm showers 😉 If you want to shoot for a fast time/ a PR, Stockholm is probably slower since it has 530m of elevation (cumulative) vs 176m in Copenhagen (elevation figures referring to my runtastic tracking).
My favorite race of the year
I've run this race 4 times, 3 of them to a PR. There's nothing not to like about it. Start area is smoothly organized, lines to porta-potties are manageable, spectators … MORE
I’ve run this race 4 times, 3 of them to a PR. There’s nothing not to like about it. Start area is smoothly organized, lines to porta-potties are manageable, spectators are cheerful, aid stations comfortably spaced. They usually give pickle spears near the half mark which are so tasty I had to ruin my result in 2016 by eating too much and hitting a porta-potty!
I’m not a big fan of racing in cities and rather prefer natural sceneries but Stockholm is beautiful and anyway visiting it is always a treat. Johan&Nyström serve their excellent coffee for free if you’re wearing a marathon bib!
I had a great time in Stockholm
Highly recommend this race. This was my 1st Stockholm Marathon. The expo was nice and large - the start/finish line which was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel … MORE
Highly recommend this race. This was my 1st Stockholm Marathon. The expo was nice and large – the start/finish line which was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel – the Start was next to the 1912 Olympic Stadium, and the Finish Line was breathtaking – finishing inside the Olympic Stadium. There are some good running trails in Stockholm, not far from the hotel where I stayed – this was nice and allowed to get some light runs in before race day. The Swedish people were friendly, and the support they gave to all the runner was very appreciative. Although my time was much slower than usual, I enjoyed this marathon immensely and would do it again. The Finisher’s Medal and T-Shirt were nice.
BEAUTIFUL. FAST. FREAKING AWESOME.
I ran this marathon 6 days after running Mountains to Beach Marathon, I had every reason to suffer and be miserable, BUT the race was too good to suffer through. … MORE
I ran this marathon 6 days after running Mountains to Beach Marathon, I had every reason to suffer and be miserable, BUT the race was too good to suffer through. There were great crowds, a beautiful city, fun aid stations…can you say pickles? I can not recommend this race more highly, and if you can’t race this one, you should put an international race on your bucket list!!!
Wonderful Race!
Perfect organization! Beautiful course! 2 rounds which means to run across a huge bridges 2 times! Good atmosphere! Best pre race pasta ever! Good coffee at the finish! Very good … MORE
Perfect organization! Beautiful course! 2 rounds which means to run across a huge bridges 2 times! Good atmosphere! Best pre race pasta ever! Good coffee at the finish! Very good race! I can recommend Stockholm Marathon!