ZURICH Rock'n'Roll Running Series Madrid

This was a well organized race with fantastic crowds to move you along. The split between marathon runners and half marathon runners (who depart at the same time) is about 40/60 so it's a good turnout. Unlike Lyon and Bologna they don't send the marathon runners out into empty industrial zones - here you have 7km through the lovely Campo park before going back into the city - the crowds rarely thinned out. And yes, it's pretty hilly but nothing steep and they're well spaced out - I actually enjoyed the hills. However, regrettably I must deduct two stars for two big issues. One is the small number of toilets at the start which huge queues - a lot of people left late because of that. And secondly, and this one really is unforgivable - there wasn't a single food snack station throughout the entire course. All that was offered was water, Gatorade and gels. No bananas or apples or biscuits. I've done 12 marathons now (from smaller ones to big city ones), and this is the first time I've seen one with no snacks. Hopefully they fix this for next year.

I signed up to run this race in 2020 to celebrate my 40th birthday. Two years later, I finally ran it. I feared the worst when I arrived on a very wet Friday with the rain continuing on Saturday, but it finally stopped and the sun came out. I enjoyed a nice steak to carb-load before the big day. I stayed close to the start line and I got there early to soak up the atmosphere. Time didn't drag as I waited for the race to start. I loved the music and the camaraderie and I set off hoping to run a 3:45 marathon. Unfortunately despite hitting the halfway point at 1:45 I soon realised I was not going to achieve that time. I got slower and slower and accepted I am a different runner now unless I change my training plan to boost my stamina to compensate for my diminishing pace per mile. The water and Gatorade stops were much needed and the crowds were great. I loved running through Case de Campo Park and the finish line was epic. I enjoyed this race and thank you to the female police officer who asked if I was okay. I was fine, I was just shuffling and hoping that moving my arms faster would make my legs go faster - it didn't work, you learn something new every day!

I ran the marathon and did my best to look at the sights instead of my watch. I want to keep running marathons but have to increase my stamina and power and check if my hypermobility affects my running.

Super parcours ! Les gens étaient bienveillant et avec une énergie incroyable. L'organisation était très bien ! Merci et à l'année prochaine !

Large race and well organised, fantastic weather for the time of year (not too hot!). Only annoying thing is the expo being located quite far out of the city.

It was my first marathon and I really enjoyed it. I really liked the fact that it was a loop - starting and finishing at Retiro park, making the pick up process of stored belongings a lot easier and less time consuming. The organization of the event was good, the only thing that a little bit bothered me was the fact that it took quite a while to get the name and the race time engraved on the medal. There were some technical problems with network and the staff could not retrieve racing time from the system. The problem was solved though and I did receive my engraved medal.

Amazing organization, amazing race, really something special ~ just should’ve been had more powerade at km 30 as you unfortunately ran out. Otherwise 10/10

It was great!

En general bien organizado excepto la grabación de medallas, que tardó tanto como la media maratón

great marathon

Perfect organisation, tough but nice course. Great city for sightseeing.

The 2018 half was mostly flat, and started on a wide street so no crowding. The city of Madrid did not want the race using Retiro park, so the course was changed in 2018 to go along the outside of the park and finish at the Prado. The finish line for the half was a mess, as we had to wait in a huge crowd for about 10-20 minutes to get our medals and later food. Maybe I should have run faster...

The first few miles are on a very wide modern boulevard to the modern district, then back through older neighborhoods to finish in front of the Prado museum. Almost slipped on banana peels at the messy aid stations. Lots of support from the locals lining the streets.

89 in categorie M45 Totaal 10084 finishers