Banja Luka Marathon

I loved the organizers and volunteers - they were so friendly and kind, but it was my first Marathon (and I have done over 100) were there were no km markers in the entire course, so I had no idea whether it was still 5 more km to go, or 10, or what?!? Most important, there were no course markings. I had to scream and waive to policemen at every corner "where do I go next?!?", and with just one exception, they always gave me correct directions, so I ended up running more or less the correct distance. After the race was over, I met a runner who ran not 42 but 47 km due to getting lost on the course. Finally, no results were published anywhere, and I forgot what the finish gate was showing when I crossed it, so I don't even have an idea what my result was. It could be fixed so easily - put some sign every 5 km, at least draw some lines on the ground indicating turns, and warn runners in advance that there would be no results published, so they make sure to remember the time of their finish. And then it would be a great race, really!

The marathon route along the river Vrbsa is pretty, the other half through the city is interesting. Banja Luka is not the most pretty city but I found the broad treegrown lanes quite attractive, as well as the variability. The organisation was excellent, the route guides were enthousiastic, start and finish were easy accessible.

The worst organization I've ever seen. The route was not marked. The T-shirts in the starter pack were different than those listed on the official website. There were no age categories that were previously listed. Cars driving along the route during the race. No official results.

The event's organization was a total disaster. First, we could not easily find a place to pick up the numbers. During the race, there were no volunteers. The route was not marked well, and some of the participants lost track—even participants from Banja Luka. People are not friendly to racers. I got one sexistic coment that is better for me to stay home and take care about my children instad of "moving ass". I was shocked. Ultimately, they mixed numbers and participants, and we lost without official results.

Rout for the half marathon is excellent, but everything else is terrible.

Organization was very bad ! The number of volunteers was very limited, the race was not marked at all! It was very easy to lose proper route. Many runners missed the route but nobody cares. I don’t recommend it.

It was my 156 marathon in 117 country. I’m quite experienced but because of the very bad organization I don’t recommend this marathon!

The route was very unclear, some people were sworing on The crossings. No marking and kilometremarks. No results found!

Same

Very bad organization, most of the runners got lost on the course. There are no intermediate checkpoints, in the end they could not find out who actually ran the entire marathon route. In the end, the organizers did the classification just by feeling. I do not recommend a visit.

Organization - the worst I have experienced. Route was not properly marked. Leading marathon runners were at finish line at 37km instead on the route. There are no official results, which is frustrating for all runners. Certainly not coming back, although the city of Banja Luka had good sponsors for the race.

Amateur organizers, poor route markings, route was confusing for runners and volunteers too, no people on main crossings, a lot of runners made wrong turns. And the cherry on the cake is the organizers didn’t measure running time for runners.

- nemojte drzati govore na pocetku trke. Mozete to da radite dok se ljudi zagrevaju - staze moraju biti bolje obelezene. Ne zna se kojom stazom ide polumaraton, kojom maraton... svi trkaci su lutali. - cilj trke mora biti vidljiv. Nigde nije bilo oznake dela staze koja vodi do cilja. - saobracaj tokom trke mora biti bolje regulisan. Neke delove trke sam prrtrcala izbegavajuci auta, ili trceci uporedo sa autima. - tesko je bilo pronaci mesto gde su se podizali startni paketi - uputstvo iz info mejla je bilo neupotrebljivo - garderoba je predaleko od starta trke i potpuno neobelezena - ni u mejlu nije navedeno gde je garderoba - tokom trke samo na jednom mestu pise na kom si kilometru - mora biti vise tih informacija i mora biti jasno na koju trku se odnose. - skinite etikete sa majica - probusite 4 rupe na broju sa cipom

Previse komplikovana a neobelezena staza.

The route is great! It was raining so that messed up the whole experience, the temperature was ideal for running. I archived my PB, so I am very happy :) The only complaint to the organizer is that the refresment statuons shoud have been on more locations and not the first one after 5 km! Everything else was great!

It was great experience. It is very new marathon, number of participants are limited and it can be said some additional lacking points related organization but scenery, settlers' hospitality and beauty of city is worth for it.

Amatérsky zajištěný první ročník s příslibem zlepšení. Nevyšlo počasí kdy pršelo a teplota 5 st.C. Občerstvení pouze voda v pet lahvích.

I liked the day before too! Although it is a cheap race, the start bag had 2 T-shirts, and there were good programmes, a concert and a Color Run. The race itself was nice too, good route and enough refreshments. At the finish area party again.

Great exprience for my first half marathon. There were perfect weather conditions despite bad weather forecast the day before. I was very pleased to run the first HM in my city with a lot nice people I know. While I'm waiting for offical result my approx time is 1h48min. I am looking forward to next one :)