SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) - The Every Woman's Marathon over the weekend drew thousands to the city, but many people are voicing their frustration with the planning.
Some are saying organizers didn't consider residents and visitors with the number of road closures and lack of alternate routes, many within neighborhoods.
"It was pure rage because everyone who was in charge there seemed to have absolutely no concern for anything outside of what their goal was," Misty Cohens said.
Cohens was one of many impacted on Saturday.
An Atlanta resident, she was in town for her husband's funeral but had to take her friend to her dialysis appointment earlier in the day. She didn't make it to that appointment, however.
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"[My friend] did spend the night in the hospital, because she was not able to do her dialysis when scheduled. Her potassium levels rose to a concerning level," Cohens said.
Cohens then was on the way to her husband's funeral - something she never imagined she would be late for.
"His funeral was at 10. I made it to the funeral at 11:05," she said. "Every single alternate route I made… left to right… no matter what. I ran into a barricade, and not a barricade that was blocking businesses, but barricades on homes on both sides of the street."
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson addressed these concerns at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. He said this event was significantly smaller, only bringing in 4,500 runners compared to about 20,000 with the Rock n Roll Marathon, last held two years ago.
He said reactions were mixed depending on where people lived, but he said they did what they could to help people plan their day around this event.
"It is impossible to host these kinds of major world-class events without some kind of disruption," Johnson said. "We had high watermarks for this type of event, and we will determine whether this benefit is worth the inconvenience."
One woman posted on social media, saying she didn't mind the disruption so much: "It was an inconvenience for a day. I loved how the neighbors in Gordonston cheered everyone on! Yes, we had to find a different route to get home, but it wasn't that bad."
Johnson said they did try out some things to improve the experience downtown by moving the finish line festival from Forsyth Park to a private property, the Trustees Garden.
Also, he said there was no towing enforced along the parade route, minus the start line area.
In the coming weeks, Johnson said he will have meetings with city staff, businesses and residents to look at possible options and adjustments moving forward with possible future events.