Races worth the trip!
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Marine Corps marathon (emotional marathon for me being from family of military men, run past several monuments in DC area, great course, lots of support from crowd, a Marine puts the finisher's medal on your neck): http://www.marinemarathon.com/
This is definitely on my bucket list! Our neighbor runs it every year. I think it's too late to try to get into the full this year, but I'm going to try for next year, and at least do the half in the spring.0 -
These all sound fabulous!
I'm playing with the idea of running a full marathon one day so I appreciate this post. The only race I've traveled to so far is the Disney Princess Half Marathon. I got to see Florida and Walt Disney World which was a blast. The RunDisney races are great! I'm not sure what races I'll do for 2015. I've done two half marathons this year already and have a third planned for the fall... the Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon by RunDisney of course.
The Marine Corps marathon sounds cool. My nephew is stationed there so perhaps we could do this one together.0 -
Grandma's Marathon or half in Duluth Minnesota. June 21st this year. You run along side Lake Superior for either 26.2 or 13.1 miles
Straight (until the last mile or so when you get into Duluth) But it is fairly flat and you get the lake breeze. I ran in last year and am doing it again this year. The weather is typically cool, but I have heard there have been a few hot races.
http://grandmasmarathon.com/site/
Running it this year! My first half.0 -
I'll just go ahead and post a major obvious. The Paris Marathon. You just can't beat running the streets of Paris or the city in general. There's just something magical and charming about the place. Plus, what better place to post marathon indulge.
Amen to this! I ran Paris Marathon back in the early 2000's. It was my second visit to Paris and running this race had me seeing parts of the city that I would not have thought of visiting on my own. I'm not sure how much the course has changed, but it was great just running outside of the city center. All the cobblestone streets, the Eiffel Tower in the background... call it romanticizing the French experience, but it's definitely the way to experience it.
I love to travel so adding a race/running as part of my trip fulfills both passions! The other one I've traveled abroad for is the Dead Sea Marathon in Jordan. It's an interesting way to see Jordan's desert cities. It starts off in Amman and it's all downhill except for the last few miles, which are flat. Even though there's no crowd participation and a barrage of military men with rifles cocked line most of the route, the end is well worth it. Once you finish the last hill, you'll see the Dead Sea in view. You are essentially running to the lowest point of the earth. The FInish Line is right at the foot of the sea, so you can go and cool off and experience the salient water.
My other favorite races in the U.S. were Wineglass Marathon and the New Orleans RNR Marathon. Not only are these super flat and fast courses that I've PR'd at, they were also fun and beautiful courses. Wineglass is in upstate New York, held in early fall, where you literally see the season change in the vegetation. You run through all the quaint small "villages" and you really feel the pride that the marathon brings to the small town of Corning. When you fly into Corning's small airport, there's a huge banner that says "Welcome Wineglass Runners"! Very cozy.
New Orleans is the opposite of Wineglass. Very lively, lots of crowds, music, and everything you expect from the Big Easy. You run through beautiful historic neighborhoods and you realize there is much more to the city than Bourbon Street. And did I mention, this is literally a flat as a pancake course. If you don't PR here, you must be injured! :-)0 -
New Orleans is the opposite of Wineglass. Very lively, lots of crowds, music, and everything you expect from the Big Easy. You run through beautiful historic neighborhoods and you realize there is much more to the city than Bourbon Street. And did I mention, this is literally a flat as a pancake course. If you don't PR here, you must be injured! :-)
Or, you didn't PR because you got wasted on Bourbon Street on Friday night and couldn't keep down liquids or solids on Saturday but ran on Sunday anyway!;) True story. I really love that race though!! Totally flat, beautiful scenery, and what's not to love about being in New Orleans for a long weekend! So many delicious restaurants, touristy things to do, etc. Next time, I'll hit Bourbon POST marathon. I blame my husband, he ordered another hurricane after I said no more!;)
I ran Chicago last fall and LOVE that race. Another pancake flat course (even more so than NOLA probably, as there was one bridge you ran over in NOLA!lol). AMAZING crowd support. Seriously, like 1mil spectators for 40,000 runners. I can't even describe it. I was to mile 13 mile before I even realized I was running. And I just love Chicago. The vibe in the city race weekend was incredible, everyone there was to run. The Nike store on Michigan was a dance party complete with dj's all weekend! I am trying to hit the 50 states, but I'm so tempted to run that one again anyway!
I'm running Twin Cities this fall and hoping to run Big Sur next spring if I can get in. Big Sur is in my top 3 of most want to do in the US (Big Sur, NYC, and Boston...but I have to get significantly faster first!). I just love long weekend destination marathons! Chicago was with my husband and group of running friends, NOLA was just with my husband (he ran both Chicago and NOLA too), Twin Cities is a girls trip with my running girlfriends, then Big Sur is going to be a couples trip (girls run, boys have fun!). Lots of states to go!:)0 -
New Orleans RnR has been my favorite so far. The first half is a bit crowded & the streets are cracked and nasty. But the second half along Lake Pontchartrain was amazing. Plus, if we're talking about vacation, it's New Orleans!! I suspect NYC this November will be my most favorite though0
