Best marathons?

bert16

Having just completed my first marathon this past Sunday, I'm working on figuring out what my next goal will be and thought you guys might have some opinions on the best marathons to run. I don't know for sure that my next goal will be another marathon, but it's certainly in the running (so to speak), so I thought I'd ask some folks like you who might have some ideas!

arc918

Best is a relative term and most of us have some time and dollar constraints to deal with.

Some races are great if you are looking to PR and others are great if you looking for great scenery or a big city event. I've also found my tastes have changed a bit over the years. I'm also at the point where I've done some race over and over again (Long Beach, Surf City, LA, OC).

I happen to be anti RnR, but clearly tons of people love their races.

Races not be missed (IMHO):

New York City - the way the city embraces that race is amazing
Big Sur - just awesome (hilly and beautiful)
Boston - great history, crowd support is even better than NYC
San Francisco - perfect running weather is all but guaranteed in the middle of the summer - awesome city to visit

bert16

Thanks, arc918! I knew you'd pull through for me. :-)

Since I'm only one marathon in, I think I'm up for a little of everything! Would certainly love to improve my time, so a fast course is great... but I certainly appreciated having something to look at during the Disney marathon, so throwing in some scenic runs like Big Sur would be great, too. And you can't beat the history of Boston - but I need to speed up a little to qualify for that one, first! I wasn't too far off with my first marathon, so think I could get there next time.

My exercise physiologist ran the Mount Lemmon marathon - it has over 6000 ft of climbing (and starts at 2000+ ft, I think)... think it'll be a while before I'm up for that one!

coronalime

I agree with the above. DEpends on locale, time/dates, what your looking for. I have done the "big" ones: NYC, Chicago, Marine Core..and some small ones: Savannah, GA, Nashville, TN, Kiawah, SC, Charleston, SC. Just finished my 1st 31 miler here in NC.

Big Surr is next and we are signed up for April 2012!!! Others on my list: Montanna, Flying Pig, Hood to Coast (team relay), Grandmas...and who knows where else..So far have been loving this training for Big Surr. Easier miles in the cold and larger miles will be when its starting to warm up and get lighter out!

bert16

Thanks, coronalime - Big Sur sounds awesome. I lived in the SF Bay Area for ~6 years and love that area; I think Big Sur would be spectacular. I live in the DC area, so Marine Corps would be just outside my door (figuratively speaking); perhaps it doesn't seem that exotic since I see it here every year! ;-)

How do you feel about "big" vs. "small" races? I just ran the Disney marathon, which was pretty darned crowded... my Garmin tracked an extra 0.24 miles of weaving laterally around people who had no business being in my corral, so a smaller race seems tempting right now. But you can't beat the excitement of all those people (and the cheering crowds that come with 'em)!

arc918

Your Garmin should read long at any race you run, but the weaving through slower runners at the start is a big waste of energy.

http://www.hamptonrockfest.com/hamptonhalf-GPS.html

As a faster runner (not fast fast, but usually fastest enough to beat 85 - 90% of the field), the corral system at the start is a big deal to me. Some races are what I call "runners races" while others are more "races of the people."

CIM (Calif Intl. in Sacramento) is an awesome runners race. Everyone lines up right where they are supposed to be. It is a favorite for BQ & OTQ hopefuls.

Los Angeles is my classic example of a race where the runners don't understand chip timing. I have never seen so many people push to get to the front, only to get passed by (and get in the way of) 15,000+ runners.

bert16

Ah, I'd really enjoy a runner's race for that aspect! I get so frustrated with people who clearly have no business being in my corral (which I don't say because I'm a speed demon, by any means, but it's super annoying when people are walking within the first mile of a marathon or half marathon when they started in a corral that's supposed to be holding sub-9 min/mile.

Disney was my own fault - I was assigned to Corral A (shouldn't have been, but was)... intended to push forward to Corral B or so, but ended up back in Corral D with some representatives from the charity for which I was fundraising since the "coach" wanted to run with me. I should've just been selfish and pushed up to Corral B, but felt rude, so was stuck weaving for miles and miles and miles. Oh well - lesson learned!

Run4iiiiiit

I am running A1A (Fort Lauderdale) next month, for the second time. There is one drawbridge at about mile 2, then it's flat, flat, flat. I know people trying to qualify for Bahston love this race.
As for the view...It's 50/50. On one hand, you have rows and rows of 1980's condos. On the other, a beautiful FL sunrise with miles of beaches.
I read the reviews from last year and half said it was organized, half said it wasn't. My wife dropped me off, so I didn't have to deal with parking. There was a lot of traffic. I am guessing you have to get there early to park, or take a cab, or pick a hotel close to the start....or ask your non running spouse to drop you off.
I have had to deal with crowded running in every race. This one does a loop through a narrow park early. I think that it should be done by the full runners at the end, not in the begining by everyone. just my opinion tho'. Once the half splits off, it's nice and lonely. The expo the day before is great. lots of free goodies.
The best part is that it's in Fort Lauderdale. Once the race is over...you're in Fort Lauderdale.
The only negative I took from last year was the weather. Right when you are about to hit the wall, the sun is coming up over the condos. uuhhh. upper 70's and humid @ 8:30 in Feb. I hope the organizers can fix that this year!

bert16

The only negative I took from last year was the weather. Right when you are about to hit the wall, the sun is coming up over the condos. uuhhh. upper 70's and humid @ 8:30 in Feb. I hope the organizers can fix that this year!

Thanks, derekleeo! And I hope you wrote a strongly worded letter to the race organizers about that whole weather thing... I heard they're working hard on delaying sunrise until you're done the race and have plans to lower humidity.

Best of luck next month!