Fall Marathon Suggestions...

I know that it is only the middle of December and winter has not
officially started, but I need to get my mind focused on next fall.
More importantly, on what marathon I will be running in the fall. I have
already ran Twin Cities, Chicago (twice), and Steamtown and am looking
for a fast, flat to downhill course to shoot for a new PR and a BQ. My
goal time still sits at a sub 3:05:00. I have recently been hit with
some warm weather both at Chicago (2010) and Steamtown (2011). So, I
think that having a history of cooler weather would also be a plus.

Does anyone have any good ideas for a fall marathon that would fit my criteria?

CIM in Sacramento, but it is in DEC.

Jack_Scaff wrote:CIM in Sacramento, but it is in DEC.

+1

This hits all your criteria, and it's technically still fall.

Mark B wrote:

Jack_Scaff wrote:CIM in Sacramento, but it is in DEC.

+1

This hits all your criteria, and it's technically still fall.

Doesn't Black Friday now signify the end of fall on the new Walmart Calendar?

The Baystate Marathon in Mass. is fast.

Grand Rapids and Columbus are fast.

I believe it was Reina that said it's a net downhill, but it has hills. So I looked it up.

http://cdn.ngin.com/attachments/photo/0589/2778/courseelev.jpg



Portland on October 7? 3,000 entry max.

http://www.portlandmarathon.org/details_course.php

St. George is net downhill. I know a number of runners that PR that one. Especially if you're good at downhill running. It's in October and there is a lottery.

Run where Jerry does.

Jerry wrote:Run where Jerry does.

In the clouds??

Thanks for the suggestions!!

Are there any others that may fit my criteria? Fast and cool

jon c wrote:St. George is net downhill. I know a number of runners that PR that one. Especially if you're good at downhill running. It's in October and there is a lottery.

I recommended this one in Nick's blog. It is net downhill BIG TIME. So much so that it can't be used for an Olympic Qualifying time. But since you are not shooting for such a finish time but you are looking for fast assist from a course, St. George jumps off the page as a place to run fast times. Yes there are some uphills. 500 feet of climbing. But 3,000 (THREE THOUSAND!) feet of descent! Weather and altitude make a true comparsion impossible but I've heard many runners say they go 4-8 minutes faster at St.G than they run on basically flat courses.

I'm also looking for a fast fall marathon.

RunnersWorld has two articles on fast fall marathons in their current issue:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-239-582--14153-0,00.html

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-239-582--14137-0,00.html

I'm not sure how they can include Chicago given the weather history the past 6 years but it is included because of the flat course.

Nick Morris wrote:Thanks for the suggestions!!

Are there any others that may fit my criteria? Fast and cool

CIM is fast and cool.

Portland is cool, but I would hesitate to call it fast.

How 'bout the Antatica marathon. I think they've had consistent cool weather there. Not sure if it's in the fall, though. Wait just checked and yeah it's a fall marathon, well spring down there, but fall for you, so yeah. Think its pretty flat, but not downhill. Good luck, Nick.

Has anyone every ran or heard anything about the Hamilton Marathon Road2Hope in Hamilton, Ontario? It looks kind of interesting and is supposed to be the fastest marathon in Canada.

http://hmr2h2010.squarespace.com/home/

Nick Morris wrote:Thanks for the suggestions!!

Are there any others that may fit my criteria? Fast and cool

Philadelphia

Nick Morris wrote:Has anyone every ran or heard anything about the Hamilton Marathon Road2Hope in Hamilton, Ontario? It looks kind of interesting and is supposed to be the fastest marathon in Canada.

http://hmr2h2010.squarespace.com/home/

I know a few people that have run this race - hear it good. I also hear Columbus is a great race. Richmond is good as well.

I ran St. George for the first time last year. It is wicked fast and definitely a PR course - if you are comfortable claiming it . But it can be hot towards the end of the race.

I also have run CIM in 2010 and this is my current PR (2:55). To me this is the ideal course if you want to run fast. Almost no turns, point-to-point, and usually very cool, comfortable weather. Think Boston without the Newton Hills.

If your scheduled allows for it I would say spend a day or two in SF, drive over to Sacramento to do CIM, and then celebrate in St. Helena (or Yountville) post race. Couldn't ask for a better weekend than that!