What is the fastest marathon course in the US?

If you're particularly good at running hills perhaps Boston.

St. George, Utah. My friend is a normal 2:30 guy at Boston and Chicago...and he ran 2:22 at St. George. It's at slight altitude but the drop is BIG!Other threads and posters have supported this...

2:26 guy wrote:

Chicago, Cal International, Steamtown, any others?

A buddy of mine ran the West Wyoming Marathon. Apparently its pretty quick.

Tucson is also fast-in my mind faster than St. George, though there are some intangibles. Tucson has a more consistent downhill-St George has a 7 or 8 mile flat/uphill section from about mile 6-and a steeper down second half. Tucson has a 2 mile flat/uphill at mile 12-but other than that, it's 2-3% downhill the whole way. No lottery to get in, smaller field. Nicer city. Easier travel/more hotels. Better Mexican Food. I had a tailwind and PRd by 16 minutes.

Berlin

Everest....down the mountain.

Illinois Marathon in Champaign, IL...there's not ONE hill on the entire course. I suppose downhill marathons would be faster, but those aren't "legal."

Really? And what state is Berlin in exactly?

Berlin is in denial

Really? I thought the Nile was in Africa....

o rlly? wrote:

Really? And what state is Berlin in exactly?

"Montana"--Sal, from Dog Day Afternoon.

LeadvilleNative wrote:

Tucson is also fast-in my mind faster than St. George, though there are some intangibles. Tucson has a more consistent downhill-St George has a 7 or 8 mile flat/uphill section from about mile 6-and a steeper down second half. Tucson has a 2 mile flat/uphill at mile 12-but other than that, it's 2-3% downhill the whole way. No lottery to get in, smaller field. Nicer city. Easier travel/more hotels. Better Mexican Food. I had a tailwind and PRd by 16 minutes.

Here's the elevation profile for Tuscon:

A 7:30 start in December should probably give you pretty good weather as well.

for Tucson...don't forget the nice hill toward the end..starting around mile 24.5. Also the first 5 or 6 are rolling hill, which does not show up well on the smoothed out elevation chart. Still, a fast course if you're not a wimp expecting to roller skate down....

Another fast one (reportedly) is the Colorado Marathon in Fort Collins. It runs down Poudre Canyon-a steady percent or so till the last 6 miles, then it's one big hill and a flat bikepath. I've never run the full, just the half. It's a good race-well setup and a cool college town. First part of May-slightly higher altitude than either Tucson or St. George, but in the same ballpark. I've heard Pocatello is a quick downhill course too-but don't know too much about it.

Josh L. wrote:

http://www.findmymarathon.com

has things called PR (Personal Record, I think) and Course Scores that rank how fast courses are. There are scores for a lot (not all) marathons in the US there.

Pretty cool site.

Some of those downhill marathons can punish you though. It seems like they are cropping up everywhere these days.

Terrible site because as far as I can tell it won't let you search the entire US, just state by state.

short harriered wrote:

Josh L. wrote:http://www.findmymarathon.com

has things called PR (Personal Record, I think) and Course Scores that rank how fast courses are. There are scores for a lot (not all) marathons in the US there.

Pretty cool site.

Some of those downhill marathons can punish you though. It seems like they are cropping up everywhere these days.

Crazy 8 wrote:

Terrible site because as far as I can tell it won't let you search the entire US, just state by state.

short harriered wrote:

Pretty cool site.

Some of those downhill marathons can punish you though. It seems like they are cropping up everywhere these days.

Interesting. I went to Canada in the list and it let me search, but not for US like you said. I do like being able to put in my address and see what races are closest to me.

2:26 guy wrote:

Chicago, Cal International, Steamtown, any others?

You trying to qualify for OTs? If so, I'd go with one of the majors so you at least have someone around you. Time trialing, at least for me, is difficult in a marathon. Plus, you'll know there will be few surprises with course and race management.