Fast Fall Marathon Discussion Thread

Consider Detroit, I set my PR there. It's a good bit faster and flatter than Twin Cities. Not as nice of a course or as good support, but still pretty good and a good size, at around 4k runners. Not a lot of faster people though so you may be out alone for a lot of the later part.

Over the year I have run Indy (few times), Toronto, and Philly from your list. They are all good races with enough competition and fast courses. Out of those three the Indy would probably have the lowest hotel prices.

Of the races you have listed, I have only done the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon(3 times). This is my favorite marathon in which I have participated.

Good weather - has been cool every time I have run it.. perfect for a marathon

Pretty time of year for a tour of Indy

Good mix of sights along the course

Plenty of people to run with(at least, at my speed)

Top-notch organization and volunteer support

Packet pick-up/transportation to start line is much easier than expected for a race this size

Course is very flat and fast - only a few noticeable rises

If you are used to strong crowd support, Indianapolis is not ideal. There are many stretches(especially the latter half of the course) of few/no spectators.

tycobb wrote:

Over the year I have run Indy (few times), Toronto, and Philly from your list. They are all good races with enough competition and fast courses. Out of those three the Indy would probably have the lowest hotel prices.

Could you rank those three in terms of best opportunity to PR?

What about Long Beach marathon? I was thinking of that one and it seems like it could be a good race. The course record is 2:12 I believe, but no one has come even close since the 80's. The downside is, it was hot last year and some Kenyan ran 2:31.

Boulderunner wrote:

tycobb wrote:

Over the year I have run Indy (few times), Toronto, and Philly from your list. They are all good races with enough competition and fast courses. Out of those three the Indy would probably have the lowest hotel prices.

Could you rank those three in terms of best opportunity to PR?

I would go with Indy or look to see who has the most runners at your pace. Its been about 5 years since I ran Toronto and 12-13 years since Philly. They are all flat but logistics might change. Get a hotel close to the start so you aren't stuck in port-o-john lines forever.

Interesting, between 2:35 and 2:40 each of these races had the following number of finishers last year

Richmond 2

Indy 8

Toronto 15

Philly 16

CIM 25

Gotta rule out Long Beach. High temp of 89 last year and already 70 at the start. That's way too risky if I want to run fast.

CIM is great. Probably the best marathon in the West for good runners. It's in December, so you could pick a Sept/Oct marathon and have CIM as a backup.

Why not consider Berlin or Amsterdam? Don't know where you're based but if you are willing to go anywhere in North America, cost doesn't seem to be a huge obstacle.

Boulderunner wrote:

Portland - Good weather, 60 degrees when I did it.

Des Moines - Colder than Portland, 45 degrees when I did it.

No comment on anything else but...

60F is marginal for a marathon IMO. It isn't good weather. It is too warm.

45F on the other hand is near perfect.

Boulderunner wrote:

I'm evaluating a few fall marathons and am hoping to get others opinions on them, especially comparisons between them. I'm looking at the following:

Toronto

Indianapolis

Richmond

Philadelphia

Cal International

I've done all of the above except Toronto. I have also done Chicago (though registration is closed.) In order of preference, CIM, Philly, Richmond, Indy. Main considerations are:

-Cater to the faster runner

-Overall organization

-Course layout

-Amount of runners

-Weather potential

CIM is one of my top 3 races of all time because they do a fantastic job of making this a racer's race. Everything about the weekend is focused on the faster runner. Weather is generally pretty good, though it could be cold/rainy. And serious runners come to compete. Richmond can be hot or cold, while Philly is generally going to have cooler, but pretty ideal temps. Toronto is on my list of races to do because of its strong reputation.

CIM would be my top suggestion.

Boulderunner wrote:

tycobb wrote:

Over the year I have run Indy (few times), Toronto, and Philly from your list. They are all good races with enough competition and fast courses. Out of those three the Indy would probably have the lowest hotel prices.

Could you rank those three in terms of best opportunity to PR?

Check out

They have elevations of almost all marathons in the same scale, so it's easy to compare. Also, they give scores based on the uphills and downhills and weather.

Boulderunner wrote:

Interesting, between 2:35 and 2:40 each of these races had the following number of finishers last year

Richmond 2

Indy 8

Toronto 15

Philly 16

CIM 25

Gotta rule out Long Beach. High temp of 89 last year and already 70 at the start. That's way too risky if I want to run fast.

Yes, that's a huge concern about Long Beach. Ive done CIM and that's where I ran a PR. Amazing course and the mentality of people who go to CIM is to run fast. Much different vibe than most other marathons in the fall. What is your target time? 2:35 - 2:40?

OnePieceToe wrote:

What about Long Beach marathon? I was thinking of that one and it seems like it could be a good race. The course record is 2:12 I believe, but no one has come even close since the 80's. The downside is, it was hot last year and some Kenyan ran 2:31.

Long Beach has a good course but as you pointed out it was extremely hot last year. Ventura in September is another good course that suffers from unfavorable weather. CIM organizers work hard to make a fast-runner friendly race but you have 50-50 chance of either amazing or horrible weather.

I'm in the same boat. Need to find a fast fall marathon with a decent amount of runners my speed.

Considering Philly, Richmond, CIM. Twin Cities.

Richmond is easily driveable for me. Philly is driveable but would probably fly.

Kinda leaning towards CIM because I've never been to the bay area and would want to add on a little travel/vacation time.

Grand Rapids (MI) Marathon is good. Course is flat, but smaller field and overall amount of crowd support is smaller. Very well run and organized though.

Columbus is decent.

The White River Marathon in Cotter, AK is flat and fast. The first mile is a substantial downhill but after that there aren't any hills.

If you're even close to 3 hours you may be running by yourself though. Some years they have some quick people show up though.

Of yours listed, I've only run Chicago and Indy. Chicago is an event and arguably worth running, at least once, if you get the chance. Nice way to cruise through a variety of neighborhoods with great crowd support. Biggest problem is the crowd. Even with a front corral, it seems like you still have to fight for position before you can settle in.

Indy is a nice race. Can get in and out fast. Likely will not have a problem finding a room near the start/finish. Surprisingly pretty course. Fast and flat. Much less congested. Spotty crowd support.

Of the two, I enjoyed Indy more.