You can only pick one, what marathon would you run?

A 2:40 marathoner wouldn't even see a 2:30 marathoner a mile into the race

St. George Marathon

Boston Marathon

Writing from the great beyond wrote:

A 2:40 marathoner wouldn't even see a 2:30 marathoner a mile into the race

That's deep.

23 second difference... if the 2:40 marathoner went out 20 seconds fast ad the 2:30 marathoner was right on they would. If he went out 10 seconds fast they also would even if they matched pace, still would if it was flat.. also a few 2:30-40 would make it so there WOULD BE PEOPLE

LRC's least favorite 2 wrote:

St. George Marathon

Boston Marathon

Thanks, St. George is too aided for me to feel good about a decent performance. Boston is a good suggestion, but having run it a handful of times I've been there and done that.

California International Marathon in Sacramento in early December.

The one big drawback...it could be windy and/or rainy.

old guy 70 wrote:

California International Marathon in Sacramento in early December.

The one big drawback...it could be windy and/or rainy.

Good call, definitely in the mix. Yeah it's net downhill, but not ridiculous.

former hack wrote:

Looking for suggestions. I'll limit it to the lower 48, but if you could pick only one marathon to run, which one would you choose? A few things I'd favor:

-Relatively flat, but it doesn't need to be Chicago flat

-At least a few people reasonably fast to run with (2:30-40)

-Not typically hot that time of year

Thoughts from the collective genius that's LRC?

Been thinking about Avenue of the Giants/Humboldt Redwoods for some time. Not aware of the times though, I've never minded running alone.

Grandma's

Twin Cities

Los Angeles

Austin

Chicago. Flat course. Usually cool weather. Tons of convenient hotels within walking distance of both the start and finish. Well organized. Great city with lots to do for family.

Maybe One Day wrote:

Been thinking about Avenue of the Giants/Humboldt Redwoods for some time. Not aware of the times though, I've never minded running alone.

The scenery would be unreal. Almost distracting? But you're right, I don't think they get a bunch fastish guys. Not a deal killer though.

young moola wrote:

Grandma's

Twin Cities

Los Angeles

Austin

Done the first two and both are great, but the heat of LA scares me. If I recall, isn't Austin a bit hilly? I'll check it out though.

Angryjohnny wrote:

Chicago. Flat course. Usually cool weather. Tons of convenient hotels within walking distance of both the start and finish. Well organized. Great city with lots to do for family.

Yeah, it's got to be in the mix. For someone that won't qualify for the Elite Dev program or whatever it's call, the size and logistics always turned me off. I'm sure it's not as bad as I think it is though.

former hack wrote:

young moola wrote:

Grandma's

Twin Cities

Los Angeles

Austin

Done the first two and both are great, but the heat of LA scares me. If I recall, isn't Austin a bit hilly? I'll check it out though.

Yeah. LA can get warm. CIM is way better.

If I only had one marathon on my resume it would be the Antarctica Marathon.

C'mon this one is super easy....

I'd like to run the 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials.

I will second Chicago, although the time I ran it, I ran American Develipment, so the logistics were a little better - but the start and finish at Grant Park should be pretty convenient no matter what.

The flatness of the course, the crowd quality, and the depth of the field make it tough to top.

That being said, I've also heard great things about Grandma's. Not flat, but not hilly either - just rolling and just enough to engage different muscles at different times, keeping serious fatigue from setting in.

I also support NYC, but the course simply isn't fast. When I thought I was only going to run one - that was the one I chose to run since I lived along the course in Brooklyn as a very young kid. Spectators were even better there than Chicago. Logistics suck though.

As an aside - I ran 2:35 in bad weather in NYC and 2:30 in Chicago, and in both cases, I ended up running alone a bit over last 10k. Mostly because I was fading, but even 40,000-50,000 people races string out some even modestly towards the front.

former hack wrote:

Looking for suggestions. I'll limit it to the lower 48, but if you could pick only one marathon to run, which one would you choose? A few things I'd favor:

-Relatively flat, but it doesn't need to be Chicago flat

-At least a few people reasonably fast to run with (2:30-40)

-Not typically hot that time of year

Thoughts from the collective genius that's LRC?

Rocket City.

Trails End Marathon (Seaside, OR)