I think there's a good marathon happening soon in Beijing. It would probably allow you to get well under 2:17.
Failing that, I hear that the next best race is some Flying Monkey Spunk Marathon... but you probably aren't tough enough to get a sub 4 in that race, so best stick to Beijing old friend.
La Rochelle? It's on 30/11 and quite a fast course:
1 CHEBII Johnstone 14 02:14:17 02:14:16 V1M 1 / 2633
2 LETELLIER Loïc 15 02:14:37 02:14:36 SEM 1 / 1899
3 RUTTO Akello 11 02:14:49 02:14:48 SEM 2 / 1899
4 THEURI James 2 02:17:21 02:17:20 SEM 3 / 1899
5 PKORKOR Wilson 7 02:20:34 02:20:33 SEM 4 / 1899
6 KYUI John 17 02:21:09 02:21:07 SEM 5 / 1899
7 KIPKOECH Nixon 3 02:21:16 02:21:15 SEM 6 / 1899
8 PEIGNE Vincent 22 02:23:44 02:23:43 SEM 7 / 1899
9 MUSYOKI Peter 13 02:24:24 02:24:23 SEM 8 / 1899
10 ROGOVOY Victor 23 02:24:47 02:24:46 V1M 2 / 2633
Screw San Antonio. Too hot in Nov (70 degree start is not out of the question) and it is now a Rock n Roll McMarathon.
I had never heard of the La Rochelle Marathon. But it had 400 runners under 3 hrs last year and it is 1 1/2 hr away from Bordeaux. Can't beat that if you can handle the weak dollar.
Didn't read all the responses, so it might have already been mentioned...San Antonio Rock n Roll marathon is the week before Thanksgiving, I think. Good prize money, too. Should be pretty flat.
That's a 2 loop course with walkers and slow half marathoners all over it. Unless you like weaving through packs of 7:45 marathoners running three-abreast on a bike path, not a good choice. Heard the post-race party is quite good though.
dreamtheater wrote:
Think about Kiawah Island...
http://www.kiawahresort.com/recreation/marathon/
In all honesty the French race makes the most sense since it will have a good number of runners actually running the goal pace. Even Philadelphia doesn't have such a high quality pack.
Tulsa has some rolling hills late in the race. You start from a city park, run down to the river then do a flat out-and-back course, no problems - until mile 21 when you have to run up a series of hills to get back to the finish. Pretty good weather last year(start temp around 40) until the clouds and light rain rolled in midrace.
masters fattie wrote:
Tulsa has a good RD that puts on a good event and Valley of Fire has been very well run, albeit a bit hilly in the past but what a beautiful course
If you scan the results from 2002 - 2007, 2007 was actually a lean year for sub-2:20. Also, of note in the top 20 you see the same names over and over. To me this means the top guys like it and keep coming back. Must be a good RD/organization/course... something to keep them returning.
Good Luck.
(if you haven't already ruled out Kiawah I've heard from a very reliable source that it has too many turns and curves - I've run Philadelphia and loved it in 2002, but not as an elite)
The Seattle Marathon is on November 29th I believe. It is fairly hilly though, and I believe 2:17 should net you a top 10 spot fairly easily.
Last year only 2 guys broke 2:30 and the winner was 2:27.
Yeah I'd say he'll net a top 10 spot- by 10 minutes.
IMO Kiawah would be a really bad idea...
1 - he'd be alone
2 - he'd have to fight thru dozens (if not hundreds) of the half marathon walkers (and there are a lot of them) on a very narrow bike path in the last few miles.. it would be a nightmare
is 11/15 late enough? Richmond rocks!
Rocket City (12/13) in Huntsville, AL is a fast course and very well organized race