How bad of an idea would it be to run a marathon in Georgia at the end of May?

Pretty bad idea if you want to run fast.

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Columbus May 28 Weather, Average Temperature (Georgia, United States) - Weather Spark

On May 28, the temperature in Columbus typically ranges from 66°F to 85°F and is rarely below 58°F or above 92°F.

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I would only do that IF:

*I were prepared to just totally bag it if the weather looks like it's going to be really hot.

*I had no real goal other than using it as a long run.

First I've heard of it. This seems to be the first year of the race; it seems to have been scheduled for last November but postponed because of covid. From what I could tell from the website, it seems to use the (mostly flat) course of the Soldier Marathon that was held 2010-2019 and is implying that it has the same organizers. It doesn't, or at least none of them have mentioned the race when I've asked recently about upcoming races. The organizer's street address listed at the bottom of the website (not the Legacy Way start/finish address) is a home in Dahlonega, GA 170 miles away. The race isn't listed on the website calendar of the running club that puts on almost all races in town, and it's also not on the local Fleet Feet store's website calendar. Unless you can confirm that lots of people are signed up (I don't know how to see on Active.com who or how many people have registered like you can on RunSignUp), I would worry about not having anyone to run with. The heat will almost certainly be a pain too.

I'm aiming for an October marathon but am considering doing the half in Columbus because it is local. I'll just train right through it and run whatever time I run. The course in mostly flat but does have a few hills early going through Fort Benning. Most of it is flat along the Riverwalk. I would not even consider doing the full marathon myself because there is no way you will run a great time. While the Riverwalk has areas of shade, it also has quite a few sections where the sun will be devastating. And if the wind blows the wrong way, the sweet smell of the sewage plant will clear your sinuses. And if you're a "woke" person you will be offended when you run by the oh-so-offensive statue of Christopher Columbus. If you want to stay on the East Coast I'd suggest Buffalo instead.

Did you (or anybody reading) run it? Doesn't seem like the weather was too warm, at least if you've been running around here & are acclimated.

Ran the half on dead legs. Haven't run under 92 miles since the first week of March with 101 the week of the race. The weather for the HM wasn't too bad but I felt bad for the marathoners having to do another 13. I think it was about 61 degrees at the start. They changed the course so that the HM was simply an out-and-back on the Riverwalk and the marathon was two laps of the HM course. Only part of the course that was poor was the turnaround point on a narrow trail by the Naval Museum.

Thanks. The Facebook page didn't have results when I checked, but the site listing registrations showed that very few of the nonmilitary runners (~20 of 86/half and 2 of 61/full) were from around here. That seems odd for a small race. I assume most of the military runners were from Benning and some just listed their hometowns.

That’s a neat route. A few friends ran the race today. By Georgia standards the weather wasn’t too bad. Lowish humidity and a high of around 84. Still hot in direct sunlight though.

Don't do it

Results

Here in Houston they have an ironman triathlon some time in summer which I thought was so crazy when they first started holding it. But it seems to go off pretty well. I can't imagine running a fast marathon at 10 in the morning.

Race photos

Is this what they replaced the Soldier Marathon and Half Marathon with? It was in November and also started at the National Infantry Museum. It was my first half marathon and I remember the temps that morning were in the mid 20's. I was disappointed to hear that they stopped running that race.

Yes and no. The organizers of this race don't seem to be affiliated with the Soldier organizers, and their address listed on the website is a residence in Dahlonega, 180 miles away. The local running club's website hasn't said anything about the race, and it looks like nearly all of the nonmilitary runners were from out of town. The course was supposed to be the same as one of the Soldier ones, but Ft. Benning was still under covid restrictions by the organizers' decision deadline, so they used the second half of the Soldier course and went farther up the Riverwalk for the half & just ran another lap of that for the full. The organizers have said they're planning to hold a half & full that does go on Ft. Benning (so I assume one of the old Soldier courses) on November 19. That should be cooler anyway, though maybe too cold for me.