Seems like the Twin Cities Marathon is quite well liked. However, there are some comments about the hills. The race was won in 2:18 last year but I know the best marathoners go to other marathons around this time of year. For someone who's trying to qualify for Boston (3:15 qualifying time), how much slower do you think the course is than a flat course, like Chicago? Thanks.
I would give the Chicago Marathon a 1-5 minute advantage. The big hill at TCM comes at a tough time. If you can keep close to your pace you will not loose much. If not, and you hit the wall it can get ugly. My Chicago time was about three minutes faster but I was in slightly better condition.
The "hills" aren't really all that bad, but the course will be punishing if you blow your wad early because you'll hit a climb right about when you're starting to run out of gas. If you run smart it's not going to be that much slower than Chicago, it's Minneapolis, not San Francisco.