Rank the Marathons, Hardest to Fastest

Easiest: Tricities Marathon (Richland, WA)

Hardest: Missoula Marathon (Missoula, MT)

Both were quite flat, but Missoula had one big hill that made it more difficult.

Fargo Marathon has to be the fastest non-point-to-point. There isn't so much as a bump on that course. It was won in 2:24 last year, so not crazy competitive, but it's honest.

Pikes Peak; Toughest

Toss up between NYC/Boston for a "moderate" road course that can be rougher than anticipated.

Grandma's beckons the right guy on the right day. This point to point course can be very fast, but has been hexed by heat the last several years. I still rate it my personal favorite.

Columbus Marathon-2:40:40-very flat course, had a nice pack to go with

Chicago-2:49:25-Did not deserve a sub 3, makes Columbus look hilly

Boston-2:50:35-Thought I was in shape for a sub 2:38, could not find a pack, dealt with 15mph headwind on own.

Conditions in Boston affected the performance a lot, Chicago being a super easy course affected that time a lot.

Massachusetts - Boston Marathon (really blows)

NY - NYC Marathon - (semi-blows)

Massachusetts - Bay State Marathon (solid)

Chicago - pretty solid

Austin - good

Berlin - tops

Grandfather Mountain Marathon is one of the slower (albeit one of the cooler) ones

Myrtle Beach and Kiawah are two of the faster ones if the wind isn't blowing.

You all forget the hardest of the all. Yonkers.

John Kelly (The younger) still has the course record - 2:21

No one even wants to try and beat it. It has over 15 hills. All are very steep and very long.

I was thinking about doing Grandma's but it's on a weekend I can't go, I'm now thinking about San Francisco, does anyone know how that compares to Boston?

My best try at the list so far:

Hard:

1. Yonkers

2. Pikes Peak

3. Grandfather Mountain

Moderate:

4. Boston

5. NYC

6. Baltimore

7. Freedom's Run (Harpers Ferry, WV)

Easyish

8. Bay State Maration (MA)

9. Grandma's

10. Myrtle Beach

11. Kiawah

12. Missoula (MT)

13. Tricities (Richland, WA)

14. Chicago

15. Columbus

FAST:

16. Austin

17. Fargo

18. Berlin

Only done three:

Boston moderate to easy, but I had bad luck picking a year. Cold, headwind, drizzle.

Sugarloaf (ME)-super easy. One very long hill between 5 and 10 miles, but from 10 to the finish is a long gradual downhill. Drawback, you're likely running alone the whole way if you run under 2:50.

ME Marathon-Medium hard. Lots of small hills, a couple big ones. Starts and finishes with a couple flat miles but they can be windy along the ocean.

Isn't Austin a hilly course now?

I would put Houston at slightly slower than Chicago. Maybe 30 seconds. I've run 4 course and from easy to difficult it would be...

Chicago < Houston << Boston << NYC

hmm lets see...

you have a marathon where the poster said was hard w/ a record of 2:21 with a trail marathon that 2:21 would win the HALF and another that has over 1000 ft of elevation gain in the mountains.

you might want to reconsider your methods

Any other method would take work! This is the easy/fun method.

I think you need to separate road marathons from trail marathons. Trail marathons such as Pikes Peak, Leadville, Catalina, and Big Sur (the trail marathon) are a different kind of beast from road marathons. Toughest road marathons would have to include Yonkers (hills), Estes Park (hills and elevation), and Big Sur (hills and potential wind).

And absurd downhill courses like St George and Tucson should be separated from flat fast courses like Chicago, Bay State, Mardis Gras, and others.

You guys are talking about the old Yonkers course right? The most recent version (it has changed twice in recent years) is a double loop, not really that bad. I have run two new ones, but not the original, which was definitely a beast.

Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach is a drag strip as long as the wind is calm.

Hardest Trail marathon is one called Buzzards in the mts. near Harrisburg, PA. Lots of steep climbs and it's in early March, which often means snow is present. Ran a 4:35 one year and heaved up a lung on the last climb.

Hardest road marathon was probably one I ran in West Virginia, near Huntington...I forget the name, but it was very hilly with a real monster at mile 25 or so. I think my time was @ 4 hrs flat.

Boston is deceptively difficult for me...It was very warm both times I ran and I wasn't yet acclimated. Suffered through both in @ 3:30-3:40

Marine Corps was easiest by far - ran 3:08 twice. I've never broken 3 hrs - too many slow twitch muscles.

I've run Greenbelt (MD) and Pittsburgh (PA) also - both semi-tough but pretty and fun. Lots of spectators at Pittsburgh and a great post-race celebration.

Speaking of old courses, Johnny Kelley also set the course record for the hilly Holyoke Marathon in its first year- 1963. I can't believe he ran a 2:20 on the current course, it must have been a different one.

http://www.harriers.org/marathon/results2009.htm#The%20Champions%20List

Another wrote:

Isn't Austin a hilly course now?

I would put Houston at slightly slower than Chicago. Maybe 30 seconds. I've run 4 course and from easy to difficult it would be...

Chicago < Houston << Boston << NYC

Correct. Austin is very hilly now. I think the others are referring to the old point-to-point course that was net downhill. I think a Kenyan guy ran around 2:14-2:15 on the hilly course by himself in 2007(?), but no one else has come close to that.

I've only run 2 so not much room to talk but,

1. Chicago 2:36:54

2. Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon 2:32:08

Chicago is super easy, I wish I had been in good shape for it and hadn't gone out in 1:13:30. The KDF marathon's second half is challenging.