I'm talking about competitive ones. I couldn't get into Boston so I'm looking to run the "next best thing" or something close to that. Can anyone help a brother out?
I'm talking about competitive ones. I couldn't get into Boston so I'm looking to run the "next best thing" or something close to that. Can anyone help a brother out?
Pitt and the Pig
Is that Flying Pig?
Fargo, Lincoln, Illinois, and Grandmas
Vermont small and well organized. Winning time in the 2:20's. Great course and city.
Chuck Finley wrote:
Vermont small and well organized. Winning time in the 2:20's. Great course and city.
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Agreed. Vermont City Keybank Marathon.
On Mememorial Day weekend.
Ottawa. On the way up. Last weekend in May.
Grandmas has become crowded beyond belief. Local hotels gouge runners.
Vermont is excellent. Hilly through 18 mi, but a fast and slightly downhill last 6 makes the course very fair.
Ottawa is very fast and has a strong elite field.
Vancouver has a hilly but not Boston hilly course. City is amazing, but it is usually rainy on race day. Decent elite field, a bit faster than Vermont.
Greenbay has a decent marathon, but wind can be an issue.
RnR San Diego has a strong field and a relatively fast, but lame, course. But it is usually plagued by typical RnR issues.
Grandmas: 'local hotels gouge runners'; I cant imagine Vermont, Ottawa, Vancouver, Green Bay and San Diego being the cheapest of places to either fly into or get a hotel at?? Besides who the hell wants to go to Ottawa, Vermont or Green Bay?
Of course I'm basing my marathons off times and prize money. Not that Fargo and Illinois Marathon are in great places. Illinois is flat and fast (cheap to get to and stay at). Fargo has a decent payout. Grandmas I hear has great local support and good payout.
I've also heard good things about Flying Pig
I've heard good things about Grandma and it appears that it's a considerably deep field. It's not Boston or Chicago, but last year there was like 10 people around 2:19.
SalukiAlum wrote:
Grandmas: 'local hotels gouge runners'; I cant imagine Vermont, Ottawa, Vancouver, Green Bay and San Diego being the cheapest of places to either fly into or get a hotel at?? Besides who the hell wants to go to Ottawa, Vermont or Green Bay?
I paid $110 a night to stay 5 minutes from the start in Burlington, VT. I booked about two months before the race. Right now, the scrubby Holiday Inn in Duluth is charging $239 for a non-refundable reservation on race weekend. I stayed at the Sheraton in downtown Chicago for about the same for the Chicago marathon. That is some serious gouging.
Burlington is about the same distance from Manchester NH (plenty of SW flights) as Duluth is from Minneapolis.
Burlington is a beautiful town on the shores of Lake Champlain. It is right at the foot of the Green Mountains. It is incredibly beautiful in spring. The question is really who would want to waste a great vacation in Vermont with trashed legs.
Greenbay and Ottawa aren't exactly vacation worthy, but neither is Duluth. Grandmas has just gotten too big to be worth it anymore.