What is the fastest marathon course in the US?

stats rock wrote:

sydney wrote:

yeah. marthonguide used to be good when it first started. the reviews were helpful, but now they're junk. unless of course you are interested in hearing people complain about the size of the medal or that there wasn't their favorite donut at the finish line.

If you don't like the recent comments, just flip back to the older comments. Ex. I just looked up the Baltimore Marathon, and there's 390 comments going back to 2001. There's so many different tools and years and years of stats on it. There's no other marathon website that's as comprehensive. Great resource.

That's good if you really want to hear ten year old comments about a race. ;) I gotta agree that the comments are, for the most part, useless these days. Asking other runners you know or on a forum is a much better way to get info on a race. Parts of the site are good though.

From your posts, it sounds like you are affiliated with it in some way.

Back on topic...gotta go with my West Coast bias and CIM.

There are some new marathons in Utah that are even faster than St. George. They just keep making crazy downhill races in this state! Anyway, check out Huntsville and Big Cottonwood. Unbelievable net drops.

asdgerg wrote:

Big Cottonwood. Unbelievable net drops.

5000 feet drop. Unless you train for it, that's not an advantage. When you train for it with plenty of downhill running, sub 2h should be achievable for the likes of Makau, Kipsang, Mutai et al.

That's insane. It drops a vertical mile. Here's the USATF cert and a profile of the course.http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=UT13016GANhttp://findmymarathon.com/race-detail.php?zname=Big%20Cottonwood%20Marathon

The fast dude wrote:

asdgerg wrote:

Big Cottonwood. Unbelievable net drops.

5000 feet drop. Unless you train for it, that's not an advantage. When you train for it with plenty of downhill running, sub 2h should be achievable for the likes of Makau, Kipsang, Mutai et al.

MARATHON ON A TRACK

/Thread

CIM is fast IF the weather cooperates. The entire course runs south or west so there's a good chance of a headwind throughout. Last year they had a winter storm and times were slow.

I've run CIM 3 times in pretty good conditions but my PR is from Boston (not a tailwind year) so I'd have to say that's a faster course. Chicago is obviously fast too, but the many 90-degree turns slow you down a bit.

Sorry, it was Wyoming......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS61hWuh43Y

orbitboy wrote:

o rlly? wrote:

Really? And what state is Berlin in exactly?

"Montana"--Sal, from Dog Day Afternoon.

Boston with a tailwind is the fastest course. Hard to argue with 2:03.

St George by far. If the Ethiopians and Kenyans were offered a big pay out, we'd have a sub 2 hour world best title.

st george and steamtown don't count for ot qualifying, sorry, too downnill. Not making this up, USATF will not let you in the trials with a time from steamtown or st george. The fastest courses are Cal International and Grandmas in the slightly downhill but still allowed by usatf sense. Time wise its Chicago, Boston, and NY. Houston, Twin Cities, and Honolulu are also fast. I wouldn't run any other race than these unless you are comfortable racing most of the distance alone.

Excellent Post^ Thank you.

Erie, PA was the fastest marathon this year in terms of % Boston qualifiers and average time.

Fastest in the West that I know about from running the course

Ojai and St George are the two fastest

CIM is fast but the first half rolls more than people expect and weather is always iffy.

Santa Barbara and Malibu are surprisingly fast courses that not many people know about.

Tucson appears fast on paper but it is beat up your legs too much.

Long Beach looks fast on paper but people generally don't run that fast there maybe because the concrete beats up their legs?

L.A. Marathon - haven't run the new course.

Carlsbad - not too fast

Rock-n-Roll San Diego - pretty fast course and I am not sure if they changed it from when I did it but you ran on a very sloped concrete highway that messed up my legs.

Big Sur - not fast but worth doing

Santa Clarita - boring but a relatively fast course if you can get someone to run with you. Not super fast but not slow.

OC Marathon - good first half but again need someone to run with for the second half.

Ventura Marathon - looks fast on paper. Dead flat on an out and back course so wind could be a factor. One I'd like to try.

Chicago is much faster than Boston unless there is a big tail wind at Boston but don't count on that.

I've heard some nasty things about Tucson, in fact I could have sworn that there is a part of the race where you run through sand? Also have heard that the weather is very, very hot even though it starts early.

RnR Arizona (Phoenix) is possibly flatter than Chicago, very consistent good weather, not too many turns, but the course is freaking boring as hell. Plus with the new crap being pulled by the Competitor group, I won't run any more RnR races.

Can't believe someone actually mentioned NYC as a fast race. Clearly you haven't done it.

o rlly? wrote:

Really? And what state is Berlin in exactly?

That would be Pennsylvania. It's 11 miles from Somerset, approximately 75 miles outside of Pittsburgh; it is part of the Johnstown metro-area. Johnstown has their annual marathon in October, mostly downhill from what I hear. Unfortunately, this year is not a Boston Qualifier as they are redesigning the course.

Boston with a tailwind is tough to beat

"I've heard some nasty things about Tucson, in fact I could have sworn that there is a part of the race where you run through sand? Also have heard that the weather is very, very hot even though it starts early."

Actually, the Tucson course runs through the desert and you must dodge cactus and rattlesnakes and aliens! Please don't comment about a race you have never run. You have no clue what you are talking about. There is no sand and I can tell you it can be very cold at the start. I've run 39 marathons and Tucson is my PR.