Best road races in the US

The 3rd oldest 15k in the country - The Great Stew Chase. http://www.stewchase.com/stewchaseroadrace/

This is a really good website:

http://www.arrs.net/

back in 2010 I had the same question as you and I compiled the following for US races:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6829629/10XXXX%20USA%27s%20Most%20Competitive%20Men%27s%20Races.doc

Data is pasted also below but the formatting gets messed up

All distances:

Score Race Distance Date(2010) Location

855 Peachtree Road Race 10 km 04 Jul 10 Atlanta GA/USA

795 ING Bay to Breakers 12 km 16 May 10 San Francisco CA/USA

784 CIGNA Falmouth Road Race 11.27 km 15 Aug 10 Falmouth MA/USA

781 Dick's Sporting Goods Bolder Boulder 10 km 31 May 10 Boulder CO/USA

755 Utica Boilermaker 15 km 11 Jul 10 Utica NY/USA

744 Healthy Kidney 10 km 15 May 10 New York NY/USA

733 Crescent City Classic 10 km 03 Apr 10 New Orleans LA/USA

731 Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 mi 11 Apr 10 Washington DC/USA

729 Carlsbad 5 km 11 Apr 10 Carlsbad CA/USA

694 TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10 km 07 Aug 10 Cape Elizabeth ME/USA

651 SunTrust Bank Crazy 8's 8 km 17 Jul 10 Kingsport TN/USA

647 Wharf to Wharf 6 mi 25 Jul 10 Capitola CA/USA

638 Steamboat Classic 4 mi 19 Jun 10 Peoria IL/USA

637 Cooper River Bridge Run 10 km 27 Mar 10 Charleston SC/USA

588 Quad-City Times Bix 11.27 km 24 Jul 10 Davenport IA/USA

Score Race Date(2010) Location

5 Kilometers

729 Carlsbad 11 Apr 10 Carlsbad CA/USA

472 Applied Materials Silicon Valley Turke 25 Nov 10 San Jose CA/USA

392 Chris Thater Memorial 29 Aug 10 Binghamton NY/USA

373 Back In Shape 12 Jun 10 Bloomington IN/USA

364 CVS Caremark Downtown 19 Sep 10 Providence RI/USA

4 Miles

638 Steamboat Classic 19 Jun 10 Peoria IL/USA

479 Emerald Nuts Midnight Run 31 Dec 10 New York NY/USA

385 Subaru Buffalo Chase 16 Jul 10 Buffalo NY/USA

251 Run as One TGL Classic 11 Apr 10 New York NY/USA

194 Fort Collins Thanksgiving Day 25 Nov 10 Fort Collins CO/USA

191 Run for Central Park 17 Jul 10 New York NY/USA

105 City Parks Foundation Run for the Park 18 Apr 10 New York NY/USA

8 Kilometers

651 SunTrust Bank Crazy 8's 17 Jul 10 Kingsport TN/USA

358 FRNY Lesbian & Gay Pride Run 26 Jun 10 New York NY/USA

342 North Coast Challenge 04 Sep 10 Westlake OH/USA

340 Rothman 20 Nov 10 Philadelphia PA/USA

248 Towne Bank 20 Mar 10 Virginia Beach VA/USA

242 NYRRC Club Team Championships 07 Aug 10 New York NY/USA

204 NYRR Father's Day Race Against Prostat 20 Jun 10 New York NY/USA

10 Kilometers

922 World's Best 28 Feb 10 San Juan PUR

855 Peachtree Road Race 04 Jul 10 Atlanta GA/USA

797 Abraham Rosa International 30 May 10 Toa Baja PUR

781 Dick's Sporting Goods Bolder Boulder 31 May 10 Boulder CO/USA

744 Healthy Kidney 15 May 10 New York NY/USA

733 Crescent City Classic 03 Apr 10 New Orleans LA/USA

694 TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 07 Aug 10 Cape Elizabeth ME/USA

637 Cooper River Bridge Run 27 Mar 10 Charleston SC/USA

510 Azalea Trail Run 27 Mar 10 Mobile AL/USA

474 Great Cow Harbor 25 Sep 10 Northport NY/USA

12 Kilometers

795 ING Bay to Breakers 16 May 10 San Francisco CA/USA

715 Lilac Bloomsday 02 May 10 Spokane WA/USA

15 Kilometers

755 Utica Boilermaker 11 Jul 10 Utica NY/USA

542 Gate River Run 13 Mar 10 Jacksonville FL/USA

428 Tulsa Run 30 Oct 10 Tulsa OK/USA

10 Miles

731 Credit Union Cherry Blossom 11 Apr 10 Washington DC/USA

526 Crim Festival of Races 28 Aug 10 Flint MI/USA

464 Blue Cross Broad Street Run 02 May 10 Philadelphia PA/USA

455 Army 24 Oct 10 Washington DC/USA

20 Kilometers

494 Stratton Faxon New Haven Road Race 06 Sep 10 New Haven CT/USA

333 Dam to Dam 05 Jun 10 Des Moines IA/USA

187 Ogden Newspapers Classic 29 May 10 Wheeling WV/USA

Half Marathon

799 ING Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia 19 Sep 10 Philadelphia PA/USA

758 NYC 21 Mar 10 New York NY/USA

614 Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras 28 Feb 10 New Orleans LA/USA

552 News and Sentinel 21 Aug 10 Parkersburg WV/USA

515 Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach 05 Sep 10 Virginia Beach VA/USA

504 OneAmerica Festival Mini 08 May 10 Indianapolis IN/USA

499 BAA 10 Oct 10 Boston MA/USA

485 Aramco 17 Jan 10 Houston TX/USA

420 Big Sur 14 Nov 10 Monterey CA/USA

403 PF Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona 17 Jan 10 Tempe AZ/USA

332 Straton Faxon Fairfield 27 Jun 10 Fairfield CT/USA

25 Kilometers

438 Fifth Third River Bank Run 08 May 10 Grand Rapids MI/USA

30 Kilometers

178 Around the Bay 28 Mar 10 Hamilton CAN

Marathon

833 ING New York City 07 Nov 10 New York NY/USA

823 Bank of America Chicago 10 Oct 10 Chicago IL/USA

789 Boston 19 Apr 10 Boston MA/USA

669 Honolulu 12 Dec 10 Honolulu HI/USA

603 Rock 'n' Roll 06 Jun 10 San Diego CA/USA

564 Honda LA 21 Mar 10 Los Angeles CA/USA

474 Chevron Houston 17 Jan 10 Houston TX/USA

391 California International 05 Dec 10 Sacramento CA/USA

368 Grandma's 19 Jun 10 Duluth MN/USA

354 Country Music 24 Apr 10 Nashville TN/USA

327 26.2 With Donna 21 Feb 10 Jacksonville Beach FL/USA

308 Pittsburgh 02 May 10 Pittsburgh PA/USA

304 Medtronic Twin Cities 03 Oct 10 Saint Paul MN/USA

297 Under Armour Baltimore 16 Oct 10 Baltimore MD/USA

295 Quad Cities 26 Sep 10 Moline IL/USA

What used to be known as the Philadelphia Distance Run, now the RNR Philly Half in September. Flat fast course although much of the course is run in the reverse direction. Not the same as back in the day.

That's a great list.

The Shamrock Shuffle 8k in Chicago is a clusterF*ck but a pretty awesome urban race. One of the few short distance races that runs down the center of downtown streets in a major city.

Utica Boilermaker 15K

The Bear and the Grandfather Mountain Marathon: challenging but beautiful

Out of the geographic but just an hour to the North in Vancouver BC,

The Sun Run 10k is an awesome 10K, one of the most competitive in the Northwest.

great thread

some classics are

healthy kidney 10k

cherry blossom 10miler

gate river run 15k

boilermaker 15k

falmouth

bix

medrodonic 10 miler

bay to breakers

houston marathon/half

wharf to wharf

beach to beacon

5/3 bank run

cooper bridge run

grandmas maraton

3m half marathon

shelter island 10k

virginia 10 miler(used to be better)

mountain goat 10miler

lilac festival(distance?)

cal intermational marathon

DunnDeal wrote:

Any of the BAA races other than the Marathon

^ the BAA 10K (June) & 5K (April) are absurdly crowded events. Way too many entrants. Pain in the ass... both of them. I'll never do either again. Still miss the dearly departed Milk Run 10K and Freedom Trail Road Race.

How about some of the best non-yuppie, corral crap ticket punch races?

Diamonds in the rough so to speak...

Madison Courier 10K in Indiana

River to River Relay

BIX 7 - Davenport, IA. at the end of July

Best road race I've ever done (13 times) in my 36-year running life.

Also (others I've done personally):

Bloomsday 12k - Spokane, WA.

Bay To Breakers 12k - San Francisco, CA.

Carlsbad 5000 - Carlsbad, CA.

Peachtree 10k - Atlanta, GA.

Shamrock Run 15k in Portland, OR. (closest you can get to running the historic Cascade Run Off course)

Bolder Boulder 10k - Boulder, CO.

Gasparilla 15k - Tampa, FL.

and for a special challenge, the Imogene Pass run - Ouray to Telluride, Colorado. :)

The Hannibal Cannibal 5K and 15K, July 4

Winter Sun 10K, Moab, Utah.

First week in December.

Canyonlands Half Marathon, Moab, Utah.

March.

dash to the finish 5K - nyc (day before nyc marathon)

red hook crit 5K - nyc (april)

The new brooklyn mile! (august)

jikn wrote:

How about some of the best non-yuppie, corral crap ticket punch races?

-SACTOWN Run (10 miles) in Sacramento

-Run for the Water (10 Miles) and Decker Challenge (Half Marathon) (Austin, TX)

-Jacksonville (FL) Marathon & Half Marathon

-Maine Marathon & Half Marathon (Portland, ME)

All are small-to-mid-sized (1500-10,000 runners) and provide a great runner experience without being overrun. They're not necessarily strong on the elite side (although SACTOWN is a sleeper and Jacksonville had a nice OTQ program this last year), but a few of them have a bit of prize money, too.