Other Good BQ Marathon Courses

Lehigh Valley, Baystate, Wineglass, Philly, CIM

Would also add Twin Cities to this list. Decent stretch of hills from 20-23 range but is well organized, probably has pace groups, and you're almost guaranteed good weather.

Plenty of good options out there. Good luck!

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon - First Saturday in November - hits all of your requirements except pace groups, but to BQ there, there are a number of people in that same range so the groups just naturally occur and you run with the same people for 17-20 miles.

Ran my first marathon ever at the '95 Columbus to qualify for the 10oth Boston. Assuming nothing has changed with the course, it is a completely flat figure-8 course. Weather can be iffy in Ohio in October/November (I think it was about 71 degrees in '94 and then about 35 in '95 if I remember correctly). Course is made to order for a PR and it had a large field of several thousand so you won't find yourself alone.

If you are from Ann Arbor you will want to skip this one as it runs straight through the Ohio State campus and past the "Horseshoe" stadium.

Mountains 2 Beach in Ventura CA. $$$$$

Erie, PA is the flattest thon in the country, happens 1 week before Boston registration, and typically has reasonable weather (ideal this year).

As a result my thon PR is faster than my 10K and HM PRs and in line with my 5K PR and I BQ'ed with a 19 min buffer.

Go Erie!

it worked for me wrote:

Mountains 2 Beach in Ventura CA. $$$$$

Pretty much the whole second half of the course just went up in flames. And the first half is completely surrounded by charred hillsides. I don't know how scenic the course will be in 2018, if that's a factor.

Are you looking to run Boston in 2019 or 2020?

Dubai marathon or Tokyo marathon are both flat and fast.

Sure, Tokyo ticks all his boxes. Oh, except: it's not in the fall, it's not in North America, it's not especially flat or fast, it's too late to register for the lottery, there are no pace groups and it's not well-organized (many thousands of slow 10km runners are put in the corral in front of the fastest non-elite marathon corral and so first 5km is impeded). OP, another one to consider is CIM if December is not too late in the year for you.

Libertarian vegan wrote:

Dubai marathon or Tokyo marathon are both flat and fast.

Missed Chicago wrote:

I want to take another shot at a Boston Qualifying time next fall. I was hoping to run Chicago but I screwed up and missed the window to apply for their lottery. What other marathons do you recommend? I'm looking for:

- Fall time frame

- Flat or slight downhill

- Cool weather

- Somewhere in North America

- Pace groups

- Good organization

Thanks!

Run more and get in better shape.

Missed Chicago wrote:

I want to take another shot at a Boston Qualifying time next fall. I was hoping to run Chicago but I screwed up and missed the window to apply for their lottery. What other marathons do you recommend? I'm looking for:

- Fall time frame

- Flat or slight downhill

- Cool weather

- Somewhere in North America

- Pace groups

- Good organization

Thanks!

This sight gives you that info. You can narrow down everything on your list except organization.

Lakefront Marathon / Milwaukee - October

Mohawk- Hudson River / Albany, NY - October

(both races are point-to-point layouts)

Missed Chicago wrote:

I want to take another shot at a Boston Qualifying time next fall. I was hoping to run Chicago but I screwed up and missed the window to apply for their lottery. What other marathons do you recommend? I'm looking for:

- A cheater's course specifically built for people who can't qualify on their own merits

Thanks!

IFYP

Steamtown.

pros:

Well organized, low key race.

Significant net elevation drop.

No pacers but enough people should be going for BQs that you'll have someone to run with.

Waiting for the start is in a warm gymnasium with plenty of porta-potties outside.

Great crowds.

cons:

It's after the registration cutoff so you'll have to wait for the next year.

If you get the downhills wrong, you'll pay.

I felt dirty claiming my PB here. Thankfully I've since beaten it on a legit course.

My advice is to go with NYCM or MCM

pros: 26.2 miles, large crowd, good medal

cons: libtards!

it worked for me wrote:

Mountains 2 Beach in Ventura CA. $$$$$

Completely second half downhill cheater course.

smh wrote:

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon - First Saturday in November - hits all of your requirements except pace groups, but to BQ there, there are a number of people in that same range so the groups just naturally occur and you run with the same people for 17-20 miles.

There are pace groups at the Monumental, but not sure if they go all the way down to Boston qualifier standard. If I recall, there may have been a 3:05 or even 3:00 pace group.

But you are right, there are enough people that you could start ahead of the pace groups and latch onto some folks for awhile. I did this in the half marathon.

Totally ignoring your 6 bullet points... I analyze marathon finisher numbers on an annual basis and look at times about every 3-4 years. Some stats from 2013 (the last year I analyzed) that may indicate courses that are fast - and these are for USA marathons only and are in order of most (or fastest) to least...

10 fastest winning times: Chicago, LA, NYC, Houston, Boston, Grandma's , Twin Cities, Pittsburgh, Quad Cities, Cal International

Most sub 2:20 finishers: Chicago, Grandma's, Boston, Twin Cities, NYC, Cal International, Houston, LA, 26.2 With Donna, Pittsburgh

Most sub 2:30 finishers: Boston, Chicago, NYC, Twin Cities, Cal International, Grandma's, Houston, LA, Philadelphia, 26.2 With Donna

Most sub 2:45 finishers: Boston, Chicago, NYC, Cal International, Twin Cities, Grandma's, Philadelphia, Marine Corps, St George, Columbus

Most sub 3:00 finishers: Boston, Chicago, NYC, Cal International, Philadelphia, Twin Cities, Grandma's, Marine Corps, St George, Columbus

I know, most of these get a lot of sub 2:30/sub 3:00 finishers because they're the biggest marathons in the country. I get that. I'm more interested in the other races that pop up on my list like Quad Cities and Columbus.

A few races on my list that appear slower based on the criteria I look at: Honolulu, Disney, RnR San Diego, San Francisco, Flying Pig, Country Music, Miami, Austin, RnR Arizona Those were all in the Top 25 largest USA marathons in 2013, but all had significantly slower winning times and less sub 2:30/2:45/3:00 finishers than some races with thousands less finishers like St Francis, Vermont City, Eugene.

A few others, lesser known, that continue to pop up on my list: Richmond, St Francis, Eugene

vivalarepublica wrote:

smh wrote:

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon - First Saturday in November - hits all of your requirements except pace groups, but to BQ there, there are a number of people in that same range so the groups just naturally occur and you run with the same people for 17-20 miles.

There are pace groups at the Monumental, but not sure if they go all the way down to Boston qualifier standard. If I recall, there may have been a 3:05 or even 3:00 pace group.

But you are right, there are enough people that you could start ahead of the pace groups and latch onto some folks for awhile. I did this in the half marathon.

There was definitely a 3:10 and a 3:15 pace group at the Monumental. I'm not sure about any faster than that because I didn't look for them.