Fall marathon for mid-2:20s

The Seattle Marathon is scheduled for Sunday, 25 November 2018. Nice scenic course but with 1100+ feet of total elevation gain probably not conducive to fast times. Add in that late November in Seattle often has a lot of wind and rain it's a bit dicey as to what the weather will be like.

I'd give it a miss.

Good to know, thanks.

It might be later than you want, but have you considered Houston? There's pretty decent depth in the mid-2:20s, and I'm shooting for sub-2:25 there. You would get free entry through the ADP program. It would be great to find another guy with a similar goal.

Mid-twenties runner with sub 2:30 mary's?

I rarely hear that...

jewbacca wrote:

It might be later than you want, but have you considered Houston? There's pretty decent depth in the mid-2:20s, and I'm shooting for sub-2:25 there. You would get free entry through the ADP program. It would be great to find another guy with a similar goal.

You might be right. It snows a lot where I live so I've typically been reluctant to do a winter marathon. Too much risk of getting snowed in on a key workout date. But that might be a manageable timeline with most of the build in the late fall. Will think on it and report back!

Cool. Shoot me an email if you decide to do it.

Fluorescent Adolescent wrote:

New York would be tough for a second (or third?) tier athlete like myself to get anywhere near the start and Philadelphia hasn’t responded to my outreach.

I don't understand this. Regarding NYC, why would it be so difficult to get "anywhere near the start"? And regarding Philadelphia, what do you mean by "outreach"? Are you saying that you're not able to register for the race?

Avocado's Number wrote:

Fluorescent Adolescent wrote:

New York would be tough for a second (or third?) tier athlete like myself to get anywhere near the start and Philadelphia hasn’t responded to my outreach.

I don't understand this. Regarding NYC, why would it be so difficult to get "anywhere near the start"? And regarding Philadelphia, what do you mean by "outreach"? Are you saying that you're not able to register for the race?

1) New York: Huge race and hard to get to the front of the line without compromising warmup if you're not in the professional field (I imagine).

2) Philly: Offers comp entry and bottle service to athletes whose applications are accepted. I applied and haven't heard back.

Look at Indy Monumental. It's flat and fast and cooler weather than ~Chicago.

Monumental? Early November. Has an Elite program, but fellow competitors might be sparse in the 2:20s.

Rick Sanchez wrote:

Monumental? Early November. Has an Elite program, but fellow competitors might be sparse in the 2:20s.

This looks promising, thanks. Hadn't heard of it. Will be a slightly rushed timeline, but might be manageable.

Rick Sanchez wrote:

Monumental? Early November. Has an Elite program, but fellow competitors might be sparse in the 2:20s.

For a mid-tier race, this is perfect for the OP. Lots of 2:20-30 guys. Better predicted weather than Chicago. Plus they have an elite program for support.

Last yr's results:

1. Japhet Kipkoech 2:18:34

2. Bryant Jensen 2:18:46

3. Michael Eaton 2:19:17

4. Adam Schroer 2:19:50

5. Ryan Root 2:19:51

6. Zack Beavin 2:21:18

7. Charlie Hurt 2:21:46

8. Edward Mulder 2:23:16

9. Damon King 2:25:55

10. Ryan Jaskiewicz 2:27:27

11. Thomas Adam 2:27:51

12. Ethan Coffey 2:28:52

13. Jake Sutton 2:29:16

14. Jason McLeod 2:29:55

15. Dustin Betz 2:30:33

What about Richmond? Great marathon.

Virginia wrote:

What about Richmond? Great marathon.

Agreed. Although there are some inclines in the second half that can really f*ck you up if you aren't ready for them.

Fluorescent Adolescent wrote:

Avocado's Number wrote:

I don't understand this. Regarding NYC, why would it be so difficult to get "anywhere near the start"? And regarding Philadelphia, what do you mean by "outreach"? Are you saying that you're not able to register for the race?

1) New York: Huge race and hard to get to the front of the line without compromising warmup if you're not in the professional field (I imagine).

2) Philly: Offers comp entry and bottle service to athletes whose applications are accepted. I applied and haven't heard back.

Hello Steve.

Jeff, why not try Fukuoka? You have the time needed to be in "A" group, so you'll get your own bottles. The race is only about 500 people but there's a bunch of guys who run in the mid 2:20s. If you're looking for a bit of an experience: http://www.fukuoka-marathon.com/en/info.html

Luckofthedraw wrote:

Jeff, why not try Fukuoka? You have the time needed to be in "A" group, so you'll get your own bottles. The race is only about 500 people but there's a bunch of guys who run in the mid 2:20s. If you're looking for a bit of an experience:

http://www.fukuoka-marathon.com/en/info.html

Who's Jeff? Like the suggestion, thanks.

I think people nailed this question:

Indy Monumental

Richmond

Philly

CIM

Fukuoka

Houston

You would get a comped entry to all except Fukuoka. I haven't seen a lot of chatter about CIM but I have a buddy who ran last year in the low-2:30s and didn't crack the top-100. It's hosting the US Champs again this year so should be deep. Ignore the haters who didn't run last year. There are some uphills in the front half that keep it somewhat honest. Very similar course to Boston except no Newton hills. The last 10k is ever so slightly downhill so you can drive to the finish.

To be honest you might be able to make a go at Houston. It's early enough that you're going to wrap up your highest mileage weeks and bigger workouts before the new year. I would think it'd be harder to train for a February or March full. You still get some decent running days in November or December even in places that snow. Utilize the treadmill and/or an indoor track if you have to. The weather is usually great at all of these races.

I don't know about you guys, but running in a different time zone makes me feel like crap. If I were trying to run a fast marathon I wouldn't do it so many time zones away from home.