Need a Marathon to Run

[Aggie_Ama]

DH and I are targeting doing a marathon this fall to celebrate or collective 30th birhtdays. His is this April, mine February 2011 so we decided to hopefully split the difference.

We would like to do one out of state and hopefully a state we haven't been to. Is there a way to find a listing of nationwide marathons? We have quite a few in Texas but we figured traveling might be neat since it is to mark a milestone in life.

[pfunk12]

If you want to do a smaller marathon that is very well-organized, do Steamtown in Scranton, PA. It's a lot of fun!

Here's a guide for you -

http://www.marathonguide.com/races/races.cfm

[Grog]

Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
are in the fall.

Montreal, QC (not in the USA) is in September.

[zoom-zoom]

Grand Rapids and Milwaukee are both in the Fall and really nice races, too.

[michelem]

If you can wait 'til December, why not try the California International Marathon (CIM)? It starts in Folsom, CA (about a mile from our house) and ends at the State Capitol in Sacramento. It is a net downhill and touted as one of the "fastest courses" in America. The weather was atrocious this year, but usually quite nice, with temps in the low 40's. Lots of community support; it's a fun one!

www.runcim.org

[colby]

I think RW might even publish a marathon calendar in their print issue, but I can't remember what month it's in. Most of the northwest (WA, OR, ID, northern CA) marathons are October/November, as is NYC. Our southerly brethren (AZ, southern CA, FL, etc) enjoy them December-February.

If you wanted an "experience", NYC would definitely be one.

[OakLeaf]

I spent a lot of time poking around that marathonguide site choosing mine, so I hope the reviews are reasonably accurate!

The half in Columbus (October) was great fun, it's a nice flat course, really well organized, and I hear the full marathon course is just as nice. If I didn't want to get mine done in the spring, I'd be doing the Columbus full marathon for sure. (Heck, if I have fun in Cleveland and can stay in marathon shape without sacrificing too much summer cycling, I may do it anyway. )

I hear good things about Disney (January), with the exception of the extended pre-race corralling. This year was definitely an outlier as far as the temperature. Chicago does look like a great time too!

[indigoiis]

coolrunning.com or active.com is a good way to find races.

Come to Rhode Island! The Amica Marathon is a beautiful course in October in Newport, RI! http://amicamarathon.com/

[Aggie_Ama]

Oakleaf - Columbus might be a good idea, one of my best friends lives there and DH hasn't been to Ohio. Plus we haven't seen her baby who will be one in the fall.

indigoiis- Rhode Island or some of the smaller New England states are appealing because neither of us have been north. Plus no offense to your state, but I can't imagine scheduling a whole vacation to see it but we do want to visit all 50 states together.

[kacie tri-ing]

I want to do this one next year:

http://www.mayorsmarathon.com/index.cfm

If I can convince DH

[Aggie_Ama]

We might be going to Alaska but not until July. One of our closest friends lives in Anchorage now.

[colby]

indigoiis- Rhode Island or some of the smaller New England states are appealing because neither of us have been north. Plus no offense to your state, but I can't imagine scheduling a whole vacation to see it but we do want to visit all 50 states together.

The good news is RI is so small that it's actually close to a lot of stuff in the NE, so you could actually make a vacation out of it and see Boston, New York, Philly, depending on how fond you were of riding trains.

[tulip]

The Richmond (Virginia) marathon is in November. You could come for that and then go see the Chesapeake Bay. Everyone should see the Chesapeake Bay!

[Bike Chick]

The St. Jude Marathon in Memphis is December 4. Awesome race!

http://www.stjudemarathon.org/

[indigoiis]

The good news is RI is so small that it's actually close to a lot of stuff in the NE, so you could actually make a vacation out of it and see Boston, New York, Philly, depending on how fond you were of riding trains.

That's right. But you could spend a whole week up on Federal Hill eating in restaurants, or snorkeling in Mackerel Cove, or seeing the mansions, touring the Cliff Walk, going to Block Island, or hopping on ferries to Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, even Long Island.

You wouldn't be the first Texan to be taken by Lil Rhody!