Spring marathons

brutes

What would be the best spring marathon for someone aiming at sub 2.45 run?
London Paris Rotterdam or my usual in Connemara?! (I know the first two are closed but I know there are some ways of entry still - Sports travel international agency for e.g - does anyone know any other ways in...) Connemara is tough but no travel required and familiarity and good hill ability that I have are its advantages for me... Any thoughts?

hunnymonster

If you could be ready in time Seville would be a good choice

--amadeus--

Paris is flat but I found it very congested and there are a couple of choke points on teh route that will slow you down. It's probably no worse than any other big city race though. I know someone who ran London this year and she said that she was only able to settle into her own pace after 17 / 18 miles because of the crowds. Bit further back that 2:45 in both cases tho!

Rotterdam is notoriously flat and fast but again I have been told it can be quite a narrow route in places. I was looking for a fast srping race and it was the one I picked as it seemed to offer the best combo. It's also still open.

brutes

Where would I get info on Seville marathon? Is it a hot one..

aburke

What about Vienna Brutes?

Racing Flat

Dear Brute,
If I could run sub 2.45 an attraction of Connemara is that you might win it - gotta be a good incentive. Also if running this time I think congestion and narrow routes won't be an issue as you'll be ahead of all of this. For best time probably Rotterdam. Good luck.

aburke

How about 13.1 laps of Dangan...

brutes

When Is Vienna marathon Mr aburke? Any special guests for Connemara this year from Brazil?

hunnymonster

http://www.imd.sevilla.org/maraton.htm
The seville marathon is 24th Feb this year. I wrote a review of it in the
marathon forum. I would guess the temperature less than 15 C but you can check out weather.com or something for averages at that time of year.

Stupid_Private

If you're looking for a fast marathon then Rotterdam would be your best shout. As far as I'm aware its the second fastest in Europe (Berlin being the fastest).

I can't recall it being narrow in parts and if it is you certainly won't notice that if you're aiming at 2.45. The staggered start is really helpful for a decent start as there's two starting points which meet up a mile or so down the route.

The only problem with it last year was that sudden heat wave in Europe at the start of April. It was run in temperatures close to 28 degrees and started at 11 so you had to run through the hottest part of the day with absolutely no shade. Generally the temperature is way lower than that.