Fast Autumn Marathon

mithril

Hi,
I am looking for a fast course to try and break the 3 hours barrier this Autumn. My current best is 3:03:40 which i have just run in Seville so with proper training and all going well on the day I think I can take it out.

Is Berlin the obvious place to try? It seems to be a popular option on the boards and I know its flat but I am a bit worried about the congestion of 30,000 odd people running the course at the same time.

Are there any good alternatives if I can't go to Berlin that week?

Woddle

Def no congestion problems in Berlin, I was in pen E I think last year and I was away very quickly as was everyone else.

Amsterdam in October ?

OBWON

I have heard that amsterdam is very flat. It is on in October 18th. I think the field is 11,500.I am doing berlin this year and there will be more than 30,000. Last year there was something like 42,000.

Woddle

I havn't done any other Euopean marathons so I can't comment on other courses but for a fast and fantastic experience Berlin is in my opinion your best bet
I loved it hence why I'm doing it again

Slogger Jogger

Longford - your only man! No passport required

Rineanna

Haven't ran any of them, but like what previous posters have said, you can't go wrong with Berlin from what I hear.

Slogger Jogger wrote: »

Longford - your only man! No passport required

That's not what I've heard...:pac:

Slogger Jogger

Amsterdam is flat as a pancake but Longford is fast too if you didn't want to travel too far.

--amadeus--

I wouldn't totally rule out Dublin either. I've run it 3 times, one was my first ever and the other two were PBs so with the right prep there is no reason you couldn't run a sub 3 there. It's also the 30th anniversary so bound to be a good atmosphere.

Berlin is fantastic and has a flat and fast course, great atmosphere and is highly, highly recommended. Don't worry about congestion - it's tightly segregated by times and you'll be away and clear in a km or 2. Without a doubt it's the "runners choice"

Personally I'm probably gunning for Amsterdam - I've done Berlin already and am repeating Rotterdam (2nd year in a row) to try and notch my own sub 3. If that doesn't work out then I'm using Amsterdam as my fall back race. I've only ever heard good things about it.

Slogger Jogger

2 fallbacks planned: Edinburgh, then Longford. I obviously have issues. If I sub 3 in Rotterdam and I 'just' run them and 'enjoy' them. Yeah right.

Euchrid

--amadeus-- wrote: »

I wouldn't totally rule out Dublin either.

I was thinking the same. I've done Berlin, Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Barcelona but my 2 fastest times have been Dublin. I like the Dublin course and I think the lack of flying, hotels etc can only help. Being familiar with the course helps as well.

mithril

Thank you all for the helpful replies.
It's Berlin for me hopefully and Amsterdam as a fallback.

I fancy a week-end away so I have a bias towards a foreign marathon.

I ran Cork, Longford and Dublin last year which was probably too many in a short period of time but I enjoyed each of them.

If you are focussed just on a fast time though each have a few issues.

Cork is simply too hilly in the second half of the course for a fast time.

Longford is flat (though I remember a nasty climb tover a bridge last year around mile 22) but just too small. You are running by yourself for a lot of the time and its too easy to get into a comfort zone without fellow runners to compete against. The side-shoulder of the N4/N5 is not the nicest place to run either.

The lack of proper zoning of the runners in Dublin really got me last year. I was around the middle of the sub-4 hours zone and it was really very badly congested for the first few KMs. i was 4 minutes behind schedule after 5KM and never really could make up the time.

TFBubendorfer

mithril wrote: »

Cork is simply too hilly in the second half of the course for a fast time.

I've seen a picture with the elevation charts of Dublin and Cork superimposed, and the Dublin one is actually worse!

I ran both last year, and even though I ran a PB on both on them, I now think of Cork as easier (the climb up to Fosters Avenue did me in).

Daithi BC

I ran Amsterdam a couple of years back - very flat course, but apart from the first 10 and the last few kms, it's pretty boring: down and back up a river bank and then through an industrial estate. I definitely think there's an advantage to being able to sleep in your own bed the night before a race so Dublin/Longford are options, but having said that I'm off to Berlin this autumn!

mithril

Cork was the first Marathon I ran so thats probably why the hills were higher.

manus30

some hills in cork alright

Racing Flat

Don't look past Berlin. Get there Friday and pick somewhere to stay on the train line and you'll be fine.