End of Year Marathon Options

10 Toe Runner

Hi all,

Am looking for a bit of advice about picking the right marathon for me this year. I'll try not to give you my 'life story' here, but I want to make the right choice.

A few years ago I got into running, purely by chance. Did a 10k, then myself and a mate said we give a half marathon a go, finished that, not very fast though. Then Cork marathon was a month later and I thought, sure I'll never be as fit as I am now. It was a real lesson in NOT jumping into something before you are ready. I only managed around 16 miles as max distance in training. No surprises it took me over 5 hours to finish, and it wasn't overly enjoyable.

I didn't run for a while after that (nearly a year). But then something got me back out again, and the last 2/3 years I've really been enjoying my running. My times have steadily been coming down (half marathon pb 1hr 44, as opposed to 2hr 04 that first year - still no speed demon, I know!) and I do somewhere between a 15 - 18 mile run each weekend.

I think I now have the basis to give the marathon a proper shot again. But don't want to mess it up and be put off running again. I really, really want to break 4 hours if I do it, which is a little mad considering my only previous marathon time. I choose not to rush into Cork again this year, so now I need to decide where to go. I can't do Dublin because it clashes with a wedding. I'm willing to travel in Europe, but know very little about what are the best races. I've heard a lot of good things about Amsterdam, Berlin, etc.

So.....where should I go, ideally I'd like to aim for Sept/Oct. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.:)

ecoli

10 Toe Runner wrote: »

Hi all,

Am looking for a bit of advice about picking the right marathon for me this year. I'll try not to give you my 'life story' here, but I want to make the right choice.

A few years ago I got into running, purely by chance. Did a 10k, then myself and a mate said we give a half marathon a go, finished that, not very fast though. Then Cork marathon was a month later and I thought, sure I'll never be as fit as I am now. It was a real lesson in NOT jumping into something before you are ready. I only managed around 16 miles as max distance in training. No surprises it took me over 5 hours to finish, and it wasn't overly enjoyable.

I didn't run for a while after that (nearly a year). But then something got me back out again, and the last 2/3 years I've really been enjoying my running. My times have steadily been coming down (half marathon pb 1hr 44, as opposed to 2hr 04 that first year - still no speed demon, I know!) and I do somewhere between a 15 - 18 mile run each weekend.

I think I now have the basis to give the marathon a proper shot again. But don't want to mess it up and be put off running again. I really, really want to break 4 hours if I do it, which is a little mad considering my only previous marathon time. I choose not to rush into Cork again this year, so now I need to decide where to go. I can't do Dublin because it clashes with a wedding. I'm willing to travel in Europe, but know very little about what are the best races. I've heard a lot of good things about Amsterdam, Berlin, etc.

So.....where should I go, ideally I'd like to aim for Sept/Oct. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.:)

Three marathons in late autumn/winter that I have heard alot of good things about are:

Berlin (25th September)
Amsterdam (16th Oct)
Florence (28th Oct)

All of which are veryfast courses. Aside from posters here who should be along to give you some feedback here is a site which should help a bit

http://www.marathonguide.com/

RayCun

I think you're already too late for Berlin

ecoli

RayCun wrote: »

I think you're already too late for Berlin

Didnt realise Berlin had that early a closing date. Just checked the site your right

Stark

For something different, you could try the Causeway coast marathon in early October: http://causewaycoastmarathon.com/

menoscemo

ecoli wrote: »

Didnt realise Berlin had that early a closing date. Just checked the site your right

It's not the closing date, its the max capacity (40,000) and it sold out months ago. Managed to bag myslef one of the last few thousand places though...

HardyEustace

Stark wrote: »

For something different, you could try the Causeway coast marathon in early October: http://causewaycoastmarathon.com/

I've had friends do this race. They've really enjoyed it but it's a very tough off road one. It may not be the most suitable race for the OP.

10 Toe Runner

Stark wrote: »

For something different, you could try the Causeway coast marathon in early October: http://causewaycoastmarathon.com/

Thanks, it looks good, but to be honest, I think I need to atmosphere of a city marathon to keep me going. I looked at Dingle and Longford, although I'm sure the views a great, etc., that probably wouldn't help me...thats just me.
I'll be doing the Midlands Half in Portlaoise as training, because I'm originally from there, after that I don't know about any others yet.

menoscemo wrote: »

It's not the closing date, its the max capacity (40,000) and it sold out months ago. Managed to bag myslef one of the last few thousand places though...

That's crazy, is there anyway to find out if the others, like Amsterdam, are close to filling up?

menoscemo

10 Toe Runner wrote: »

That's crazy, is there anyway to find out if the others, like Amsterdam, are close to filling up?

Don't quote me on this but I'm pretty sure that Amsterdam won't sell out. Berlin is so popular as it is recognised as one of the 'Big 5' (the only one you can enter directly without a charity place/qualifying time).

ecoli

10 Toe Runner wrote: »

Thanks, it looks good, but to be honest, I think I need to atmosphere of a city marathon to keep me going. I looked at Dingle and Longford, although I'm sure the views a great, etc., that probably wouldn't help me...thats just me.
I'll be doing the Midlands Half in Portlaoise as training, because I'm originally from there, after that I don't know about any others yet.



That's crazy, is there anyway to find out if the others, like Amsterdam, are close to filling up?

http://www.amsterdammarathon.nl/home/index.php?a=YTo3OntpOjU7YToxOntzOjQ6InBhZ2UiO3M6NDoiMTkwOSI7fXM6MjoiNWIiO2E6MTp7czo0OiJwYWdlIjtzOjQ6IjE5MDkiO31zOjI6IjZiIjthOjE6e3M6NDoicGFnZSI7czo0OiIyMDI1Ijt9czoyOiI2YyI7YToxOntzOjQ6InBhZ2UiO3M6NDoiMjAyNSI7fWk6NjthOjI6e3M6Nzoic3VibWVudSI7czo0OiIyMDI1IjtzOjQ6InBhZ2UiO3M6NDoiMjAyNSI7fXM6MjoiNmUiO2E6MTp7czo0OiJwYWdlIjtzOjQ6IjIwMjUiO31pOjk7YToxOntzOjQ6InBhZ2UiO3M6NDoiMjAyNSI7fX0=

Krusty_Clown

menoscemo wrote: »

it is recognised as one of the 'Big 5' (the only one you can enter directly without a charity place/qualifying time).

You can run Chicago or NYC (also 'majors') without a qualifying time/charity place, but like Berlin these sell out very quickly. New York is a lottery, whereas Chicago is a first come first served. Both sold-out for this year already though.

ThePiedPiper

OP, I've done a good few marathons in Europe and can definitely recommend Amsterdam as one of the best. The course is flat and fast and actually a nice run out of town along the banks of the Amstel. It starts and finishes in the Olympic stadium and afterwards, you can have a shower there. Last year I think there were about 10,000 runners, so it's not the crazy congestion of the likes of Berlin or Paris but enough runners and crowd support to push you on to a good performance.

I've also heard good things about a lot of the big city German marathons outside of Berlin. I think Munich is in early October. Frankfurt is meant to be a top race (Gold label I think) but is on the same weekend as Dublin AFAIK. Venice is also in October and is meant to be a lovely race.

10 Toe Runner

RunForestRun wrote: »

OP, I've done a good few marathons in Europe and can definitely recommend Amsterdam as one of the best. The course is flat and fast and actually a nice run out of town along the banks of the Amstel. It starts and finishes in the Olympic stadium and afterwards, you can have a shower there. Last year I think there were about 10,000 runners, so it's not the crazy congestion of the likes of Berlin or Paris but enough runners and crowd support to push you on to a good performance.

This is starting to sound like the best option alright, thanks for the info.

iamjenko

Stark wrote: »

For something different, you could try the Causeway coast marathon in early October: http://causewaycoastmarathon.com/

Off topic, but are you running this Stark? Was thinking of giving the ultra a go!

Oisin11178

Liverpool Oct 3. Dosn't have to cost the earth. You will get the bit marathon feel as they are having about 15000 running it i think and also it is the first in about 20,30 years so it will be a big occasion.
Ill be there anyway:D

Stark

iamjenko wrote: »

Off topic, but are you running this Stark? Was thinking of giving the ultra a go!

No, it's a crowd called 26 extreme headed by Rowan McMahon from up North. I've run the half marathon the previous two years though. Planning on doing the full marathon this year.

10 Toe Runner

Oisin11178 wrote: »

Liverpool Oct 3. Dosn't have to cost the earth. You will get the bit marathon feel as they are having about 15000 running it i think and also it is the first in about 20,30 years so it will be a big occasion.
Ill be there anyway:D

Oh, this might throw some competition against Amsterdam...have a friend in Manchester, so could be a good bit cheaper for me! Should I be worried that it's the first time running this race though?

Oisin11178

It seems to be an. Experienced race organising company behind it and its been a long time in the planning. You can always say you were at the first. Its going to be a good 1 id say plus its a great city.

Cartman78

Interesting....thanks for the heads up on the Liverpool Marathon. I reckon this could have a bit of an impact on the DCM too perhaps

macinalli

I'll also be running Liverpool this year, training officially starts the Monday after the Dunshaughlin 10k!

I'd have no worries with the organisation. I know it's the 1st marathon in years but the organisers seems to run a lot of mass participation running events every year (link) so I'd be confident they have the experience to get this right.

10 Toe Runner

Thanks for the advise all. Interesting to hear about Liverpool, it's definitely an option. The only problem for me is it's the weekend after a Stag, Amsterdam is 2 weekends after. I won't be going nuts, but the extra week might be needed.

Point well made about the organisers, I see they have done other races, so shouldn't be any major problems, and would be nice to be there for the first one.