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Alternative marathons
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marathon du Medoc - not a pb course!!!
+March+
*Rome*-great marathon. Fairly flat but tough, 8k of cobbles and v. twisty at 15 miles through the old city. +++ you can see all the sights in Rome, start and finish at Colliseum!
*Connemara*-said to be spectacular
+April+
*Rotterdam*-wonderful last year, easy to get to, brilliant organisation, flat and RW pacers should you need them :-) -PB course.
*Lochaber*-(anyone who's anyone's doing it) Fast, flat, friendly -Potential PB, flat out & back in the countryside on quiet wide roads.
*Taunton* - one hill of note, which you do twice.
*Paris* - get in straight away no waiting. Same month as FLM. Good weekend and you can bring back some booze. - Practically identical to London in terms of course profile, weather conditions, number of runners and tiresome pre-race expo. Doesn't have as many people at the sides shouting "keep going!", people in amusing costumes or the Isle of Dogs, but it does have a wine station at 42K. - it was magnificent. OK, the underpass is pretty unpleasant, but everything else is magnificent.
*Shakespeare*
*Turin*
*Madrid*-may be a bit uphill towards the end
*Zurich*
+May+
*Copenhagen*-+++ Easyjet from Stansted, Well organised, excellent food at the finish, Good pacers , lovely city to visit. ---Hotels/eating very expensive, Route was fairly flat but littered with kerbs, parked cars, narrow paths - worst of all cyclists giving drinks to their friends, Drinks in plastic cups. A great experience
*Halstead*
*Prague* - flat, by the river, a fantastic city, - did Prague in 2002 and will never do it again. It was the worst organised race ever, absolutely appalling. I know they've since upped their game and people have run it and had better experiences. It is flat, but starts and finishes on quite long cobbled sections which can affect your time.
*Vienna*
*Mannhein*-21 May for an evening marathon! Starts at 17:30
*Belfast*-Cheap flights by easyjet – A good event. They are re-routing it this year to make it "flatter and faster". There is talk of a half & 10k, though not yet confirmed.
*White Peak*-A good one. I think the name kids people into thinking it is hilly - it isn't as it is an old railway track - the only real hills are 2 steep downhills near the end. The surface is ideal - firm enough to run on but more forgiving than tarmac.
+June+
*Stockholm*-Stockholm is great- Not as big as some of the larger European marathons but the support is good, the organisation is second to none. The conditions are also generally good. – A fast course and can't be beat for atmosphere.
*Blackpool* - Headwind for the first 10 miles, dreadful part of the course along the Golden Mile and a long stretch on concrete. In the right conditions it is fast.
*Dartmoor Vale* - 2 quite undulating laps on quiet country roads at Dartmoor Vale
*Edinburgh* - Interesting course. Well organised. Classy medal. Not at all flat though so no PB potential - Arthur's seat being taken out for 2005 so it will be a faster course - Edinburgh is 39 quid entry fee for 2005, daylight robbery – Edinburgh organisation was terrible! ran out of drinks
+September+
*Berlin*-Berlin beats Paris into a cocked hat in all respects, the start, the course, the spectators, the weather, everything. Even though it's an autumn race not a spring one.
*Medoc*
+October+
*Abingdon*– pb potential, 2 different loops, mainly flat out/thro Abingdon into the countryside and return thro the town, then into countryside with a few second half undualations.
*Cardiff* – pb potential, Cardiff - 2 laps mainly flat, City Centre, docklands & over the barrage, rverside, parks,thro the Castle grounds and finish in the Millenium Stadium.
*Dublin*
Just what we need just have to wait and see if i do get in or not for FLM....I am not a patient person!!!
Miles makes smiles.
Progression
No problem with the people- and contrary to another forumite's comments- I found the crowd very supportive-lots of yells of "allez, allez". The start is great, easy to slot into your time/pace group and get going. All other organization good too. Have not done Rotterdam, but I would choose Paris over Amsterdam- just done it and it was not that special.
And Venice - did that this year. Late October. Pancake-flat course apart from a few really little bridges at the end, and easy online entry. About 8,000 runners, so good atmosphere without being too crowded. Fabulous finish where you run over a temporary pontoon bridge over the Grand Canal. Large choice of cheap-ish flights, although quite expensive place to stay. Warmly recommended.
And New York. The best one there is, apart from PB-wise.
id love to do Kent coastal
bloody job
bloody on call
Of course the good for age time gives me auto enrty to FLM for 2 years.
*Rome*-great marathon. Flat but tough, 8k of cobbles and v. twisty at 15 miles. +++ you can see all the sights in Rome, start/finish at Colliseum!
*Connemara*-said to be spectacular
+April+
*Rotterdam*-easy to get to, brilliant organisation, flat and RW pacers:-) -PB course.
*Lochaber*-(anyone who's anyone's doing it) Fast, flat, friendly -Potential PB, out & back in the countryside on quiet wide roads.
*Taunton* - one hill of note, which you do twice.
*Paris* - get in straight away no waiting. Same month as FLM. Good weekend and you can bring back some booze. - Practically identical to London in terms of course profile, weather conditions, number of runners and tiresome pre-race expo. Doesn't have as many people at the sides shouting "keep going!", people in amusing costumes or the Isle of Dogs, but it does have a wine station at 42K. - OK, the underpass is pretty unpleasant, but everything else is magnificent.
*Shakespeare*
*Turin*
*Madrid*-a bit uphill towards the end
*Zurich*
+May+
*Copenhagen*-+++ Easyjet from Stansted, Well organised, excellent food at the finish, Good pacers , lovely city. ---Hotels/food v. expensive, Route fairly flat but with kerbs, parked cars, narrow paths - cyclists giving drinks to their friends, Drinks in plastic cups. Great experience
*Halstead*
*Prague* - flat, by the river, fantastic city, - did Prague in 2002 and will never do it again. It was the worst organised race ever, absolutely appalling. It is flat, but starts and finishes on quite long cobbled sections which can affect your time.
*Vienna*
*Mannhein*-21 May for an evening marathon! Starts at 17:30
*Belfast*-Cheap flights by easyjet – A good event. They are re-routing it this year to make it "flatter and faster". There is talk of a half & 10k, not confirmed.
*White Peak*-A good one. Name kids people into thinking it is hilly - it isn't as it is an old railway track - only real hills are 2 steep downhills near the end. Surface is ideal - firm enough to run on but more forgiving than tarmac.
+June+
*Stockholm*-Great- Not as big as some of the larger European marathons but support is good, organisation is second to none. The conditions are also generally good. – A fast course can't be beat for atmosphere.
*Blackpool* - Headwind for the first 10 miles, dreadful part of the course along the Golden Mile and a long stretch on concrete. In the right conditions it is fast.
*Dartmoor Vale* - 2 quite undulating laps on quiet country roads at Dartmoor Vale
*Edinburgh* - Interesting course. Well organised. Classy medal. Not flat though so no PB potential - Arthur's seat being taken out for 2005 so will be a faster course - 39 quid entry fee for 2005, daylight robbery – Edinburgh organisation was terrible! ran out of drinks
+September+
*Kent Coastal*-Nice and scenic and mostly flat.
*Berlin*-Berlin beats Paris into a cocked hat in all respects, the start, the course, the spectators, the weather, everything. Even though it's an autumn race not a spring one.
*Medoc*
+October+
*Abingdon*– pb potential, 2 different loops, mainly flat out/thro Abingdon into the countryside and return thro the town, then into countryside with a few second half undualations.
*Cardiff* – pb potential, Cardiff - 2 laps mainly flat, City Centre, docklands & over the barrage, riverside, parks, thro the Castle grounds and finish in the Millenium Stadium.
*Dublin*
*Venice*-Late October. Pancake-flat course apart from a few little bridges. About 8,000 runners, good atmosphere without being too crowded. Fabulous finish where you run over a temporary pontoon bridge over the Grand Canal.
Last year I did Stockholm, and I can only recommend this event, fantastic organisation, nice town, friendly people ... It was a bit hot though. The fact that it is in early June allows you to do most of the long runs in April/May.
Might do Paris this year, but you need a medical certificate ...
Cheers,
Bart
Did New York this year and it was absolutely awesome. I'd recommend it to anyone.
I too fancy Rotterdam but have just checked North Sea Ferries (direct Hull/Rotterdam) but a whopping £400 for the weekend for 2 people.
Have you done any research?
I had a look at this one and found very reasonable flights from the London City Airport (Docklands I think it is) to Rotterdam.
I need to check out Easyjet etc for possible flights from Bournemouth or Exeter otherwise there will be too much travelling involved over the weekend.
Not a PB course but not impossible either. It was held on a scorching hot day this year which hit times but still a good day out.