Shamrock Marathon - Virginia Beach, VA. Doesn't get much flatter than this one.

http://www.shamrockmarathon.com/

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"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare" - Juma Ikangaa

http://www.litespeed.com

LA is not flat and is a pretty tough course to BQ on. If you don't mind a slightly earlier race in the same area (roughly) - Surf City is a much easier race to BQ on, and it's pretty flat.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Myrtle Beach Marathon

The Phoenix Marathon at the end of February.

Tobacco Road near Raleigh NC

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Team Zoot - Great Lakes

Surf City marathon in Feb is mostly flat. Little hill in the 1st quarter of the route but nothing significant. Because almost the whole route is along the coast the biger impact is the potential for wind.

Great excuse to head to California in the heart of winter.

Thanks all.
How downhill is Phoenix Marathon?? Like Boston?!

Wrightsville Beach Marathon near Wilmington, NC.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

Napa

Tokyo is Feb 28th.

Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon in February - one small bridge at mile 2 and then the rest is dead flat. The weather for each of the last three years has been about 40 degrees on race day.

Napa is net downhill, but definitely not what I would call flat. Quite a few rolling hills.

That said it is a fast course and I set my PR there. Just need to be mindful not to go out too fast.

Scenery is pretty awesome. And because it is a relatively small field, you can really run your own pace and hit the tangents without worrying about crowds.

LA looks to be net downhill and quite rolling. Any reason in particular why it is not a good PR course? Seems to be fairly similar to Boston. Moving the date up to Feb to coincide with the trials should help hedge against heat, too, no?

The heat is usually not an issue in LA in March unless you're running 5 hrs+.
But 3 things do matter:

1. the crowded start, even if you place in a fast corral - expect to lose 2 mins or so out of the gate.
2. the hills at around mile 19 - you are likely to get beaten up quite a bit there.
3. the number of turns to make, especially around the downtown area and the Veteran's hospital area - expect to tack on about 0.2 miles or so.

The last 4-5 miles are awesome and straight as an arrow, so quite a bit of time can be made up there if you're in a good enough shape by then.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I haven't participated in the PHX marathon yet, but will be running it this year. It is supposed to be a really flat course starting around 2k feet in elevation and going down to 1200 feet. From the course profile it looks like there is one hill between miles 5 and 6.

It's a bit earlier than your time frame; but i'd second Surf City (also on Super Bowl Sunday)
Don't know what region or scenery you are looking for; but the Modesto marathon looks to be very flat and is USATF certified.

As far as weather in LA - it can be 90 any day of the year; though February is a bit less likely than other months. It could also rain buckets if El Nino comes through.
Most likely, LA would be in the low 50's in the morning and a high of 75.

Myrtle Beach or Shamrock. Wrightsville Beach would also be good.

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Janyne

I was also looking for an early WC race for BQ shot. Since it's my first, did a little bit of research and I talked to a bunch of people who have done both LA and Surf City. Decided on Surf City. This hills are very early in race and then it almost all flat or slight climbs. If warm day in Feb, which was all of 2015, it will be better in HB than LA. Shouldn't have a headwind going out since early but could have tailwind on last 6 miles. The half has about 15k people, so crazy crowded but the full is around 2k, so it will be way less crowded than LA. They start the full 1.5 before half so should have clear course. Surf City is $124 vs. LA $170. And lastly, they have a beer garden. I run their 5K in July and 10 mile run every Oct, which a similar course. They put on a great race. Local vibe and lots of fun and support.

Woodlands Marathon (Woodlands, TX - northern suburb of Houston), Feb 28. Flat and typically not crowded, given the Houston marathon is the prior month. A friend BQ'd there earlier this year.

Not to be confused with the Rock N Roll Arizona at the end of Janaury. Probably both are similar climate and terrain. I've done PF Changs, just missed BQ but only because I'm a lunkheads. Definitely better for BQ than LA and assuming you can't get into St .George

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“Bloom wherever you are planted"

Heard great things about Phoenix. Fast course!

Why did I choose LA again? Oh right, the trials on Saturday!

since you're planning to eventually come to the Boston area anyway, why not do the Hyannis Marathon on Cape Cod Feb 28, 2016? It's a BQ event.
sure, it was cancelled last year because of the record snow, but that is extremely rare and it's usually fine if you dress appropriately!
I did the half marathon a couple of times -- even convinced my dad and brother to run it with me.


http://www.hyannismarathon.com/

I'm going to throw 3 options at you...all slightly different.

If you want flat.....Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville FL..... Only one overpass to go over, flat along the beach. In fact you'll run on the very hard packed sand for a few hundred yards to break it up. Race mid February. Done this race a few times before. Obviously a great cause....

Rock N Roll New Orleans...roads not great, but super flat, and who doesn't need a reason to go to N.O.

And one of the best BQ is the Albany Marathon in Albany GA...certainly not the draw of Jax or N.O., but reportedly 20% of finishers qualify, so super fast..

Hope this helps...

Jerry

Los Angeles Marathon is a very tactical course, not really BQ material, but still a really good run. Plenty of ups and downs, but the last 7 miles once you're out of the VA Center (which is a difficult part of the course) you have 7 miles of pretty good downhill along San Vicente and flat on Ocean Blvd.

Surf City has some pretty significant hills early in the race, just as significant downhill in about mile 9, and then you're flat on PCH and the beach parking lot for most of the remainder of the race. There is a good little climb coming back up to PCH from the beach at about mile 24 or 25.

Have you checked out Mountain2Beach Marathon in Ventura County? It's Sunday May 29 and has 10 miles of gradual downhill, according to the course description. It sold out last year, however they have this interesting twist for last-minute folks. Any bibs not picked up race eve are sold on the spot to whoever shows up willing to pay for them.
http://www.mountains2beachmarathon.com/...nfo/marathon-course/

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Sharon McN
@IronCharo
#TeamZoot
Clif Bar Pace Team 2003-2018