Agreed. I’ve done a few of Baz’s races, the last being a 50K and it was the same…very low key!
bike!!! down is fun 
For the TC marathon I can also give you two great hotel options, one within steps of finish line, the other with a made to order breakfast! Also some very good dinner ideas from great Italian to nice brew pubs…your choice of carbs! I have done both…the Italian seems to sit better by the next day than the brew pub variety platter…lol
Marine Corp. Marathon in Washington D.C. (October 31st) http://www.marinemarathon.com/page11.aspx
Twin Cities Marathon (October 3rd) http://www.mtcmarathon.org/
Reviews of TCM at http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=58081005
Dude you have IMCda on deck…FOCUS!!!
Hoover Dam marathon and 1/2 Marathon
www.calicoracing.com
Play in Vegas, and run to the Dam. I’d say it’s pretty cool.
Hoping to be back in shape enough to do the 1/2 this year.
Jason
I heard there are lot’s of easy chicks @ Chicago marathon but that’s just what I heard, not that I know from experience dude 
No idea about the race but…gotta be lots of chicks there.
Cool.
A
It’s not quite continental US, but it’s close:
Royal Victoria Marathon
Sunday, October 10, 2010
http://www.royalvictoriamarathon.com/
Beautiful run, much of it along the waterfront which gives you a view south to the Olympic mountain range.
The course is quite flat and tends to give good times.
I plan to be there, trying to qualify for Boston.
The Denver Marathon. It’s now part of the Rock N Roll series. Good course, large-but not huge number or participants, goes through scenic parks and has the mountains as a backdrop.
I ran the full for the first time last year, and wasn’t a big fan of the parks. It just seemed to take forever getting through the outside and inside loops of Wash Park, and City Park was not much better.
That said, it was well run, and the crowd support was decent.
Do you know if R&R is changing up the course at all?
I signed up for the Pike’s Peak Marathon this year, which ought to be scenic and challenging.
What I’ve read is the Denver course will stay the same. However, they haven’t put an official course map online yet, so there is a possibility it could change.
You might want to try the Columbus Marathon. The event’s tag line is “Our World is Flat” and I’ll vouch for that. Good sized field (at about 10,000 it’s big, but not so big as to slow you down). Great course through some nice urban neighborhods. It’s flat. Dead flat. October weather in the midwest is often ideal for PRs. Well organized. Typically about 20 percent of the field qualifies for Boston (allegedly making Columbus one of the top events to send qualifiers to Boston - or so says the RD).
Although Columbus isn’t exactly a destination city, it’s a great event. This year’s race is October 17.
You can not get any “cooler” than the Twin Cities Marathon, I have run it a few times and the last 11 TC 10 mile which is run just minutes before the marathon but is known as the shortcut. You run from downtown Minneapolis (Metrodome for warm up) to St. Paul (Minnesota Capital grounds) you run by parks, lakes and thru parkways some along Mississippi, the colors are beautiful as the trees are turning, you run by old well kept mansions on Summit avenue and by two beautiful cathederals, one just .2 miles from the end where you come over a hill and see the state capitol grounds and the finish line! Its a little on the tough side as you hit some low grade hills from mile 18-23, and the weather usually is pretty good! usually dry, sometimes cool, sometimes warm (lately anyhow) but extremely well supported and organized.
cheers!
Pete
TC, cool marathon?!? I ran TC and had a good race. My sister lives east of St. Paul so she sherpa-ed and spectated, but there was not anything special about this vs. other marathons other than the chocolate milk at the end.
Having run 20 unique marathons and longer here are my thoughts:
Seattle after Thanksgiving was nice running to Mercer Island and along Lake Washington. I liked IMLP the best of the 5 IMs I have done so I am sure the Lake Placid marathon would be scenic. Any trail run that runs through forests and hilly/mountainous terrain. The serenity and alone-ness have a lot of appeal. Green Bay this year had exceptionally fast times and if you are a big NFL fan running through Lambeau is a big deal. I have not run it, but my co-worker has finished it twice including the last time with a 10 minute PR and his first BQ after 5 previous attempts.
TCM is scenic, you could post a good time there. Weather varies.
Portland, smaller running crowd (this marathon attracts an insane number of walkers), scenery is okay but has a nice potential for a PR. Outside of the marathon, a great destination race - hang around Portland for the weekend!
Seattle is an option although I’ve never run the marathon. But like Portland, it would be cool to hang around for the weekend.
Let us know what race you decide to run!
Green Mountain Marathon in Vermont.
I’ve run the San Antonio and the Columbus.
Columbus has been my favorite by far of the 5 I have done (Detroit, San Antonio, Chicago, Disney and Columbus)
Columbus - it is an ideal big field fast course as I think you could get. you can get a really nice hotel downtown 2 blocks from the start/ finish for $119-130 per night. The course is really flat but nice varied downtown and some neighborhood. I did not have any problem with the crowd thinning out enough to run your own pace very quickly (within a 1/2 mile tops). Expo is medium, nothing special. The night before the marathon - I scalped a ticket on the blue line to watch the Columbus Blue Jackets NHL team. Lots of restaurants in the Arena district close to your hotel to walk to. The tech shirt is one of my favorites - good, nothing crazy. They also gave out fleece stocking hats at the finish. I’ll be going back this year.
San Antonio - a little hilly, but nothing significant. Other than running by the Alamo very early in the race, did not care too much for the scenery. I don’t like out and back, and you are running a number of miles on one side of the street with people going the other way on the other side of the street; however, I did get to see the leaders as the passed back the other way, which was cool. Hotels are also easy walking distance from the start/ finish (I had a rate of $175 for the conference I was attending that week- which is why I went to that race, just convenient timing. It was nice enough, I would not make any effort to go back, but would run it if the same circumstances arose again.
Did not like Chicago (though it is sold out now for this fall anyway) - thought it was way way too crowded and it seemed as if someone was always bumping you or you needed to weave in and out to keep your own pace. The expo was pretty cool.
Denver sounds very cool - being from the Midwest, I would worry about the elevation and whether that would have a material impact.
The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon isn’t that cool. I ran it two years ago. Only reason I’d run it again was to qual for Boston because its super flat. Twin Cities sounds pretty sweet. DC has a marathon 10/31 but I dont know anything about it.
has anybody done that disney one where you do a half, and a full…and get 3 medals for it? was it cool?
Niagara Falls International Marathon - only marathon to cross an international border. You start off in the US and run accross the bridge into Canada, with the falls right beside you. Takes place in October.
My brother ran the Goofy Challenge - the medals are nice. If you like Disney - then the marathon is good. You run through Epcot, Hollywood studios, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. However, other than the inside the parks, the rest of the marathon is on Disney’s highway system. If you or your family is not a Disney fan, I would imagine it would not be that fun.
It is relatively flat (the biggest hill are highway on and off ramps). The weather varies. Some years it is 20 degrees some years 40-50. It starts at 6 a.m., but you need to get on a bus no later than 4 a.m.- and then stand around for almost 2 hours in the cold in a parking lot outside of EPCOT - which makes the logistics a little abnormal. Note, if the Goofy Challenge is sold out (or even the full or half marathon) you can go through one of their listed travel agencies and get an entry into the races if you book your stay through the agency (the prices are not materially different than what you can get on your own).
Detroit crosses the Canada-US border as well. You run over the Ambassador Bridge, then back under the river through the tunnel.