Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Best Races in the States

As many of you may know, one of my long term running goals is to run a marathon in each of the 50 states. Since this will take many years to complete, I have the luxury of choosing the absolute best races to complete in each state. To aid in this mission, I'm going to construct a list of "must-do" races. And I need your input! My current ideas are below, but as you can see there are many states w/o races. Let me know which races you suggest in any state. Trail races wanted also!

Alabama:
Alaska:
Arizona:
Arkansas:
California: Big Sur Marathon International Marathon, (I'd also like to do the Catalina Marathon
and the Napa Valley Marathon)
Colorado: Pikes Peak Marathon
Connecticut:
Delaware:
Florida:
Georgia:
Hawai'i (check!): Maui Oceanfront Marathon-- (Race report here)
Idaho:
Illinois (check!): Chicago Marathon --  (Race report here)
              Rockford Marathon-- (Race report here)
Indiana: Tecumsah Trail Marathon
Iowa:
Kansas:
Kentucky:
Louisiana:
Maine: Mount Desert Island Marathon
Maryland:
Massachusetts: Boston Marathon
Michigan: Traverse City Bay State Bayshore Marathon
Minnesota: Grandma's Marathon
Mississippi:
Missouri:
Montana: Missoula Marathon
Nebraska:
Nevada:
New Hampshire:
New Jersey: Ocean Drive Marathon
New Mexico:
New York: New York City Marathon
North Carolina: Outer Banks Marathon
North Dakota:
Ohio: Flying Pig Marathon
Oklahoma:
Oregon:
Pennsylvania (check!): Philadelphia Marathon
Rhode Island: Amica Marathon (in Newport)
South Carolina:
South Dakota:
Tennessee:
Texas:
Utah: Ogden Marathon
Vermont: Vermont City Marathon
Virginia:
Washington (check!): Whidbey Island Marathon
Washington DC: Marine Corps Marathon
West Virginia:
Wisconsin (check!): Madison Marathon (Race report here)
Wyoming:

After working nights for a couple weeks, fending off a couple minor infections, and spending 24 hours straight in the ICU, I'm wiped out. My running is suffering. But, I'm optimistic that once I catch up on sleep, I'll be able to re-motivate!

4 comments:

  1. I have heard great things about the Flying Pig, but i just can't run that one since it isn't 100% in one state...

    Pikes Peak is tough (so I've heard, I've never done it)

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  2. Houston is a well manged race with a great course (mostly flat), but is hard to get into now. If you are into it, Surfside is run entirely on sand (hard packed, easy on the joints). Dallas White Rock is also a great choice.

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  3. For Oregon I would totally recommend the Eugene Marathon. I had a blast there. Beautiful course.

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  4. For south dakota, I'd say the sioux falls marathon only b/c I'd be there doing the half. We only have a few.... There's swan lake in june and brookings in may. Both are VERY small. There are some out west, but they're crazy hilly!

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