25 Awesome Marathons
To celebrate the 25th feature article on this site I think it’s fitting that we do so by mentioning 25 races that every runner should consider running.
These races have been chosen based on a set of race criteria such as atmosphere, race conditions (weather, course profile), location (city/state/country), the runner’s schwag you get for registering and/or finishing the race, and some other criteria that we can just call the “awesomeness index”. For example, during the Florence, Italy Marathon there were runners from over 30 different countries, a few barefoot runners, as well as blind runners who ran the race while attached by a rope to a guide runner. Amazing, right?! Such things are being considered in this list.
We’ll also link directly to each race so that you can check it out for yourself since we couldn’t possibly share that much information in this article. Here are the top 25 in no particular order (consider them all awesome):
1. Boston Marathon – Tradition and excellence unite in this famous American Marathon.
2. Honolulu Marathon – Hawaii + 20k or more runners = awesome.
3. Napa Valley Marathon – Beautiful scenery and ideal race conditions.
4. Las Vegas International Marathon – International crowd plus a great city to party in when you’re done.
5. Florence Italy International Marathon – Huge international pool of runners (30+ countries) surrounded by a beautiful city and culture.
6. Rome Marathon – A race in one of the most amazing cities on the planet.
7. Mardi Gras Marathon – You’ll earn more to hang around your neck than just beads at this race.
8. Reggae Marathon – Jamaica offers up a bit of paradise along with it’s friendly and carefree culture for their trademark marathon.
9. Marine Corps Marathon – Dubbed “the people’s marathon”. Camaraderie is at it’s highest at this race.
10. Seattle Marathon – Excellent running conditions with some sweet finishers medals.
11. San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon – Perfect Pacific Coast weather, lots of live music and a beer garden at the finish line. Some of the best finishers medals I’ve seen as well.
12. Country Music Marathon – Great finishers schwag in the fun-loving city of Nashville.
13. Rio de Janeiro Marathon – A race through one of Brazil’s most famous cities.
14. Lhasa Marathon – Run beside Tibet’s most holy temple in this city on top of the world.
15. National Capital Marathon – Ottawa throws a well organized race with a big turn out of supporters.
16. Twin Cities Marathon – A Boston and Olympic Trials Qualifier. You’ll see some of the best runners in the world at this race.
17. San Francisco Marathon – A beautiful city, high profile pre-race expo and a big supporting crowd.
18. Maui Marathon – C’mon, it’s Hawaii. Enough said!
19. Grandfather Mountain Marathon – Much tradition in this race. One of America’s oldest and toughest marathons so be prepared for this one.
20. Antartic Ice Marathon – An adventure runners dream race. Gives you “chills” just thinking about it!
21. Two Oceans Marathon – Considered “the world’s most beautiful marathon” by many.
22. Barcelona Marathon – Another truly international race with lots to explore afterward.
23. Chicago Marathon – Another tradition in American distance running. Do this one!
24. Portland Oregon Marathon – Portland is known for gorgeous outdoor running and the event is always well organized.
25. Walt Disney World Marathon – For those of you who are little kids at heart.
Now I suggest you get out pen and paper and write down your own list of “must do” races. Perhaps you have a different objective in mind such as running in all 50 states in the US, or running a marathon on every continent. Whatever your goal may be you’ll likely find yourself signing up for one of the above races.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
For the non-US visitor to this site don’t forget London, Paris and Berlin. These are the big 3 european marathons and all of them are amazing with fantastic scenery and large enthusiastic crowds.
Those are good additions. I’ll probably update this post to include more. It’s really hard to narrow it down to 25 because there are so many amazing races around the world to choose from!
For the TOP-50 on this site don’t forget: Athens Marathon, Swiss Apine Marathon, Jungfrau Marathon & Rotterdam Marathon.