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Marathon Tourism? (Read 801 times)

stadjak


Interval Junkie --Nobby

    The 2013 BMW Berlin Marathon Sold Out in 3.5 Hours on Thursday

     

    This is getting silly.  I wonder if there are any statistics on repeat customers, locals/foreigners, finishing times for these Big races that sell out in hours.

     

    I'm trying convince the wife that my marathon schedule is a great way to plan sight-seeing vacations.

     

    Really have my eye on a Japanese marathon Spring 2014.  That would be a great reason to be in Japan.

    2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do


    #artbydmcbride

      It is why I am touring Tennessee next month.  Cool

       

      Runners run

        Paris is nice, and usually takes a while to sell out. London has a ballot, but still quite a small window to get your application in. I'm doing Edinburgh (again) next year, which is a nice one to do. Amsterdam is also a great one to do, and no problem to get into if you're prompt, but it's just been so you have nearly a year to wait...


        Feeling the growl again

          I've gone to wanting to run primarily smaller, closer races and just focus on the sight-seeing/relaxing for the longer travel trips.  Partly because it's hard to totally enjoy a vacation when I'm thinking about the upcoming race, or my body is destroyed from having just run one.  And, partly because as you note a lot of the nice big ones now sell out absurdly quickly....have made their fields far too large...and jacked up their fees.

          "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

           

          I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

           


          Best Present Ever

            I hear all the cool kids are running the marathon du Medoc.


            #artbydmcbride

              I hear all the cool kids are running the marathon du Medoc.

               Oooh, I want to do that one some day too!

               

              Runners run

              lagwagon


                I would suspect that a small but decent number of the spots for Berlin were reserved for tour operators.  I think I've read that NY does this so I'd suspect its true for many/most of the majors.

                 

                I'm with Spaniel in that it might be a little too much business to be fun for the whole family.  But then again, I'm becoming more and more adverse to the mega-scale races.  I did philly with about 10k people and thought it was too big and crowded.

                 

                But if I were to do a mega/int'l race, I think Berlin would be my first choice.  Awesome city and fast race.

                  I hear all the cool kids are running the marathon du Medoc.

                   

                  My brother-in-law has done this for the last couple of years. It's a lot of fun, but not a fast course - and a large part of it is the food and wine. So a fun day out, but not one to try and run fast really.

                    ...and jacked up their fees.

                     

                    Right, but the European marathons haven't yet got to the silly rates of some of the big US marathons. e.g.  NY - $255 for Americans, $347 for foreigners. Berlin OTOH was 60 Euros for the first 10,000 people and 90 Euros thereafter. Big difference.


                    Feeling the growl again

                      Right, but the European marathons haven't yet got to the silly rates of some of the big US marathons. e.g.  NY - $255 for Americans, $347 for foreigners. Berlin OTOH was 60 Euros for the first 10,000 people and 90 Euros thereafter. Big difference.

                       

                       

                      Good to know.  I haven't looked into running European races.

                      "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                       

                      I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                       

                        Rotterdam's pretty inexpensive, has a good shirt and crazy fast competition (when I had a DNF in 2009, the top 2 runners both finished in 2:04:27). If you can run <2:30:00 you can get a free entry.

                         

                        I  stayed in a hostel full of marathoners for 15 Euro per night.

                         

                        From Rotterdam it's easy to take the train up to Amsterdam or down to Belgium for sight seeing.

                          I also ran the Marathon de Napoli this past January. Do not run this race! The course makes you run past the finish line 5x before you're done. The course is "flat" in that you don't hit much elevation gain but half the race is along the water with the road pitched steeply either left or right depending on where on the course you are. If you're not on one of those pitched roads you're running on cobblestone.

                            Always wondered about jet-lag for these sorts of races. Does anybody have experience with that? I mean you train for several months only to have your goal race sabotaged by travel.. that doesnt sound right. 

                            And we run because we like it
                            Through the broad bright land


                            Feeling the growl again

                              Always wondered about jet-lag for these sorts of races. Does anybody have experience with that? I mean you train for several months only to have your goal race sabotaged by travel.. that doesnt sound right. 

                               

                               

                              After my recent trip abroad I'd be worried about this, though perhaps without work obligations it is easier to adapt.

                               

                              Candice S or schneidr could give insight on this, both of them just ran simply outstanding races in Berlin.

                              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                               

                              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                               

                                Always wondered about jet-lag for these sorts of races. Does anybody have experience with that? I mean you train for several months only to have your goal race sabotaged by travel.. that doesnt sound right. 

                                 

                                I think BBC did a program about how to beat jet-lag. They asked the frequent international theater performers to try the solution. People who tried said it helped. Here is the solution:

                                 

                                Drinking water ONLY to keep well hydrated. You can sleep as much as you want. Once get to the destination, follow the local meal time.

                                 

                                I haven't tried myself, but I am going to try it next week.

                                5k - 20:56 (09/12), 7k - 28:40 (11/12), 10k trial - 43:08  (03/13), 42:05 (05/13), FM - 3:09:28 (05/13), HM - 1:28:20 (05/14), Failed 10K trial - 6:10/mi for 4mi (08/14), FM - 3:03 (09/14)

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