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Houston Marathon course information request (Read 53 times)

JoyceH


    Hello - I was planning on running the California Int'l Marathon in December. But due to a recently strained hip I might have to look at doing a January marathon. I've had Houston on my radar for awhile. (I've done 4 marathons including Boston in 2014). Could anyone share your experience with the "hills" at the end of the course? Would anyone be willing to share their garmin download/map so I could see the elevation changes?

     

    Many thanks in advance.

     

    Best,

    Joyce Holsten

    http://treadinglightlyvt.com/

    HermosaBoy


      Check my log from 2012...

       

      All in all, I think it is a fairly fast course.

      And you can quote me as saying I was mis-quoted. Groucho Marx

       

      Rob

      rlopez


        Honestly, the hills only get brought up as defense against the claims that the course is 26.2 of pancake flat flatness. They aren't gnarly by any means... certainly nothing like the roly poly in CIM.  What'll get you at Houston, if you are a midpacker, is the crowding. At least in the first 8ish miles.

         

        I dunno if Houston has a transfer program for bibs.  I assume it is sold out.  It's, like, always sold out.

        JoyceH


          Thanks Rob! That is helpful!

           

          srlopez - thanks for your insight on the "hills". I'm sure they are tame compared to CIM and the Newton hills at Boston . But even small hills can sometimes feel like monsters between miles 22-24. My PR is 3:07:56 last October on a very flat fast course (Baystate Marathon in MA). I trained this summer for my first half Ironman triathlon a few weeks ago which went great. But I'm not sure if I can get my hip better and train hard enough for another marathon PR. Would love to run anything under a sub 3:10.

          JoyceH


            PS - after running in a very crowded (but awesome) Boston marathon last April, I'm OK in big city marathons 

            Tar Heel Mom


            kween

              I lived in Houston for 16 years but never ran the marathon. I can't imagine a course anywhere in the city that has a single "hill" of any kind. I almost died when I ran a race in New Braunfels, I had gotten so used to running completely flat streets.

               

              So I am guessing, unless you are running up a freeway ramp, it's flat.

              Nolite te bastardes carborundum.

              JoyceH


                I've been reading race blogs about this marathon and found 3 where people said the so-called hills felt tough on the last 6 miles. Someone said that this stretch of the marathon is the only place in the whole city that has any "hills". I think if one is prepared and knows about them in advance it can make a difference. The funny thing is I live in Vermont and train on hills so I should be fine. But even small rollers feel hard at the end of a marathon no matter where you live.