I didn’t get a place in the 2012 London Marathon. So now I have some thinking to do. Do I really want to run a marathon? And if so, is London really the marathon for me?
Without wishing to state the bleeding obvious, marathon training is a time sink. So is being a nomadic parkrunner. The thought of trying to squeeze far flung parkruns, long runs, lunch with my mother and some much needed down time into a weekend is daunting to say the least. And of those four, it’s the long runs I’m least drawn to. By quite a long way.
But the lure of being someone who has run a marathon is strong. So let’s assume for a moment that I can sort out the logistics, what type of marathon do I want to run?
- Large, medium or small?
- Flat, undulating or positively hilly?
- Road or trail?
- Urban or rural?
Based on my parkrun and (limited) race experience, I’d say:
- small – I prefer parkruns to Windsor to Bupa 10k
- flat or undulating, but not hilly
- road or very, very benign trail
- rural
Now: does that really describe the London Marathon?
abradypus 
Forgive my ignorance but how do you have a small marathon? 26.2 is 26.2 isn’t it? but if you know a magic way of making is smaller then patent it double quick 😉
And no…. you don’t seem to have described London. Shazruns and I are doing Milton Keynes. I’ve heard good things about Barcelona and Paris but I was put off these by the inflated hotel prices.
Lol. Small as in 600 people rather than 60,000 people, not small as in short. Though I’d probably like that, too.
Shakespeare Marathon? Looks pretty (and might fit your criteria) as does Milton Keynes.
I will run a marathon sooner or later but not next year, going to do lots of HMs and 10Ks to get good times…. might take a while!
Sounds like a good job you didn’t get a London place with those criteria, although it’s fairly flat and on road. Badwabbit did the Windermere marathon a couple of years ago which was rural and on road but may have had a few hills – the route basically went round Lake Windermere with a minor detour outwards to make up the distance.
Sounds very similar to my criteria but I’d add a single circuit as I find multi laps or out n back boring and also cost to be nmt or just over £30 because I think some organisers make too much out of our love for running. The Windermere marathon is on my to do list 🙂
Well London has the 2 out of the 4, 50% is not bad, yes its big but with that comes tremendous support all the way round and incredible atmosphere. Its far from rural obviously but I’m sure if you used imagination you could see trees, clear skies and countryside! Good luck with your decision, my quandry is:-will MK live up to London?
Definitely do a marathon! Yes, it is a lot of training, and yes, it is very hard work.. but the feeling of euphoria when crossing that line is undescribable :o)
Hm, it certainly does not! If you do MK I intend to be a very enthusaistic cheerleader and overnight stop for anyone than wants it!
LOL when I said you were considering it my hubby thought I was considering it………DOES HE THINK I’M MAD?!?!
I didn’t get in either and I’m planning on doing the Milton Keynes marathon, but I live in MK so the logistics are easy. It’s mainly flat and most of the route is along our redways and goes round lakes, along the canal and through woodland, plusI think you get to do some of the MK parkrun course as part of it.
Am contemplating MK 2012 myself (seems pretty popular on the athon-oriented blogosphere so I’d better get my entry in pdq) but would concur with the Shakespeare suggestion for a slightly smaller-scale event. I enjoyed it this year for the first time. Nottingham (aka Robin Hood) is nice and well-organised — did it with my daughter in law a couple of years ago. The only one I’ve done abroad is Amsterdam (which my daughter entered me for as a Christmas present!) which was very good fun and sociable — loads of Brits. And, as you might expect, pretty flat.
You have got to do a marathon sooner or later!
Think if I was ever to do a marathon that’s the kind I’d like to do too. Hope the RPHM goes well tomorrow 🙂