There is certainly no resting on your laurels with this group. No sooner had I finished state 13 and written up the report along came the questions of what’s next in general and what’s up for next December, more specifically.
Truth be told, I really have no idea. The opportunities abound with 37 states remaining, but the choices at the beginning of December are becoming more limited year by year. With 50 weeks advance notice I’m putting out some ideas for December 2009.
Taking a look at marathonguide.com the following 15 races are on the marathon calendar:
Baton Rouge Beach Marathon, Baton Rouge, LA
Envirosports Death Valley Borax Marathon, Death Valley, CA
Kiawah Island Marathon, Kiawah Island, SC
St. Jude Memphis Marathon, Memphis, TN
Tecumseh Trail Marathon, Bloomington, IN
California International Marathon, Sacramento, CA
Zappos.com Las Vegas Marathon, Las Vegas, NV
Marathon of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, FL
Holualoa Tucson Marathon, Oracle, AZ
Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon, Charlotte, NC
Rocket City Marathon, Hunstville, AL
Roxbury Marathon, Roxbury, CT
Nexbank Dallas White Rock Marathon, Dallas, TX
Honolulu Marathon, Honololu, HI
Otter Creek Trail Marathon, Brandenburg, KY
The list can get narrowed pretty quickly. In 2005 I ran Las Vegas. In 2006 I did Tecumseh and Otter Creek in back to back weekends. In 2007 I met up with Wes and Joe, along with David, Michele and Lana at Rocket City. Most recently Joe, David and I knocked off Memphis. That narrows the list to 11 choices.
Death Valley and CIM are off the list, too. NO MORE CA marathons! 10 options left.
Tucson is off the list, since I’ve already run Rock-n-Roll AZ in Phoenix. Roxbury is off too. I did Hartford in 2005. The list is getting a little sparse.
Baton Rouge Beach Marathon, Baton Rouge, LA
Kiawah Island Marathon, Kiawah Island, SC
Marathon of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach, FL
Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon, Charlotte, NC
Nexbank Dallas White Rock Marathon, Dallas, TX
Honolulu Marathon, Honololu, HI
As far as Texas goes, Dallas is definitely not my first choice there. Eric tells me that Dallas is a lot of concrete. My legs are not a fan of concrete. I would much rather run Austin or San Antonio. My choice for Hawaii is definitely Maui. Maui is run in September within days of our wedding anniversary, how can I pass that up – Maui on our anniversary – Honolulu doesn’t stand a chance. There are many choices in Florida as well and West Palm Beach wasn’t on my radar. I have relatives on the west coast. I was leaning towards the Gasparilla Marathon in Tampa in March or ideally the X-Country Marathon in November.
So for me that leaves only the following three states: Louisiana, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
Baton Rouge Beach Marathon, Baton Rouge, LA
Kiawah Island Marathon, Kiawah Island, SC
Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon, Charlotte, NC
That was until I opened the January 2009 Runner’s World and read about the North Central Trail Marathon in Sparks, MD. It is run the last weekend of November, close enough to December for me. This is now high in my list for Maryland, competing with the B&A Trail Marathon in March.
Where do you want to go in 2009?
Louisiana? South Carolina? North Carolina? Maryland?
12 comments:
Since I'm likely in on the choice, I'll be interested to see the recommendations of your distinguished and sophisticated readers, Darrell.
I'll email you my pick...so as not to influence the choice of the rest.
Of course, others will be welcome to join us!!!
+1 for North Central Trail. My gf told me about it and was kinda bummed that a small, intimate race got a huge write-up (ok, good and bad).
Either way, looks like you've got a ton of great options! Good luck - vaya con dios.
Next December?!? I'm still trying to figure out January through March!
Also, if the Dallas comment was from my Eric, he didn't run there, he ran Houston. In January. Does that help?
good luck picking! they all sound like great races. d10 over at just running for fun (http://justrunningforfun.blogspot.com/) ran charlotte this year if you wanted the insider scoop.
I've heard good things about Kiawah, especially when the weather cooperates.
Baton Rouge - They need your tourist dollars! Of course by next December the Baton Rouge economy may have had time to revive itself.
I wish I were able to travel to any of those ones to join you. I'm waiting for you to get Idaho on your list.
Chickamauga Marathon is a beautiful two loop affair. Might be a bit early for you though.
Decisions, decisions! I'm impressed that you're already planning. I should start thinking about 2009, but I haven't yet. Stay healthy and Merry Christmas!
I love your planning.
For Fla., I did Tampa in 2005 and I'd recommend it. Although we did have tough rain and wind.
RE: Texas, I'll let you know my thoughts on Austin after I run the race of my life there in Feb. I've done Houston before, and that's a great race. I'd highly recommend Houston.
I can't comment on your three states, since I've not run any of them. They all sound great to me.
Hey Darrell,
Congratulations and way to go knocking down lucky #13 of the states especially after the start to the year. Looks like some fun marathons coming up, NC and SC are great places to run. Best wishes for a happy new year.
Cheers
The SC race, I spoke with somone facing some tough wind on that.
LA, less heat humidity?
NC, has to be some more options. Great state!
MD, and trails, hmmm, my pick.
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