My 8 Marathons Ranked

One of our Houston Running Bloggers, Keith Kelleher, asked me how I would rate the eight (8) marathons that I've completed by course difficulty and crowd support.

Course Difficulty
1. New York City - Long inclines with thousands of people to see in front of you. Some of the toughest bridges you'll find in a race (Verrazano-Narrows and Queensboro) plus the incline on Central Park East before turning into the rolling hills of Central Park.
2. Little Rock - Lots of turns. (There might have been more than the 50 that I counted, plus a 5-mile out-and-back, albeit flat, from 18-to-23. Course gradually inclines to the half way point and then a 300-foot elevation climb in three miles. Plus a good solid, three-tiered incline in mile 25.
3. Marine Corps - First five miles are the hilliest. The rest is pretty flat. I thought being up on the Interstate near the Pentagon from mile marker 20-to-22 - exposed to the elements - was tough.
4. Chevron Houston - Ranks tougher than Mardi Gras because you have one more overpass (the Elysian Street Viaduct) and the underpasses on Allen Parkway between 22 and 24. Otherwise, lots of straightaway running after the first six miles.
5. Kingwood Texas Marathon - The most difficult thing about this course is all of the concrete trails and that you have to do it four times over. Although the people are incredible with this event, if you are going to do four loops, do Seabrook (but don't forget this one!)
6. Surfside Beach - Two turns. Flat. The only difficulty for me was the hard-packed sand. To others, this was a joy!
7. Mardi Gras New Orleans - About as flat as you are going to get. One overpass that you had to cross twice.
8. Freescale Austin - Downhill course. What can you call tough about that? (The out-and-back on Cesar Chavez late in the race isn't fun, but you should be able to make time all the way to the mile 23 marker.)

Crowd Support
1. New York City - From everything that I've read, easily one of the tops in the world!
2. Chevron Houston - Although I would dispute the marathon's estimates as far as how many people they think that are out on the course, the numbers are better than everywhere else but NYC and they are pretty engaged all the way throughout the route.
3. Marine Corps - Lots of people (not as many as Houston though), but all seem that they are out there to see their own friends and families and not the event itself.
4. Freescale Austin - Lots of people to see their runners, but also plenty of people taking in the entire spectacle.
5. Little Rock - Fewer in numbers, but make up for it with their enthusiasm!
6. Mardi Gras New Orleans - So-so. The front half of the course there weren't too many folks that were back living there while those on the back half were waiting in anticipation of the Mardi Gras parades on St. Charles Street - one street behind and almost four weeks later.
7. Kingwood Texas Marathon - The other runners and aid station workers are your friends on this four-loop excursion.
8. Surfside Beach - Ditto to Kingwood. Plus, if you can call sand your companion, then you can move this one up the list!

By Finishing Time?
1. Freescale Austin - 4:47:32 (7th) - most expensive; late registration
2. Chevron Houston - 4:55:08 (2nd) - 3rd cheapest $65
3. Little Rock - 5:03:02 (8th) - would be as cheap as Houston if not for late registration
4. Mardi Gras New Orleans - 5:13:37 (5th)
5. Marine Corps - 5:39:06 (1st)
6. Surfside Beach - 5:39:55 (6th) - next cheapest $60
7. Kingwood Texas Marathon - 5:40:01 (4th) - cheapest $35
8. New York City - 5:41:06 (3rd)