Which marathon in July 2011?

If you're aiming to build up to a marathon, starting now from a solid regular training schedule, this would normally take up about 8 months if you don't wish to rush things.

So, starting this month, we can aim for a marathon in July 2011. Where? Let's look around a bit...

Everyoneweb.com is a useful resource for this.

At first glance, the most exotic looking marathon in July is surely the one in Hovsgal Lake in Mongolia, although the name, Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset Marathon gives a clear indication that this is beyond the reach of 'mere' marathon runners: it's "the world's most beautiful 100km run". If you're into ultra-distance... enjoy!

No, let's look for something within the reach of common mortals. Hold on a minute... they do in fact also include a standard marathon, so let's take a closer look. Well, even the marathon is still for the very adventurous. It's trail running in "pristine" natural surroundings, mostly mountains, lakes and wide open spaces, close to the Siberian border at an altitude of about 1600 metres, so you also need a few days of acclimatisation. The challenging nature of this event is evidenced by the timings obtained, with the winner of the 2010 edition, Zolsaikhan Enkhjargal, dashing in at 5 hours and 3 minutes.

So how about the Frank Maier Marathon and Half Marathon? This seems a much more regular marathon, an "out-and-back, sea level, moderately hilly, marathon run on the lightly traveled two-lane paved Douglas and North Douglas highways". The only snag is that it's in Juneau, Alaska, which for some of us may be a bit too far away. But you may wish to combine this marathon, on 30 July, with a summer holiday in this spectacular American state. Could be quite interesting...

But do we really need to travel to the other side of the world to run a marathon in July? No, not at all. Closer to home, i.e. Europe, the choice includes the following events.

On the same day, 2 July 2011, there are two different marathons in Finland - the Rovaniemi Marathon, with a Santa Claus / Arctic Circle / midnight sun theme, and the Paavo Nurmi Marathon, in Turku.

Also on Saturday 2 July, on Achill Island, a small island in the west of Ireland, there's the 2011 Achill Marathon, starting at 11 a.m. Now that looks really interesting! Just look at this picture, and the others in their gallery of photos.

Those who like to run uphill have a choice between two marathons, or, since they're held on different dates, they may even wish to do them both... starting on 2 July in Brixen, Italy, in the heart of the Dolomite mountains. In Italian the town is called Bressanone, but this is the Sud-Tirol, and it's a German speaking region. You start the marathon at 500 metres altitude and breeze in at the finish at an altitude of 2500 metres, the steepest part of the course being the 40th kilometre, so if you really like running uphill you will certainly enjoy this. Then a four-week recovery, and on to the next hills session on 30 July, the Swiss Alpine marathon in Davos, Switzerland, "the highest high altitude marathon in Europe", consisting of a 1890 m climb followed by a 1710 m descent. The course is spectacular, rough and challenging. But maybe two mountainous marathons within one month could just a bit too much...

So many marathons, too many to cover in just one blog post. But who said I couldn't write other posts in the near future, on even more exciting marathons? This blog may be about to embark on an interesting trip.