Which marathon in October 2011?

Which marathon in October 2011?

Well, for someone being based so close to the Belgian capital, Brussels on Sunday 2 October 2011 is the obvious choice! I've done this marathon twice, and I consider it to be quite a pleasant event.

The marathon starts in a park close to where the main offices of the EU institutions, the much maligned "Brussels" that dictates everything, are situated. The start takes you straight into the heart of the EU quarters (and for good measure participants go past it again at the 39th kilometre). After a brief foray into the centre of the city, skirting around the king's palace, the route goes out of the centre into greener pastures, eventually leaving the city to enter Tervuren, which is a Flemish town just outside of Brussels. A brief tour of the beautiful Tervuren park is followed by a long straight haul that takes the runners back towards the city. The route goes back through the starting point at 39 km, and leads on towards the heart of Brussels, the famous Grand Place.

I like this route, and I could even consider doing it again, even though... it's considerably hilly, with rather a tough hill of about 1 mile in length at the half way mark, and another similar hill at exactly the point where runners risk hitting the dreaded "wall", at 33 km. However, on both occasions when I ran this marathon I can't say I found it particularly hard to run up these hills.

What I DID find very hard, after the end of my second marathon here, was having to stumble on, on dead tired legs, for what seemed an eternity until I could get to where they had taken our clothes bags. It was pure torture! If you do choose Brussels for your marathon in October, and I would recommend it because it's quite fun, not too crowded and with lovely route, I suggest you have someone waiting for you at the Grand Place. My dear wife did exactly that back in 2007 when I did my memorable first Brussels marathon.

If you think Brussels is too boring and grey (which it isn't, although I admit it's not the most exotic place on earth), a good idea for a marathon in October 2011 would be the Lago di Garda in Italy. It runs for three quarters of the perimeter of the lake, along the bank of the lake. With the backdrop of the mountains on all sides, this must surely be a spectacular marathon. And it's not even a hilly affair, for the profile is very nearly flat - to be expected since most of the marathon runs close to the water's edge. The date of the Lake Garda Marathon will be Sunday 9 October 2011. Interesting prospect!

Staying in Italy, two weeks later, another majestic marathon is on offer, the Venice marathon. This, too, has quite a flat profile, starting from a small town outside of Venice and following a scenic countryside route before entering the famous historic city itself. It's only the last 4 km that are actually inside Venice, and here you'll have to cross a few bridges - it's the very nature of the place. They provide ramps so (they say) it's not a problem for the runners. The finish is in the world famous Piazza San Marco, hoping that it's not flooded on the day. It's also an interesting prospect, although at 85 euro or even 100 euro for late comers, well, it's a bit on the expensive side...

Internationally, October is a very busy month for marathons. We are literally spoilt for choice, in most parts of the planet. But I guess I'll probably end up doing the Brussels marathon after all. Boring, disappointing, least exotic choice. It's so convenient to get into the car from home and be at the start in 20 minutes!

Which marathon in September 2011?

Now it really looks as if I may recover completely from the injury that has been holding me back from proper running for close to a year. In which case, a marathon in September would be quite a realistic possibility. Which marathon?

A quick browse reveals that I'm quite spoilt for choice, but... wherever I choose I'll need to travel. I haven't found any marathon in Belgium planned for September 2011. But wait a second... I had an idea there was one somewhere in Oostende. Let's have a look... Of course, the 'In Flanders Fields' marathon! I've been eying this ever since relocating to Belgium, and this would be the ideal occasion to do it.

Ever since I read Ben Elton's 'The First Casualty', set in the midst of World War I, I've wanted to visit Ieper (Ypres in French, or Wipers as the English soldiers used to pronounce it), which has become a sort of shrine for the mass of humanity that fell victim to that utter folly. In Flanders fields is where countless thousands of soldiers from both sides faced each other behind trenches, living in squalid conditions, periodically having a suicidal go at enemy lines, in full sight of enemy fire, and falling down like flies. Never again, one would have thought. Yeah, right.

I feel strongly about war, and now that I live in Belgium Ieper is a must-go place for me. The possibility of a marathon there, at exactly the time when I should be ready for one, makes it even more a must-participate event. The reviews in marathonguide.com are also very good, so the 'In Flanders Fields' marathon seems to be the people's choice.

There are a couple of disadvantages. A marathon in September means that I need to do several three-hour runs, and one 3h15 run, right in the peak of summer in August... I would probably need to give up the Zaventem half marathon, to which I have been looking forward. But one needs to look at the positive side. Being able to choose between a marathon and a half marathon would be a luxury, considering that for several months last year I was fearing having to give up running altogether!

Of course, it's nowhere as exotic as the Petra marathon (Jordan, 9 September), or Maui (Hawaii). Neither is it a big time event like Berlin (25 September - a tour of this major city, along with another circa 40,000 participants). I could choose to go to Vilnius (Lithuania), Tallinn (Estonia), Stockholm, Odense in Denmark, Oslo, Warsaw. There are local marathons in places like Wolverhampton (England) or Dingle (Ireland). The choice is really quite enormous. There's a Bacchus marathon in Surrey, England, with "voluntary" sampling of wines along the route (health warning: alcohol dehydrates the body...).

I could be in the mood for going uphill all the way, except for (mercifully) the very last kilometre, and do the Jungfrau marathon starting in Interlaken, Switzerland (a beautiful place, by the way). Well, when I say "do the Jungfrau marathon", I should really say try, and fail, to do the Jungrau marathon: a 2,000 metre rise is not for ordinary mortals.

One never knows, of course, what circumstances and opportunities may arise. Maybe I'll settle for the most straightforward possibility of a marathon around this period, after all - boring old Brussels. But that comes in the following month, October, and in my next post in the series "Which marathon".

Which marathon in August 2011?

Starting to build up training distances now, without too much extra hurry, we would be ready to do a marathon the coming August. That's the easy part... the problem is, where?

It will be the peak of summer, and in most places it's too hot to run a marathon, unless of course you cross over to the southern hemisphere. In fact, while searching the web I found two marathons that will be held in Australia in August 2011 - Alice Springs and Adelaide.

This side of the world, to escape the heat of summer we need to move north: Helsinki, Reykjavik, Siberia in Russia, Greenland! Let's have a look at some of these.

If you had an idea of taking your pet to run the Reykjavik Marathon, forget about it. No pets are allowed to take part. Neither can you run the marathon pushing your baby in a pram: only helpers of disabled participants are allowed this type of equipment. But otherwise, if like me you wish to visit this fascinating country and do a marathon while you're there - Saturday 20th August is the date. They boast temperatures of around 12 to 14 Celsius this time of the year, "ideal for running a marathon". There's bound to be some rainfall, of course, since the way it works in Iceland is: "if you don't like the weather, go inside and come back 15 minutes later". It's bound to have changed by then, and they say it's true too!

The course is a single loop, with a small stretch at the end that almost repeats the part at the beginning. The course is not completely traffic free. It's flat for 60% of the way, and rolling the remaining 40%. The change in level is 30 metres overall. Looks quite OK - I could even try it out one day. To relax my sore muscles after the race, the following day I'd look for one of various public baths with naturally heated water that they have peppered around the country. It does, indeed, look like an interesting prospect.

If 12 to 14 Celsius is too warm for your liking, you might prefer to opt for our Icelandic friends' neighbouring land, Greenland. In the capital Nuuk (population 15,500), in early August, you should expect a temperature of around 7 to 11 Celsius, although a look at the pictures of the starting line of the Nuuk marathon shows participants wearing short sleeves, or even vests, normal shorts and no gloves at all. So at least on that occasion it wasn't really freezing cold. As interpreted from their website in Danish by Translate with Live Search, they say it's a demanding, hilly affair. "The hills is one of the toughest for marathons in the world", but the map of the course includes contour lines, and the route doesn't seem to cross so many of them. Apart from which, one tends to get used to superlatives used by most everyone, whatever the occasion.

This certainly qualifies, to my standards, as an exotic marathon in unusual surroundings. It's not too crowded at all - a couple of dozen participants - so you could very well achieve a good placing. In the 2010 edition, at my standard 3h30m I would have placed fourth. The winner came in at 2h40, and captured a prize of 7000 kroner (compared to 450 kr. for participation). The runner-up receives 5000 kr., and the third placed finisher gets 2000 kr., which means I would have missed receiving a prize by a whisker...

If, for you, this seems like a good idea - enjoy your trip to Greenland!

But, maybe, this is too extreme, or too cold, for your liking. In that case, voilà, how about a marathon in much warmer conditions? How about... why, the Siberian International Marathon of course. In early August the expected temperature range there is 18 to 22 Celsius. I've read a review of this marathon where the participant actually complained of the heat!

Or, if you like your marathons to be challenging, with lots of hills, you will enjoy the Monschau Marathon, in Gernmany, close to the Belgian border - on Sunday 14 August - with a difference of 250 metres in altitude between the lowest and the highest point along the route. In one particular stretch, from the 12th to the 14th kilometre, there's a hill that rises by about 150 metres. If you don't mind going up and down hills, even for a marathon distance, and you would like to do this in a forested area surrounding a beautiful German town hidden down a valley, the Monschau Marathon is definitely worth looking into.

We're now much closer to home, and in fact, for a Belgium-based runner, a more logical place to run a marathon in August 2011 would be the Guernsey marathon in late August.

Guernsey is the second largest of the Channel Islands, lying 70 miles from England and 30 miles off France. The marathon runs along a picturesque route, only slightly undulating in the beginning, but generally flat, entering "9 out of the 10 parishes" in Guernsey, consisting basically of a round tour of the island. Guernsey boasts a long history of marathons. The one in 2009 was 100 years after the first marathon there, but also 17 years since the previous one. In 2010, there were 141 finishers, but today, in December 2010 there's still no mention on their website of the next edition, which I should hope will be in 2011 since I could even consider taking part.

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.

Which marathon in June 2011?

Just finished a marathon? Wishing to build up to a marathon in around 8 months' time? Not sure which one you should do? Following is a selection of interesting marathons that will take place in June 2011.

Pride of place goes to the Santa Claus Marathon on 18 June 2011, in the Arctic Circle: Rovaniemi, Finland (Lapland)

Lapland in the north of Finland is not the place one would most associate with June, and certainly Santa Claus is definitely more closely linked with December rather than the beginning of summer. But... in this period the sun never sets inside the Arctic Circle. Besides which, although the fruits of Santa Claus's work are delivered on Christmas, he still has a home and an office where he works all year round, and these are situated in Lapland.

The logical conclusion of this is that a marathon is organised at around the summer solstice, starting "next to Santa Claus's office". The marathon starts at 6pm, and there's a half marathon starting at 8pm, with Santa himself watching. Soon after you will cross the Arctic Circle (66'32'35"), which earns you a 'Diploma of Arctic Circle Crossing', and you get a picture at this point, which you may "keep for posterity".

The route is easy and very scenic, going downhill for the initial part and then quite flat for most of the remaining part. It's not crowded at all, and a look at previous results indicates that you could easily obtain a good placing in your category if your standard is just above the general average.

The marathon finish is at Lordi Square in the town centre, and presentation of prizes is at midnight, under the Arctic midnight sun.

Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

Closely related to the Santa Claus Marathon is the Midnight Sun Marathon on 25 June 2011, also in the Arctic Circle, this one being in Tromsø, Norway. In fact, there's an offer for a 'combined' half plus half marathon, one following the other on successive Sundays, first in Finland and then here. The principle is much the same, although here the theme, as may be observed from the name, is the midnight sun itself. Santa Claus is allowed to enjoy his residence in Lapland.

Here are a few of the more interesting looking marathons for June 2011:

Big Five Marathon on 25 June 2011, in South Africa, among the wildlife of the African savannah
Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon on 5 June 2011
Utah Valley Marathon on 11 June 2011
Laguna Phuket International Marathon in Thailand on 12 June 2011
Kona Marathon, 26 June 2011, on the Big Island of Hawaii
Safaricom Marathon, 25 June 2011, organised by the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya.

Closer to home, then, there are:

The Night Run - the ING Europe Marathon in Luxembourg starting at 7pm on 11 June 2011
LGT Alpin Marathon on 11 June 2011 in the Alps in Liechtenstein
Marathon de Vendee in France - held on 4 June 2011, in conjuction with a 100 km race for those of a more robust make-up...
Europa Marathon on 5 June 2011 in Gorlitz, Germany - "running across two countries"
Amersfoort Marathon on 12 June 2011 in Amersfoort, The Netherlands
And finally, this one not for the faint-hearted, starting at altitude 1000m and finishing at 2010m, with a 2201m peak along the way, is the Marathon du Mont Blanc at Chamonix in France, on 27 June 2011.

And there are many others... For a more comprehensive list see the website Worldmarathons marathon calendar.

Which marathon?

In my 'How to run a marathon' series (see the Subjects list) I had suggested a period of 8 months as the optimum interval between successive marathons, or to build up comfortably, i.e. without undue pressure, from an easy training schedule to a marathon.

So, in this new series, Which marathon?, I will do a bit of research about those marathons coming up in 8 months' time and feature one of them in some detail. This takes a bit of time, and soon it will be time to go to bed, so the first article in this series will have to wait just a little bit more.

In the meantime, until I carry out the research for June 2011 on your behalf, dear reader, I suggest you start training for it. You can pick up the schedule in How to run a marathon, starting from your present level of fitness. Number 15 in that series contains the entire suggested training schedule.

Enjoy your running, and do your best to avoid getting injured!