What are the flattest / fastest marathon and half marathon courses
8 watchers
Oct 2014
2:17pm, 22 Oct 2014
1,096 posts
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jacdaw
OK, so if I screw up Edinburgh next year and fail to do 3:30 (again), where am I most likely to manage a fast time? Amsterdam? Berlin? Stratford on Avon? London? Just don't suggest Newcastle Town Moor. And should I ever want to try for a 1:30 half, is the Brass Monkey the only show in town (entries open soon, I believe)? |
Oct 2014
2:20pm, 22 Oct 2014
11,665 posts
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The Teaboy
Berlin is the current WR course. Flat as a pancake and usually no wind.
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Oct 2014
2:24pm, 22 Oct 2014
2,021 posts
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Nelly
Manchester claims to be "the UK’s Flattest, Fastest and Friendliest Marathon" greatermanchestermarathon.com It's certainly up there (pardon the pun) in terms of fast/flat not really sure about friendliest. Also, currently a good size in terms on not too big to be overcrowded but big enough that you're never isolated, and has 3:30 pacers.
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Oct 2014
2:28pm, 22 Oct 2014
5,755 posts
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becca7
Seville. Worked for me. 
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Oct 2014
2:31pm, 22 Oct 2014
1,097 posts
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jacdaw
Seville sounds lovely, but isn't it hot?
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Oct 2014
2:34pm, 22 Oct 2014
1,098 posts
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jacdaw
Probably not in February, answering my own question.
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Oct 2014
2:38pm, 22 Oct 2014
5,756 posts
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becca7
No, the weather was ideal, although it got a little warmer in the last five miles or so it was still a very comfortable temperature to run in.
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Oct 2014
3:18pm, 22 Oct 2014
2,022 posts
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Nelly
I'd also be interested in other peoples suggestions for flat/fast HM's (preferably in central/northern England).
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Oct 2014
3:38pm, 22 Oct 2014
9,180 posts
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Dvorak
Malaga claims to be Spain's flattest half, but I suspect Valencia is even flatter. Malaga is coastal enough to be potentially wind-affected though (it was pretty breezy a couple of hours after I finished.) Much the same for marathons in both as well. Conditions warm but unlikely to be hellish. Regensburg half and marathon both pretty darned flat. (This assumes that a flat course would be best for you.) From here laufreport.de (table 6) Regensburg and Ulm are favoured - Frankfurt also but that may be skewed by field quality. |
Oct 2014
3:42pm, 22 Oct 2014
553 posts
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Reinhold Messner
For HMs, Bath, Reading, Wokingham are pretty flat. Someone did an analysis that showed Cardiff is flatter than all of them but anecdotally I didn't think the 2013 course was amazing. Nottingham is relatively flat if you're comparing to the sort of trailmountainfell events that seem to proliferate...
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