Destination Race Ideas

[DopeyBadger]

When do you begin your quest for the world marathon majors six star medal? Have you thought about the order in which you want to complete them?

Your list is very impressive

The original plan was to BQ three weekends ago, and then run Boston in 2019. Then, I was planning on running Chicago last since I'm relatively local so the family could all be there for the final finish line.

But, I didn't BQ, so that pushed the timeframe. So now, the plan is to run Chicago in 2018 (first). Hopefully BQ there and then run Boston in 2020. Once I've Boston's date nailed down, then I'll start applying to London, Berlin, and Tokyo. The next goal will be to NYQ (faster than Boston) and get auto entry into New York. For the international races, I'll probably lottery and then once I get a spot, probably defer the entry to the next year to save enough money to be able to make the trip (will cost me double entry in some cases but that's easier to lose then to save in a few months). I might double dip on London and Paris since they're relatively close in time and location to each other (would prefer London first though, so we'll see on that one). My wife's aunt lives near the Effiel Tower and we have an open invitation to stay there. In fact, her aunt will likely be my world traveling partner since she's way more traveled than I am.

What about you? Would you run the new World Marathon Majors if they come to fruition?

https://www.worldmarathonmajors.com...artnership-with-abbott-world-marathon-majors/

 

[VAfamily1998]

Not a "race" but have you considered a run-cation? I know many people that have taken trips through this company and have glowing reviews. https://www.roguexpeditions.com/
Their Tahoe and Bend (Oregon) trips are over the summer, and they also have a new trip coming this summer--they haven't announced the destination yet, but I've heard rumors it is International, so if it it sounds interesting keep checking their website/facebook/instagram for updates.

 

[croach]

Any AZ people here doing the Phoenix Women's Half in January? I am looking into do more races next year and I just keep getting blown away at how affordable ~other~ races are. $45 for a 10k? $75 for a Half? Dang.

A lot of things are affordable when compared to the Wonderful World of Disney.

 

[croach]

The original plan was to BQ three weekends ago, and then run Boston in 2019. Then, I was planning on running Chicago last since I'm relatively local so the family could all be there for the final finish line.

But, I didn't BQ, so that pushed the timeframe. So now, the plan is to run Chicago in 2018 (first). Hopefully BQ there and then run Boston in 2020. Once I've Boston's date nailed down, then I'll start applying to London, Berlin, and Tokyo. The next goal will be to NYQ (faster than Boston) and get auto entry into New York. For the international races, I'll probably lottery and then once I get a spot, probably defer the entry to the next year to save enough money to be able to make the trip (will cost me double entry in some cases but that's easier to lose then to save in a few months). I might double dip on London and Paris since they're relatively close in time and location to each other (would prefer London first though, so we'll see on that one). My wife's aunt lives near the Effiel Tower and we have an open invitation to stay there. In fact, her aunt will likely be my world traveling partner since she's way more traveled than I am.

What about you? Would you run the new World Marathon Majors if they come to fruition?

https://www.worldmarathonmajors.com...artnership-with-abbott-world-marathon-majors/

You probably know this but London is incredibly hard to get into unless you go the charity route. Around 380k applied this year and I think 340k including me got denied. Marathon Tours is the only US licensed group that gets London bibs and they also run a lottery.

 

[DopeyBadger]

You probably know this but London is incredibly hard to get into unless you go the charity route. Around 380k applied this year and I think 340k including me got denied. Marathon Tours is the only US licensed group that gets London bibs and they also run a lottery.

Yea, I know... It's more like a do this in the next 10-20 years of applying thing.

 

[Nole95]

Paris and Athens are probably the top of our list for destination marathons.

Paris is my wife's favorite city, and that would be a great experience.

My wife is also Greek, so running the original marathon course would be a pretty cool bucket list thing to accomplish. We almost were going to do it last year, but plans changed. Figure we will get to it eventually.

 

[courtneybeth]

What about you? Would you run the new World Marathon Majors if they come to fruition?

I have already secured places for Tokyo and Boston. The latter has me a little stressed because I have to raise $6000 and so far am only at about $1500 once I had some offline donations. Sometimes I think the charity runners have to do twice as much work since they have to train hard and hustle for donations. I spent yesterday at a Paint and Wine place trying to set up a fundraiser event for January in hopes I can get a couple hundred dollars for my page.

I've submitted in for Berlin - which I'm anticipating will work out just fine. I want to do Disney Paris and Berlin in one shot since they're only a week apart. Fingers crossed for Chicago since there's a three week gap between races. NYC will be a lottery and I probably won't get in - I'd like to honestly have NYC as my last race since it's a very special city to me and I would love to finish the toughest course last.

London is.... London. Going to try for it in 2019 but may push back to 2020 so I can save money and just charity donate myself without asking for others to help me.

In short:
2018: Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, Chicago, maybe NYC.
2019: London, maybe NYC.

If the new races happen, I'd be so excited! I'm in no rush to get the six star medal, but if it expands to more stars then yay!

But, I didn't BQ, so that pushed the timeframe. So now, the plan is to run Chicago in 2018 (first). Hopefully BQ there and then run Boston in 2020. Once I've Boston's date nailed down, then I'll start applying to London, Berlin, and Tokyo. The next goal will be to NYQ (faster than Boston) and get auto entry into New York. For the international races, I'll probably lottery and then once I get a spot, probably defer the entry to the next year to save enough money to be able to make the trip (will cost me double entry in some cases but that's easier to lose then to save in a few months). I might double dip on London and Paris since they're relatively close in time and location to each other (would prefer London first though, so we'll see on that one). My wife's aunt lives near the Effiel Tower and we have an open invitation to stay there. In fact, her aunt will likely be my world traveling partner since she's way more traveled than I am.

Your plan sounds so much fun! Fingers crossed that it works out.

Tokyo does a charity push where you spend $800 and secure a spot. It's extremely competitive and can be difficult to get into.... same with London, you have to do a charity entry and raise a lot of money. As you're a speedster and can BQ on your own, you won't have any trouble with Boston and can utilize that charity option that most people have to do for London. (Yay you!)

Chicago took nearly everyone last year, so no clue if they will do the same this year. NYC is about a 1 in 8 shot of getting in - so it may take a few years unless you want to drop $2620 to NYRR and be done with it. I've been spending a lot of time and energy researching this. It's a very expensive and awesome way to see the world.

 

[jennamfeo]

A lot of things are affordable when compared to the Wonderful World of Disney.

Haha and all I know are Disney Runs and Triathlons which are both comparable in price.

 

[Melissa Perez]

For close and affordable for the east coast - check out the Bermuda Marathon Weekend in January (MLK day). You can get the Fairmont hotel there for the weekend for less than $200 a night. And the race course has the best support I've ever seen - everyone on the island is nice to begin with, but they all come out to support the runners. It left a smile on our face all weekend (side note: so few people run the full marathon there's a good chance you can place in your age group!).

 

[JeffW]

I failed on the London marathon lottery a few times, so my "Europe" medal came from the Dublin Marathon. I absolutely loved this race. Not gigantic like some majors, but still big at around 15k runners. Great crowd support and a 9am start time is so much nicer than Disney start times Not to mention the availability of pubs post-race

The Great Barrier Reef marathon was the hardest I've ever run (1100 ft of elevation gain in 1.5 miles was no joke, on a trail in the jungle), but recovering while spending a few days diving on the reef rivals post-runDisney parks

 

[croach]

I failed on the London marathon lottery a few times, so my "Europe" medal came from the Dublin Marathon. I absolutely loved this race. Not gigantic like some majors, but still big at around 15k runners. Great crowd support and a 9am start time is so much nicer than Disney start times Not to mention the availability of pubs post-race

The Great Barrier Reef marathon was the hardest I've ever run (1100 ft of elevation gain in 1.5 miles was no joke, on a trail in the jungle), but recovering while spending a few days diving on the reef rivals post-runDisney parks

I'm considering Edinburgh or Madrid for marathons since they are around the same time of year as London. I went to Spain last year and loved but I think it was the first vacation in a while that didn't revolve around running. Can't let that happen again.