I figure if you’re going to spend 5-9 months training, you might as well run a marathon that has all the “extra” perks that make it so much fun!! My list of top 5 “major” marathons to race in the USA are below!
1.) New York City Marathon
The NYC Marathon is my all time favorite marathon. In this race, you run through all 5 boroughs of New York. You take the ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island early in the morning and pass by the Statue of Liberty on the way. You start the race by running over the bridge from Staten Island. You finish the race in Central Park. Just remember, those bridges are steep. They don’t seem like it when you’re in a car, but do some extra hill training and you’ll be just fine!
The expo is one of a kind, the days leading up to it are incredible as the city comes alive with the excitement of race weekend, and finishing in Central Park just cannot be beat. It is a truly incredible experience and I highly recommend that every marathoner run this race!
Perfect for: An All-Around Incredible Experience
Time of Year: Late October/Early November
Getting in: Lottery- The NYC Marathon is a lottery. You have to apply in March for an October/November race. They usually notify you in April/May if you’ve been randomly selected. It took me 5 years to get into the race, but it is so worth the wait!
2.) Chicago Marathon
The Chicago Marathon is one of my absolute favorite marathons. I’ve raced it multiple times and I keep coming back for the insane spectators. I kid you not…you do not need music during this race. The entire 26.2 miles has thousands of screaming spectators cheering your name and motivating you to keep running! The race course is typically perfect weather and it’s an easy, flat course to run!!
The expo rivals the NYC expo and is actually my favorite expo of all races I’ve ever done! I love this expo for its over-the-top interactive booths and unlimited clothing options from not just the headline sponsor, but from every major clothing brand, with the Chicago Marathon logo on it. You could spend all day at this expo, and some years we have! There are always amazing photo opportunities and loads of interactive things to do/swag to take home! I LOVE the Chicago Marathon expo and you will too. The energy is so contagious and you can’t help but have a blast at the expo while meeting like-minded runners like yourself!!
Perfect for: Motivation from Spectators
Time of Year: Late October
Getting in: Lottery- The Chicago Marathon switched to a lottery in recent years due to high demand. You apply around Jan/Feb/March time frame for a late October race. You’ll be notified in April/May if you’ve been randomly selected.
3.) Walt Disney World Marathon
If you want to run a marathon like no other where you want to have the time of your life, but don’t necessarily care about a PR, you MUST DO the Walt Disney World Marathon!! It often slips from the radar of big, competitive runners and marathon lists on the internet. Let me tell you, you’re missing out if you haven’t ran this one. There’s absolutely nothing like it. Disney knows how to do everything over the top, and WDW Marathon Weekend is no different. You will have the time of your life! Disney truly knows how to throw a race, complete with magical memories and parties for…wait for it…not just 1 day…but for 5-6 days straight. They take race weekend to a new level by offering the expo at ESPN Zone on Wednesday, a 5K on Thursday, a 10K on Friday, a half marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday. Disney has “Challenges” where you do all 4 races to complete their challenge. More on that below. Most runners travel in for this race and do multiple races!
In the full marathon, you run through all 3 theme parks (WDW, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom), ESPN Zone, and a Water Park. The race starts around 5am before parks open at 9a so you run through the empty theme parks. However, Mickey, Minnie and all the rest of the Disney characters will be in every park along the course cheering you on as you run by. You can stop and take pictures with them. We typically stop and take pictures with every character in their different outfits based on the park they’re in. In fact, if you’re still running by 9am (which most will be), you can even ride the rides!! They often will open rides up early for the runners before the park opens to the public so typically in Animal Kingdom, we’ll hit a roller coaster or two and then by the time we get to Epcot, we’ll grab a beer at one of the “countries” and try our best not to spill it as we dance/run to the finish line!! It is seriously a blast!
I’d say that most people dress up for this race. I’ve been tinkerbell, cinderella, snow white, minnie, tweedle dee, donald duck, and sleeping beauty. Disney has so many photo opportunities along the race courses that you’ll just have the best time with other runners and with your interaction with characters. For example, along beautiful green grassy roads between theme parks, they had characters from the Haunted Mansion digging a grave and you could lay near the grave for a photo opp. They have men in bow ties from Mary Poppins serenading you, guys from ABC’s the Bachelor there to take pics along the course, etc. You definitely don’t want to have music in your ear for this race. Leave the ipod at home. You don’t need it. There’s so much to do and see. The other runners are so much fun as well. Everyone is there to have a great time and make new friends. For example, when I was tinkerbell, I carried pixie dust on me. Someone dressed as Peter came running up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder and said “Tink, I’ve been looking everywhere for you! I need pixie dust to make me fly!” I dusted him with pixie dust and then tons of other runners came to me wanting pixie dust as well! I can’t explain just how fun this race is!!
Also, Disney knows how to throw a party…so plan on dancing at the pre-race parties at 4am (YES!). The RunDisney crew knew my group over the years at all the races so they’d always make sure to play Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle for us! Yes, we’d be dancing before the full marathon too. Then, at the after party, prepare to have an absolute blast! More dancing as Disney kicks it up a notch!
Plan for a 4-5 day adventure. Most people spend Wed-Sun for this race. You will want to stay in a Disney hotel because the free transportation will take you to all the theme parks, water parks, and Downtown Disney. Every hotel will be filled with runners so you have days of meeting people and getting pumped for each race. Theme park tickets are not included in the price of the race so it can get very pricey. However, it’s certainly an experience you’ll remember the rest of your life. Just be sure to not walk too much in the theme parks the days before the race. We find we were walking 25-30 miles a day just in the theme parks alone!! We tried to be careful, but we have way too much fun!
Now, there are other races you can do at this event as well. I highly recommend doing them if you can afford it and have enough training done. The Dopey and Goofey Challenges are FANTASTIC!! The Dopey Challenge is where you do the 5k on Thursday, 10k on Friday, half marathon on Saturday, and full marathon on Sunday. For this challenge, you’ll get the 4 medals from each race, plus a medal for the entire challenge, and a medal for the Goofey Challenge (full and half marathon). You get a total of 6 medals for this entire challenge. The races are all at 5a in the morning so you have the rest of the day to play and go to the parks! I’ve done the Dopey Challenge twice and I cannot recommend it enough. I would do it every year if I could. However, the costs do add up. The cost of the Dopey Challenge is about $500. Cost of the hotel for 4-5 nights (even if you share with a friend) is about $400-$500. Cost of flight to Florida (from CA) is about $500. The cost of theme parks for 4 days is about $500. It’s about a $2000 trip when everything is combined so it gets to be very pricey, which is why I did it for a couple years and then decided to start traveling the world with that money instead. Either way, I highly recommend doing it at least once in your life because it’s one of a kind and there’s absolutely nothing like it in the world!!
Oh yea, and the expo is at ESPN Zone so it is AWESOME! They have unique swag and costumes you can get for your race. Disney has all kinds of free swag like magical 26.2 tattoos, etc. It’s an amazing expo! Pick up some fairy wings, a tutu, and a sparkly headband or ears. You’re there to be a kid! Oh, and don’t think for a second this is just a women’s race. They actually have 50% men in this race too!! It’s fun for the whole family!
Perfect for: HAVING THE HAPPIEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE!!!
Time of Year: January
Getting in: Sign Up-However, this race typically sells out within an hour so you’ll want to be ready to sign up on the day it opens!
4.) Marine Corps Marathon (Washington DC)
Everything about this race will make you proud to be an American. It’s put on by the Marine Corps and they’re along the course yelling and motivating you to continue running! In the days leading up to the race, you’ll have a blast visiting all of the DC monuments and museums. It’s an incredibly humbling experience to learn about our US history and get to visit the places you’ve read about in history books. I felt so much pride running a race put on by our US Marine Corps.
First off, you start the race in a restricted area of the Pentagon. WHAT!? Yes, i said the PENTAGON!! Isn’t that amazing!!? I would never in my life get to do that for anything else! Then, you get to run by many of the US Monuments including Arlington Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Capitol building. I will say I can’t speak too much on the spectators as the race I did was pouring rain the entire time. There were still a ton of spectators (which was shocking considering the rain) so I’d imagine the spectators are in abundance during a sunny race! I really enjoyed everything about this race. The hill at the end is brutal, but just keep reminding yourself that the military doesn’t have an option to quit…that will make you keep on going and pushing through the pain!!
The expo was in an amazing location on the harbor and it was gorgeous! I’ve never seen that side of town so having to go there was so much fun. We got lobster rolls after on the water at a beautiful restaurant after. Plus, a replica of Air Force 1 is near the expo so you can walk down to it and take pictures!
Perfect for: History and American Patriotism!!!
Time of Year: late October
Getting in: Lottery- The random lottery for this race opens in Feb/March and you will be notified in April/May.
5.) LA Marathon
This marathon is special to me because it was my first marathon. It’s a destination marathon, meaning that you start and end in two different places. The starting line will be at Dodger Stadium and the finish line is at Santa Monica Pier. The race has a great expo and the course goes through many famous LA areas. If you’ve never been to LA, spend time days before to see all of the sights and get some sun at the beach! There’s nothing like finishing a race at the beach…the white sand and blue water with music blaring…you can’t help but sprint to the finish line at the home stretch so that you can have a blast at the post race party! It’s such a fantastic way to end a race!!
Perfect for: After Party on the beach and a destination race (You start at Dodger Stadium and end at the Santa Monica Pier)
Time of Year: March
Getting in: Lottery- Regular sign up for this race.
I hope you enjoyed my list and let me know if you’ve done or plan to do any of the races above! I love hearing about your experiences as well!! =) Happy Running!!