Related: The Benefits of Running in Hot Weather When temps creep above 59 degrees is when this begins to happen. Your body has to work harder to keep itself cool which slows your running pace. So, the best marathons are in the fall? And, if you want a shot at running a fast marathon time or nabbing a Boston Qualifier, you need to run your race before June in most parts of the country because otherwise it gets too hot. Maybe it’s because winter running is grueling? Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of fast and flat spring marathons in the U.S. While I still can, I want to see how fast a marathon time I can get.

I’m not rushing to sign up for the majors, including the Boston Marathon. I’m not interested in running famous or pretty marathons at this point. However, my legs said “not today, Whitney!” and locked up at mile 16 and I ran a 2:58.Īfter I licked my wounds, I started plotting for the next one. I lined up in Folsom, California, after being out of the sport for 2.5 years with injuries, ready to run a sub 2:50 marathon.

Related: My Experience Running the CIM Marathon with the best chances of nabbing a BQ.Īfter running the California International Marathon this year, one of the fastest marathon courses in the country with about one-third of runners qualifying for the Boston Marathon, I wanted to keep going on chipping away my marathon time.

Why I researched the fastest spring marathons Here are the 8 fastest marathons in the spring in the U.S. But I’ve done by research to find the fastest U.S. You’d think that would be easy to come by-but it’s actually not! Especially in the spring. I want the flattest and fastest marathon course I can find. When it comes to marathons, I don’t want to mess around with a slow marathon course. This year, Albany ended up being more than 27 miles–breaking the hearts of many would-be Boston Qualifiers…) Okay, so now I feel satisfied with those list of eight fast marathons in the spring to help you nab that marathon PR or BQ marathon time. This list is updated replacing the Albany Marathon in Georgia with the beautiful Bayshore Marathon in Michigan. UPDATED March 20, 2023: (Editor’s note: Friends, three times now I have had to update this list due to marathons becoming disorganized.

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