Top 26 Marathons in North America

There's a Marathon for Every Taste.
These Races Are the Best of the Best.

© 1998 42K(+) Press, Inc.

Participation in marathon running in North America has grown approximately 10 percent per year for the past five years. The steady increase has had a profound effect on existing marathons, swelling the entry list of some formerly modest races to the point where they must, like megamarathons, set entry limits.

The Rosetta stone of the current growth in marathoning was the 1996 "100th" running of the Boston Marathon, which created a qualifying frenzy that affected hundreds of other marathons. When Runner's World magazine declared the St. George Marathon in Utah as one of the best races in which to get a qualifying time for Boston, the organizers were thrown into a spin by the torrent of entries.

The huge marathons continue to grow, turning away thousands of supplicants. The mid-sized marathons grow steadily. Small marathons quickly grow to mid-sized marathons, occasionally outstripping the organizers' (and the courses') abilities to accommodate the new runners.

On the fringe there are other marathons, remote and unheralded, that manage in the midst of what appears to many to be madness to hold their own and maintain the unique style and substance they've exhibited for years, sometimes for decades.

The growth in marathoning is fed by Jeff Galloway's training programs across the continent, increasing numbers of Team In Training and other organized charity-oriented marathon training chapters, a new crop of how-to-train-for-the-marathon books, and the camaraderie of the Runner's World marathon pacing groups.

The current health of the marathon is reflected by the outrageous prerace success of the Rock'n'Roll Marathon, which set a record with nearly 20,000 entries in a first-ever race. In the midst of the growth, some marathons work diligently to maintain their down-home feel while others strive for stratospheric numbers and hype.

To say that there is a marathon for every taste is not an exaggeration. There are marathons for those who want to be part of a mega event, and on the other end of the spectrum there are races that are small and intimate and as low-key as a training run -- and there is every variation in between.

A marathon's very existence doesn't guarantee that it's a good event, however. Today's marathoners are more demanding and discerning than the rugged individualist marathoners of 20 years ago, sometimes to a fault. There are components of a marathon, however, which, if present in abundance, assure runners that the race is more than worth entering. Things like a good, accurately measured, safe course; a decent expo; a nicely designed T-shirt and a good pasta loading; adequate hotel facilities and cheerful and knowledgeable volunteers; good medical coverage; and good organization in general.

When Marathon & Beyond went looking for the best marathons in North America, we found we already had in our arsenal the yardstick by which to measure them: the 1,000-point criteria we use for our ongoing marathon review series carried in each issue.

But we were at a disadvantage. How could a limited staff possibly survey every marathon in North America? Fortunately, there was a logical solution. We tapped into a group that more than knows its way around marathons. The 50 & DC Marathon Group USA is a confederation of marathoners who have run one or more marathons in all 50 states and DC. Some have also run in every province and territory of Canada, and a few have run marathons on all seven continents. As of 1997 there are 171 members in the group from 43 states, 3 Canadian provinces, and Sweden. As of 1997, some 74 members have completed all 50 states and DC.

During 1996 and 1997 we were fascinated to follow Gordon Hartshorn's longest season in sports history during which he ran a marathon every weekend for 74 weeks (February 11, 1996, to July 6, 1997). We asked Gordon, veteran of a mere 224 marathons, to put together a group of 10 of his fellow 50 & DCers to rank (using the M&B 1,000-point criteria) for our readers the best marathons on the continent. In addition to Gordon Hartshorn, the panelists were Lois Berkowitz, Steve Boone, Jim Boyd, Joyce Hockensmith, Andy Kotulski, Bill Macy, Dean Rademaker, Clay Shaw, John Wallace, and Brent Weigner (learn more about our 11 panelists at the end of the survey, pages 33-37).

We asked for the Top 25 races but ended up with the Top 26 because there was a tie for #25. Without further ado, we present M&B's Top 26 Marathons in North America.

Note: When requesting a race entry form, please send along a stamped, self-addressed envelope.