Last weekend was the California International Marathon – along with the USATF Marathon Championship. It was a day for records and blazing fast times – although one record that wasn’t set was for field size. CIM is typically among the largest races in the United States. But after peaking above 9,000 finishers in 2023, this … Read more
Last weekend was the 2025 Valencia Marathon. In the last few years, it has grown to be one of the largest races in the world. It’s not a Major, but it’s on the same level, and it competes with Berlin and Chicago for the title of the fastest marathon. It hasn’t yet produced a world … Read more
Feature Photo by Steven Pisano from Brooklyn, NY, USA – 2014 New York City Marathon, CC BY 2.0 For some people, the NYC Marathon is a once in a lifetime experience. For others, it’s part of a routine that takes place year after year. New York Road Runners maintains a list of runners who have completed 15 or more … Read more
Last weekend was the Philly Marathon. The last few years, the race has had over 10,000 finishers, and it’s once again one of the largest races in the country. I ran the race back in 2022, and it also happens to be one of my favorites. Although I didn’t run the race this year, I’m … Read more
Feature photo by Marc. A Hermann of the MTA – CC BY 2.0 The New York City Marathon is run on what is typically considered the toughest course of the original six Majors. Between the bridges and the hills into Central Park, there’s quite a bit of elevation gain throughout the race, and it doesn’t … Read more
Feature photo: Martineric from Lille, France., CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons In the lead up to the 2025 New York City Marathon, the Economist published a piece about the race. A central claim of the article, based on an analysis of finish times going back to the 1980’s: as the race fills with amateurs, … Read more
Last weekend was the 2025 Marine Corps Marathon – the 50th anniversary of the People’s Marathon. It’s consistently among the largest races in the United States, although it’s been somewhat smaller in recent years. After all of the Majors, I collect the results and write up a thorough analysis of the data. The most recent … Read more
For the latest on the possible outcomes for the cutoff time, check out the May Update on the 2027 Boston Cutoff. There are relatively few results remaining, so the projection won’t change much. But two key factors point to the actual cutoff being at least slightly higher than the final projection. The Tableau dashboard below … Read more
In early 2028, several hundred of the best runners in the United States will compete in the US Olympic Team Trials Marathon. Meeting this OTQ standard is a lofty goal – one that only the most talented and committed runners can strive for. In recent years, it has also become more difficult to achieve. After … Read more
The BAA made two changes to registration for the 2027 Boston Marathon. The more subtle change involved the start of the qualifying period and eliminating the ability to use a small subset of races to qualify for two different Boston Marathons. The big news was the new rules for downhill marathons. For years now, (some) … Read more