First off, wow! You caught the bug. You'll love it, especially since you are likely to have a large contingent of boomers at whatever race you choose. I have $10 that says Tet and John will be there.  !http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/wink.gif|src=http://www.coolrunning.com/forums/wink.gif|border=0!

My first was Detroit last year. It's local for me and that's one reason I picked it. However, I never seriously considered any other race. Having read about it each fall for years, I knew that someday I would run it.

Good luck making your choice.
Mark

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Originally posted by Twocat:

Amazing how many people here have been running marathons for over a decade! My first was in 2005 at a local race in CT called the Mystic Places Marathon. It was not actually in Mystic bur rather in somewhat nearby Niantic. Maybe that helps explain why the race is no more!

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OH MY GOODNESS!
Here's ANOTHER one!

Twocat!
Remember the days prior to the Mystic Places Marathon in Niantic, 2005? Remember how stormy and rainy and torrential downpoury it was? Remember the threat for that weather to continue onto race day?

But....NO! The weather was IRC. The clouds parted and the sun shone and it was nice and chilly. A great day!

I could be a little biased... because I ran my personal best that day (4:05)... but, I thought it was a fantastic course with great support.

Sigh.
I liked that day. I met Mobobo that day. I ran the first 10K with the rocket scientist. My plan was to run the first 10K like a race and then run the next 20 miles easy. Worked like a charm. Oh, and I ate a Twix bar at mile 18. I think that helped.

Oops!  Sorry for the hijack, Tammy... Good luck in your marathon quest.  You'll do well.

I stayed in my city for my first one.  That was NY 1983.  I like to say that I felt so bad at the end (it was raining too) that I took a cab home, and I lived less than a mile from the finish.

My only other one was local too, in the city next door. That would be NY 2006. Slept in own bed, left the house at 6:50, caught bus a couple of miles away at 7, at the start in about an hour

I like to support such local events and help them keep the numbers up.

Denver Mile High Marathon - 1983. I was 25, ambitious, and didn't know any better. PR'd at 10k two weeks earlier, and my pace charts indicated that I could be near the lead pack. I got so nervous. Stopped drinking caffeine the week before, but still couldn't sleep well. Went out and drank three or four beers the night before. Why? Because I liked beer and I had read how Frank Shorter had done it the night before his 1972 Olympic win. The thing I didn't take into account was that the Olympic Marathon started at 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Mile High was bright and early at 8 am. I woke up with a hangover, which didn't dissipate through the first 10 miles.

It all went amazingly well but I had to stop twice in Washington Park to stretch cramping quads. I ran a 2:35, which is equivalent to 2:30 or 2:31 at sea level. Back then, that was a decent debut, but really nothing to write home about.

[http://oh yeah, why I did this one. I was going to school at CSU and Denver was only an hour away, plus my mom was living there, so it was a pretty easy decision for a first marathon|http://oh yeah, why I did this one. I was going to school at CSU and Denver was only an hour away, plus my mom was living there, so it was a pretty easy decision for a first marathon]

[http://This message has been edited by Nordic Berserker (edited Oct-26-2007).|http://This message has been edited by Nordic Berserker (edited Oct-26-2007).]

Tammy, my first Philadelphia 2005 was local, we stayed overnight at my sister's house which was within walking distance of the start. I was 60 YO and finished in 3:50 in IRC.

To cap it off got to meet a nice contingent of CR boomers.

New Jersey Waterfront Marathon 1989.  I did the 10K there in 1988 and then watched the Mens Olympic Trials.  I decided I was going to come back to run the full the next year.  It was also a local race for me, about an hour away from home.

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Originally posted by Econo:

I traveled halfway across the country to Omaha in Sept 05. 'Cuz that's where the Coolrunning B&B party was! It's important to have supporters there at the end; family and/or friends.

It was CouchtoMarathon in 9 months for me, and I didn't do particularly well, but I had a grand time and got to meet my imaginary pals!

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HEY! How'd I miss this one?

FOUR.
Count 'em.
FOUR.

I was there.
I was miserable in Omaha (no offense to Omahan's, it was just really humid that day, Sept. 2005)