Out of the two, I would choose Baystate marathon. Hartford has a tough last 10k with tired legs. I PR'd at Baystate. It is a smaller race as well. Good luck!

Farther afield but decent course and an excellent event is the Philadelphia marathon

Clarence DeMar if you will be ready by end of September and do not mind smaller(no) crowds. I will second the Philly suggestion too.

I ran Baystate as my first marathon last year. It's certainly as flat as everyone says, but the terrain itself is quite variable- the suburban parts are nice, but the more urban places with lots of cars (not to mention a bridge with ripped-up pavement where everyone essentially had to run single-file into traffic) were very distracting. Fast? Probably. Aesthetically pleasing? Certainly not. I'm probably going to run the Cape Cod marathon this year instead.

What about "Mystic Places" in CT? I've never run it, but I think a few others here have. It's in the middle (?) of October.

As a member of the Greater Lowell Road Runners, I suppose it falls on me to do the obligatory pro-BayState plug. I'll try to sound as unbiased as possible....

BayState was my first marathon. If you've never done a marathon before, I think this is a good first one. The course is very flat so you can get into a rhythm and not after to worry about what happens when you go uphill or downhill late in the race...as there are no hills. If you're looking for a quirky or exciting course, this probably isn't it. If you are looking for predictable and flat...this is where you should go. Predictable and flat can be good in certain cases. Having done a few marathons now, I actually find I prefer a few hills on a marathon course just to allow myself the chance to use different muscles during the race. However, I'm glad I did BayState as my first marathon since it was easier to train for just one type of terrain without hills.

While not much to write home about, the BayState course does have its scenic moments. I do enjoy running along the river near the Tyngsboro bridge. You have to run this section twice as there is a double loop. I kind of like running over bridges....and you cross three bridges four times during this marathon.

The ballpark finish is kind of neat. It allows a nice place for spectators to congregate and it is kind of fun running around the park during the last couple of tenths of a mile seeing "home" come closer and closer.

We try to organize the race better each year. Port-a-potties have been added to more spots than a couple of years ago. There are ample water and gatorade stops. We are pretty responsive to feedback from runners. We also care about putting on a good race. In fact, as an ex-member of the board of directors for GLRR...I can say we've definitely had some spirited discussions about how to improve it.

BayState is a good race. There a lot of other good races in New England too though. Lowell certainly isn't as scenic as Cape Cod but it does have a flatter and probably faster course. I don't consider the Lowell course ugly though. Sure you run by a couple of mini malls, but miles 5 to 10 of the Boston Marathon is even less of a postcard backdrop in my opinion...but that doesn't stop me from doing Boston.



------------------
http://www.geocities.com/frankgeo[/URL" target="_blank">