First marathon (which one?)

Afternoon,

As I sit here at my desk (!) thinking about Sunday and how great I felt after finishing my first half-marathon, at Silverstone, I am now thinking about my first marathon.

I want to allow plenty of time to up my level from where I am currently to marathon-ready, so I am erring towards the Autumn.

I am someone who has to have soemthing to work / aim towards, I think next Spring is too far away, so I'm thinking this Autumn.

There seem to be a few around Septemeber / October, and my question is can anyone offer any words, etc, about which one would make for a good first marathon.

By good, I mean one that won't scare me off doing a subsequent one, one that people have run and found well organised and efficient, good atmosphere, etc.

I have heard the Chester Marathon is quite good.

Thank you!

Mark

Stating which part of the country you are in and where you are wiling to travel would help

No point recommending Bristol if you are up in Hull and dont want to travel more than several hours .......

If you're willing to travel, Amsterdam is a good one.

Very flat, very well-organised, start and finish in the Olympic stadium 

Thanks Wilkie, will check it out.

Hi David, I'm based in London and more than happy to travel anywhere UK / short-haul to Europe.

Mark  

Amsterdam was pretty reasonable on prices too. I have just booked the race, flights and hotel for it.

I have heard the race itself is a bit boring. Then again any run around a flat city route isn't going to thrill you much  A stadium finish is nice though.

I've got Amsterdam booked too. A couple of friends of mine are running it as well and we're turning it into a mini-holiday. 

I am very tempted to sign up for Amsterdam.

Thoguh I might do the Yorkshire Marathon, for charity, as my family live closeby, so would have lots of on-hand support!

Mark

I have signed-up for the Chester Marathon on 6th October.

The reviews I read are on the whole very positive and it's up north, so the family will be on close-hand for support.

And plenty of time to train.

Mark

That's really good to hear, as it'll be my first I wanted to pick one that hopefully won't put me off doing another one in the future!

And thank you for offering to answer any questions I have, I may just take you up on the offer.

Mark