What are the marquee runs in 2013 like London Marathon, Great North Run etc.

Why worry about finishing near the back?  Nothing wrong with that!

True tbh, can see your point and meant  no disrespect by that. I would be tempted to do some quieter events like 10k etc next year as I am aiming to beat my PB of 51 minutes as I realised this year when I started taking times into account I did better. But all that wont be until next year due to knee rehab.

Sorry.  Managed to get a turbo session in...

Think being called Mark it is more likely to be a warlock hunt than a witch hunt.

Why should a 10 k be a quieter event and make you more likely to break your pb ?

Surely an event like I did on sunday with 250 good club athletes (plus me and the missus) be more likely drag you round  to a fast time ?

and the 5 k we did the other Wednesday evening is scarily fast...

Mark

Maybe start again, and ignore 'proper', 'main', 'marquee' etc.  List the top 5 things that you want from an event and maybe some suggestions will be forthcoming. Think in terms of crowd support, PB potential, scenery etc etc. If its recognition from the person in the street, then I think you have covered it with VLM and GNR.

BUPA Great Manchester Run gets BBC coverage. Its a 10k, but it is busy, so may not be good as you are looking to break your PB.

I have trouble understanding what you mean as a main event too.  it very much depends on where you come from.  The Great North isn't popular around my way, but there are loads of non-club, non-elite runners who enjoy the Great South, the Portsmouth Marathon, the Portsmouth half and the Santa run.  These are almost as well known as London and would be more likely to be mentioned around my way than the New York marathon.

As Also-ran says, give us an idea of the features that are important to you and we might be able to give some more specific help

Where I am it's Hastings half, Bexhill Tri, Brighton marathon and possibly 3 Forts that people are interested in. Those are the ones the locals have heard of and ask me if I'm doing / have done.

I hadn't heard of Great South / North whatever run til recently, same for London 10k and London Bupa 10k.

You need to create your own bucket list based on what you want out of it - high profile? Not sure that many races are that high profile to the non running public nor do I expect that many people know of many events outside of any given marathon. Lets face it, I'd never heard of the London marathon before I started running though I did know that there were hundreds of marathon events world wide.

I'd agree with the others and Also-ran. What do you want from an event (a decent goodie bag? medal? crowd support?) then you might get some other responses.

If you're looking to break your time - i'd have a look at the smaller events as you might find that you can get a quicker start and into it quicker - saying that - I know that the Great South Run (10miles) is a relatively fast race if you're near the front.

http://www.marathonrunnersdiary.com/races/uk-marathon-list.php

Don't know if you've seen this site before.

Also why not go over to the US site if you are wanting to travel.

It's also very simplistic to assume that smaller events are all about chasing times. The Grizzly (not that it is a small race really) is very much about the experience, not the time. In fact they used to change the course every year, so you had no idea what time you would do.

There are all sorts of races with all sorts of different features to inspire, challenge, motivate etc.

I would also highly recommend the Grizzly. Approx 20 miles of sheer pain and fun, its an acheivement just to get round. I guess the there are a few at the front who race it but for most its the experience of the challenge. It should be on everyones bucket list

yes the grizzly is definitely an event.........as is the lakeland 50............asis any race where I get food during the race......

the londonmarathon is a walking picnic...especially the beer and sausage at mile 17

 Don't forget the jaffa cakes, jelly babies and Percy Pigs.

My bad for just running straight past and not noticing.

Oh and while we're on the subject of walking picnics, how about Beachyhead marathon?

As for proper events, there's always Boston marathon. That has to be proper innit.

I stopped for 30 minutes to have a few beers..........had the family worried as they were tracking me from home and thought I was in trouyble as my splits suddenly stopped...but the lure of the beer and food was just too good.............

Dave The Ex- Spartan wrote (see)

Bands, pom poms, dancing girls, balloons ?

Amen to the dancing girls, always perks me up!
My list (of a sort..) is basically trying to tick off all/most of the European capitals which I combine with a short break/holiday. Others Grizzly yes - great event (although I race it so does that mean it's not an event...?)
Other targets are achieve GFA entry for London (9 seconds off last time ) and qualify for Boston.
Oh and one day do the Disney marathon - that looks fun. Oh and the Bacchus mara (wine!). Been a bit sidetracked with ultras this year though.

Been plenty of ideas on here so I think your main problem will be choosing which ones to do! Good luck.

Wine, did someone mention wine?

Marathon du Medoc

http://www.marathondumedoc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&tmpl=index_en

I did marathon du medoc this year and really loved it. It definitely wasnt a PB course but the atmosphere was fantasic.

I've also got disney marathon on my bucket list.