Back when I was racing marathons (1986-1996) I wanted to run fast, but it was a lot harder then to research courses and figure out which races gave me the best chance to run a good time. You couldn't just call up a race's webpage and look at the course profile. You could find race results for a lot of races in Runner's World, New England Runner, Running Times, etc., but it would only be for the top finishers. A lot of it back then was word of mouth, or I'd ask my coach what he knew, because he raced a lot.

Today, it's so much easier to do the research. If you're like me and you want to race fast courses, here is your proof that M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon is the race for you!

What about deeper down in the results, runners under 2:20, 2:30, 2:45, 3:00? By any metric VCM is extremely competitive for runners in those ranges.

• Sub 2:20...VCM had 2 under 2:20, 18 US marathons had 3 or more. Chicago was the leader with 27 finishers under 2:20.
• Sub 2:30...VCM had 4 under 2:30, 22 US marathons had 5 or more. Boston was the leader with 83 finishers under 2:30.
• Sub 2:45...VCM had 26 under 2:45, 16 US marathons had 27 or more. Boston was again the leader with 478, which surprised me. I expected NYC, with nearly 3 times as many finishers, would have more sub 2:45 finishers than Boston, but NYC was a distant 3rd at this data point with 165 under 2:45.
• Sub 3:00...VCM had 94 under 3:00, only 14 US marathons had more than that. No surprise, Boston, Chicago, and NYC were far ahead of anyone else in terms of the number of sub 3 hour finishers.

These statistics are all similar to the last time we checked, which was 2010. No matter whether you're a 3 hour marathoner or you're out there for 4-5-6 hours, the point is that the VCM course lends itself to being a lot faster than your average marathon course. Maybe it's the 100' elevation difference between the start line and the finish line? Maybe it's that the last 4.5 miles are nearly flat on the bike-path alongside Lake Champlain? Maybe it's that there are only 2 real hills of note on our course, just enough to enable a runner to switch gears for a few minutes? Maybe it's our awesome spectators who give you so much energy?

Whatever the reason, if it's your time to run a PR or your best race of the year you'll want to run the Vermont City Marathon on May 24, 2015!

The M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon is the largest sporting event in Vermont with over 8000 runners competing in the marathon and relay events. It is a fast and spectator friendly course; highlighting the historic city streets as well as the majestic lake and mountain views of Burlington, VT. For more information about the event or to get involved, go to www.runvcm.org.

 

Joe Connelly

M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon Technical Director