Marathon #160: Rehoboth Seashore Marathon, DE

3:48 finish, 261/885 place overall. Scenic race along the coast of southern Delaware. Flat course with good running weather; decent sub-four finish.

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Marathon #159 (second round state #36): Madison Marathon, WI

3:50 finish, 582/1874 place overall. Nice well supported race starting and finishing at the Wisconsin state capitol, running mostly through parks and residential areas. A little hilly, especially in the second half, but still managed an okay time.

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Photos

Marathon #158 (finished Canadian provinces): Moncton Legs for Literacy Marathon, NB, Canada

3:48 finish, 41/125 place overall. Small local charity race starting and finishing in downtown Moncton in eastern New Brunswick. Some nice scenery through parks and along riverfront bike paths. A few tough hills but mostly flat with ideal cool weather; decent finish time. Finally done with the provinces.

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Photos

Marathon #157 (Can. prov. #9): Newfoundland Provincial Marathon, St. John's, NL, Canada

3:53 finish, 14/55 place overall. Nice small marathon around St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland on the far eastern edge of Canada. Some scenic sections through the downtown area and along the waterfront. A little windy and hilly but nothing too crazy; still managed a sub-four finish.

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Photos

Marathon #156 (country #30): Paavo Nurmi Marathon, Turku, Finland

3:50 finish, 158/641 place overall. Nice race in and around Turku, a small city about two hours west of Helsinki. It’s named after the famous Finnish distance runner, Paavo Nurmi, who was from Turku and set Olympic records in the 1920s. Fairly scenic course through the historic downtown and riverfront area as well as nearby country. Some short rolling hills but mostly flat and not too hot; okay finish time.

Race map and details

Photos - Finland

Photos - Estonia

Marathon #155 (country #29): Kamphaeng Phet Marathon, Thailand

4:10 finish, 33/111 place overall. Unique race in and around the small city of Kamphaeng Phet in west-central Thailand, about halfway between Bangkok and Chiang Mai. It’s not visited as much as other parts of the country and English is barely spoken, but people are friendly and encouraging during the race, which did have a few other foreign runners. Marathon starts at 3am due to the intense heat and humidity, and even then it was about 80 degrees and oppressively muggy. With most of the race in the dark there isn’t much to see, but near the end - in the daylight for all but the fastest runners - it does go through a historical park with ancient city ruins and old Buddhist temples from the 1300s. Slower than usual finish time, as expected, due to the weather and short two-week turnaround from last marathon. 

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Photos*

*includes Thailand photos from 2022 side trip attached to Cambodia marathon

Marathon #154 (country #28): Midzomer Marathon, Apeldoorn, Netherlands

3:55 finish, 42/168 place overall. Small, rural race mostly on bike paths through woods and farmland near Apeldoorn, about an hour east of Amsterdam. Unusually late start time of 5pm made it warm for the first half, but cooled off with rain later. A little sluggish with the weather and the late start that I’m not used to, but still squeaked by under four hours.

Race map and details

Photos - Netherlands

Photos - Germany 

Marathon #153 (Can. prov. #8): Saskatchewan Marathon, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

3:51 finish, 82/244 place overall. Nice race mostly along the Saskatchewan River in and around Saskatoon. Some small rolling hills and a little windy, but otherwise ideal conditions. Good to be under four again after last two very hilly and slow races.

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Marathon #152 (country #27): Lisbon ECO Marathon, Portugal

4:53 finish, 88/143 place overall. Small, scenic but very tough course running mostly through Monsanto Park, just west of Lisbon. Race starts and finishes in the middle of the city, which is hilly to begin with, then quickly moves onto mostly unpaved paths and trails (which I’m very slow on) with very steep, endless hills. Much slower than average time but not unexpected considering the course - one of the hardest I’ve done aside from Pikes Peak and Zermatt.

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Photos

Marathon #151 (second round state #35): Mission Run in the Ozarks Marathon, Mountain View, AR

4:16 finish, 1/7 place overall. Tiny rural marathon in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas, about two hours north of Little Rock. Nice scenery but extremely hilly and unseasonably warm. Very friendly volunteers providing support along the course, but otherwise it was more like a solo training run. I did not need the state for sub-four (only for second round), and considering the conditions and short two-week turnaround from last marathon, I went in expecting the slow finish. Only goal was to get the state done with the added benefit of a long hilly training run for an even hillier course in Portugal next month.

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Marathon #150 (sub-four state #43, second round state #34): Des Moines St. Paddy's Marathon, IA

3:43 finish, 46/202 place overall. Nice small race mostly along park and riverfront paths, starting and finishing downtown in front of the Iowa state capitol. A little windy but otherwise ideal weather with a flat course; decent sub-four finish.

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Marathon #149 (second round state #33): Lost Dutchman Marathon, Apache Junction, AZ

3:45 finish. 42/320 place overall. Scenic desert race starting in the Superstition Mountains and finishing in Apache Junction, about 45 minutes east of Phoenix. A little hilly and warm near the end, but still about ten minutes faster than last time at this race 12 years ago.

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Marathon #148 (second round state #32): Mobile Marathon, AL

3:42 finish, 13/61 place overall. Small low-key race through mostly residential areas of Mobile, starting and finishing downtown. Very flat with ideal weather; better than average finish time.

Race map and details