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Jun 2016
4:22pm, 1 Jun 2016
3 posts
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Stellameister
On Big Sur again, they haven't yet advised (devised?) how they plan to run the ballot this year. But looks like it will be on the website during June then open for entries mid July.
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Jun 2016
12:52pm, 14 Jun 2016
4 posts
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Stellameister
Big Sur has announced ballot details for 2017 on their website (bsim.org) last night. Plenty of changes again, but looks to give lion's share to first timers and 'bucket listers'...
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Jun 2016
7:45pm, 23 Jun 2016
33,793 posts
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Foxy
on my bucket list for 2018 - 3 US trips will drain my wallet & hoping to do it with Boston in 2018 if I can find my mojo & a bit of speed ?
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Aug 2016
9:04pm, 1 Aug 2016
2,815 posts
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emdee
SF Marathon yesterday was good - decent expo with some bargains, free 5k Sat morning 'breakfast run' sort of thing with Dean Karnazes, plenty of free beer about (ok, mostly the non-alcoholic Erdinger sort but that's actually drinkable), stalls with bargains, free K-Taping, etc.
The race itself started at 5:30am which was a bit rough, still dark, but got light pretty quickly. Weather was cool and not too windy and even wet going over the Golden Gate bridge and back. Really cool to do that (I've run over it before but when clogged with tourists - this was actually on the road part as they closed a bunch of lanes) but due to the early morning low cloud there wasn't much of a view. San Francisco is hilly, so of course the route features hills! Nothing too horrific but not a PB race.
Due to the early hour, there's not a lot of support around at first so it's all a bit quiet for a while. That said, there were plenty of enthusiastic Police about (handling road closures etc) as well as official race staff/volunteers and even some workers on the bridge who seemed very happy for the opportunity to not work and cheer on the runners instead!
There's a half marathon that starts at the same time as the marathon and everyone's all mixed up together which is fine, until you get near the end of the half when there's all of a sudden more support around and the half runners are feeding off that "almost done" vibe.. they peel off to finish, marathon runners head off another way for a loop of the park or two and then there's a 2nd half marathon (starting at the halfway point) which starts and all of a sudden there's loads of fast and fresh half-marathoners charging past, which is a little dispiriting. That said, I did see my favourite sign of the race at this point - "I trained for a month to hold this sign" 
Oh yes, there was also an ultra (double marathon in this case) which started at midnight - one loop of the marathon in reverse and then start the official marathon with everyone else.
Once out of the park in the 2nd half there were more people about despite it still being early and there's a nice run through the Height-Ashbury neighbourhood but after that it's a bit more dismal with a tour of Dogpatch which is quite industrial, though there was a bar or something offering free beer - I had a couple of mouthfuls of lovely cold beer which was wonderful! Past AT&T Park (baseball stadium) and along the Embarcadero to the Ferry building to finish.
Lots of water stations (almost too many) - all had water and nuun, a couple of shot blok stations, bananas at one stage too. Finish was well organised and not too hectic and there was more free non-alcoholic beer and a proper beer garden with one free pint per (ID checked) runner. Quite weird to be sitting there at 9:30am having finished the race, got my medal, got my bag and got changed and enjoying a beer.
So all good... though expensive as hell (as many US marathons are) and not the fastest course out there. Not sure it would compete with the big ones (e.g. Boston, New York, Chicago) but good nonetheless.
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Aug 2016
10:35am, 2 Aug 2016
2,661 posts
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Icelandic Trigirl
Sounds like a fabulous run, emdee. Well done!
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Aug 2016
4:07pm, 12 Aug 2016
33,807 posts
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Foxy
Anyone else out for the marathon in Anchorage next week ?
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Aug 2016
10:35am, 31 Aug 2016
17,482 posts
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DeeGee
How was Anchorage? The USA is just that bit too far for me to get away with at the minute.
I've decided that as my wife has now visited more countries than me, I need to catch up. The ones she has that I haven't are Czech, Denmark, Sweden and Greece. The only one I've visited that she hasn't is Poland, but I'm getting nearer with a trip to Estonia next week. We're going to Denmark for a Legoland holiday (flight to Billund from Humberside, you see?) so if I can make a week of it I can steal Sweden as well.
Now, I'm considering Prague and Riga next year, I'm guessing Prague is moving into the "more expensive" category now, but I want to go there, and Riga can be got to direct from Doncaster. Has anyone done Riga? What's it like, both as a race and as a place?
Given that my main interest at the moment is Eastern Europe, are there any others far over that way that would be recommended? I've got Budapest on a long-term list, but I'm even thinking about Moscow or Kiev just now.
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Aug 2016
1:49pm, 31 Aug 2016
17,484 posts
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DeeGee
Or even Chisinau, although that looks to me to be a series of out and backs
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Aug 2016
1:51pm, 31 Aug 2016
6,872 posts
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becca7
Kosice is good. Long established race, very well organised and pretty much flat.
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Aug 2016
2:59pm, 31 Aug 2016
17,485 posts
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DeeGee
Many runners? It's the same weekend as Mablethorpe which is a big club day out for me, but I can be swayed for 2017? Would I prefer Kosice to Bratislava?
It does meet my direct flights out of Doncaster criterion.
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