Just like the last years, I give my you my take on the best marathons in 2009, i.e. amongst the ones I have participated in myself. Best does not necessarily mean ‘objectively best’ but does also emphasize the magnitude of the experience including ‘other’ factors such as city/nature facilities etc.
I have divided the marathons into four groups and as always, you find links to the races via ‘My marathons’ in the menu. You may notice that I have quite a lot of Danish runs on my list which both reflect that I have had most of my races here in Denmark this year… and that almost all those races have a very good level of organisation and experiences… this applies also to the races not in top 5. Keep it up, Denmark !
Incredibly, it looks like that I will reach +60 marathons completed in 2009 alone making it just below 170 in toto for me ultimo 2009.
Overall
1. Allermöher doublet + Beachmarathon weekend triplet (Germany, Denmark)
2. Zürich New Year (Switerzerland)
3. London (England)
4. Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
5. Samsoe (Denmark)
City marathons
1. London (England)
2. Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
3. Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
4. HCA Odense (Denmark)
5. Copenhagen (Denmark)
Nature runs
1. Storebaelt Nature (Denmark)
2. Rudersdal Cannonball 3 (Denmark)
3. Heide-Elbe (Germany)
4. Samsoe (Denmark)
5. Beachmarathon (Denmark)
Small races
1. Zürich New Year (Switerzerland)
2. Citroën Aalborg (Denmark)
3. Beer marathon (Denmark)
4. Vänersborg (Sweden)
5. Kalundborg 5 Taarns (Denmark)
These are lists based on my personal experiences, of course. To mentain memory of the best races ‘ever’, I have a category of the ‘all-time best’ marathons as well. Here, the big marathons do live up to their famous names !
Best ever
1. New York (USA)
2. Swiss Alpine 42K (Switerzerland)
3. Hamburg (Germany)
4. London (England)
5. Rome (Italy)