ING Georgia Marathon

After some digging, I found a correctly mapped version of the 2008 proposed route. Here is the elevation profile.

ING 2008 course (proposed)

Course Elevation.

So, as far as elevation is concerned, looks like nothing too severe until you get to Auburn and the MLK section, which is a tough climb from mile 3 to 4, then a nice flat with some rollers until the climb up ponce around miles 9 through 10. Followed by a nice net decline through to mile 16. Miles 16 through 20 will be the most sustained difficult section of the course. That's through Druid hills. A nice down hill for a few miles, then a steep spike around 22.5 -23.5. A downhill through 24.5 and then uphill to the finish.

This will be a difficult course. Definitely a more difficult 2nd half than first half. (This is not the half mary course). Looks like it will be an easy first few miles where folks will be tempted to put in more effort than they should. I'm thinking this is not the course to try and negative split. My suggestion would be to maintain an even sustained effort, including up the hills. Don't power up them, but don't slow down either. There is a 232 foot difference between the lowest point, and the highest. Of course, elevation data is never exact, but this gives a pretty good picture of what to expect.

I will be running a 21 miler all on the course, in a week and a half. I'll definitely report more after that run.

I'm in for the full.

All I can say about that map is I hope everyone has been training on some hills!! We all know Atlanta is hilly, well those of us that live here, but this course takes us through some pretty hilly neighborhoods. Druid Hills..didn't get it's name for nothing. I knew I was gauranteed some climbing but seeing the map with the graph elevation makes it so clear now. This is going to be one tough race! Can't wait

Ran 21 miles mostly on the course on Saturday. If this course stays the same in future years, it will certainly gain a reputation for difficulty. It will be the toughest Marathon course I have ever done. Beats last years by a little bit. Now, let me put that in perspective so as to not scare anyone off. Most marathons are flat or slightly rolling. This one is hilly. It's very doable, but I would have to suggest that you probably should not expect your best time here.

I am still going to drive the course, cause I still have no idea what the course holds west of I-75. 

Below is a map of the course. Updated as of 2-15-08. I've colored red, where the signifigant hills are. Green where there are obvious downhills. This does not take into account little rolling hills. The course has next to no flats.. This is also the full course, not the half.

The blue arrow shows where a severly steep hill is. Not THAT long, but very steep. This could be a race killer as it comes at 8. Handle it wisely.

Thanks, this is good to see.  I prefer knowing what I'm in for. 

So, do you think they'd let me do the 1/2 marathon course twice so that I can bypass the hills?    I guess not.

I'm in for the full. I ran last year's and I have run the one on Thanksgiving but now this has me nervous:

Ran 21 miles mostly on the course on Saturday. If this course stays the same in future years, it will certainly gain a reputation for difficulty. It will be the toughest Marathon course I have ever done. Beats last years by a little bit. Now, let me put that in perspective so as to not scare anyone off. Most marathons are flat or slightly rolling. This one is hilly. It's very doable, but I would have to suggest that you probably should not expect your best time here.

Last year I was on target for a PR until about mile 22 and then heat and the loooonnngggg crawl up peachtree killed me.  I was only off my pr by 2 minutes and still BQ'd but still . . . so you are saying it worse? Great. What is worse? The beginning or the end?

Atl Runner, thanks for the course info.

Here is a link with elevation info - http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ga/atlanta/202313375

I am in for the full as well  - should be a fun course.

The run up North ave to Moreland, then the right turn at Candler park add some significant early hills. That Candler Park hill seemes especially nasty. Perhaps it was the wind snow and cold that accentuated it, but all I remember was thinking to myself.. wow.. this one is tough.

My assessment doesn't even take into account the GA tech section. I know techwood is a fairly nice downhill, but I also know there are some steep hills in that area. I plan on driving it, maybe even tonight.

If I had to assign it a number, I would put the course at about 10% more difficult than last years. That's entirely subjective, and you may disagree when you run the race. I just want to get the information out there for race strategy purposes.

I did a 3:29:27 on last years course. I would hope for the same on this years, but I am thinking a little slower. Not sure.

The above map has the half mary course as well.  Look for the light blue markers.  Looks like the marathon and half split off just after the 7 mile marker.

Here is the link:  http://www.inggeorgiamarathon.com/Assets/Route+Map+2008.pdf

okay, that looks pretty tough but I guess no tougher than 3 out of the 4 I've ran. I've been shooting for a 3:30 marathon and my current PR is 3:37 set at Chickamauga which is an easier course than ING or Atlanta. So I guess I will not be expecting a marathon PR but if I can beat last year's time that will be cool.

At any rate ATL runner it looks like that hill around 8 is about a 100ft elevation and that looks to be the biggest elevation jump. Just remember all to save something for the second half because mile 17/18 looks like another big elevation jump.

Let us know what the course looks like when you drive it.

Good luck to all and Doug it looks like a long slow crawl to the finish again. You'll be okay. Just run up that hill in front of your house like 10 times and I sure you will be fine. Heck, maybe I'll come join you. 

My first experience with a marathon was watching my sister do the NYC Marathon a few years ago.  I had a blast b/c every time we saw her we'd hop on the subway, get a few miles ahead of her and then we could cheer her on again.  By the end, we had seen her 3 or 4 times, not including the start and finish (not that I actually got to see her start).  It was a fun day for us and she later told us how inspiring it was for her.

Anyway, it seems that the ING does a good job of following MARTA lines.  Not being that familiar with MARTA myself, has anyone checked out the feasibility of how close the stations are to the actual marathon route?  If I was going to suggest a couple stations for my family to go to so that they could cheer me on a couple times which would be best?

My initial thoughts are the MARTA stations just before mile 5, at mile 11, and then between miles 23 & 24.  This was very easy to do in NYC, is this a crazy idea on the MARTA system?