Publix Georgia Marathon : Official Thread

First, The Atlanta Marriot Downtown is only a block or two from the start.  It should be perfect.

The course is congested for the first 7ish miles, but then the halfers turn off.  I don't recall much about these miles. 

After that there is a really good hill after you go around a park.  I believe it's at 8.5 miles.  A lot of people push too hard on this hill and looked spent at the top.

Druid Hills is very tough.  It's about mile 16 - 20.  Very hilly.

The climb out of Piedmont Park (mile 22.5) is also very tough.  A lot of people end up walking this part.

It's definitely a tough course and you need to pace smart.

Natnegsplit can probably give you more details.  What is your goal time?

Hey, this is a tough course. Personally I think it is the second hardest road marathon course I have run--first is the old Atlanta thanksgiving race.

This will be my 6th year running it and I no longer shoot for a time goal. My pr on the course is 3:29 but I've run : 3:44, 3:38, 3:29, 3:41 and 3:55 on it. The 3:55 was the most fun. 3:44 was a med tent visit due to heat exhaustion.

Browndog is accurate in his assesment. The first 7 or so miles are unnoticable. 8-10 is where you can burn your match but you won't know it until you leave Piedmont park around 22 ish.  And then it will be too late because you will be among the throngs in the death march. 16-20 is rollers. I love this section and it is my favorite part of the course. Most do not share in my opinion on that though. My least favorit parts are 11-13 (boring strecth along decatur/railroad) and 23.5-25 part through Tech. Concrete jungle. Last mile is always okay for me since it is almost over then.

Weather will be your biggest deal breaker. The course is pretty unforgiving anyway and with anything less than prefect weather it can be pretty miserable if you go out too hard and it is warm/humid. Last few years though weather has been nice.

I have a blog with a race report from each year. You'll have to search the archives though. And the course was different for the first 3 years than it is now. 2011 and 10 are the only times the course was the same.  Some recaps may be in April. I am not very profiecient with my recaps.

Link: [email protected]

I've run in Charlotte and I agree that the terrain is similar. If you train on hills and can maintain your pace runs on them then I would think you will be fine. But again I caution that a too agressive goal on this particular course can have very unforgiving results--either with an all out bonk or with calf cramps (BTDT!). I can't say if your goal is too aggressive or not. Your half time is faster than mine but if I had a 1:33 half I too would probably shoot for sub 3:20. However a 7:15 pace is very aggressive. Isn't sub 3:20 a 7:35 pace?

I also wanted to add the Mcmillan calculator is really only good for predictions if your mileage is pretty high. I know for me it predicts a 3:21ish marathon but best I've managed is 3:26 and that is with avg 55mpw in training. I am trying to target higher mileage this cycle to see if I can get closer to 3:21.

I think it's high mileage + speed/tempo work to hit his numbers.  I've known a few runners who do it, and they all have crazy volume.  It's pretty rare to see a triathlete get even close to McMillan's marathon prediction.  My guess is that triathletes rarely go 100% run focused for 6 months prior to the mary, but that's just a guess.