Richmond Marathon

If you like a course that showcases a beautiful river, great neighborhoods full of energetic spectators, and lots of friendly, helpful volunteers then Richmond is for you! Although it is a big marathon it is well executed from packet pick-up to race start to a fun celebration finish! They even throw in a very nice downhill finish to help you soar across the finish line. The whole town gets behind the race, too, and this truly makes for an excellent marathon experience.

This course has only slight inclines and declines- no real hills to speak of. Plenty of trees provided a lot of shade and the weather on the 14th was perfect. The race organizers did an excellent job especially considering having to work with the COVID restrictions. I'm glad that I chose this for my Virginia marathon!

The Richmond Marathon takes you along sections of the James River with spectacular views of rapids, unexpected for an urban run! I did this race as a last minute registration, yet it was easy to get everything I needed. The expo was a good size, free parking and plenty of volunteers to make getting your bib a breeze. A number of motels are near the starting area, but you will pay a premium for it! There also a large number of parking lots, so getting to the race is easy. The weather was cold and windy, but realtively good conditions for distance running. I was able to PR by over 10 minutes. The start corrals for the full and half are separated, which made for easy dry bag drop and less crowds for port-a -pots. A nice feature for this race is a reduction in the use of plastic, there is no bag given to you when you get your bib/ t-shirt and you do not get a dry bag, you bring your own. Race was organized very well, plenty of water/Power Ade and port-a-pots along the course. Two Gu shot areas, several junk food areas and one pickle juice area. They also provided wet towels, although it was not needed. The course is very scenic, a few hills and one long bridge of about 1 mile. The finish line is all downhill, for about a half mile! Nice finish location, although it was very crowded. Food was OK, nothing special. Massages and yoga were offered for free at the finish area as well. Nice medal, long sleeve tech shirt, a fleece blanket and a ball cap were given out. With the exception of the Marine Corp Marathon, I think this is the best marathon to do in Virginia. Friendly people indeed!