Everyone knows coaching for a marathon is among the most demanding challenges; months of money and time are invested to arrange for one particular race day. When you can management your preparation, how a lot would you pay to extend your odds of a quick time? Enter The Marathon Challenge, a brand new race created to offer runners an opportunity to set a private finest on the flattest and quickest course, in a super-controlled setting—for C$750.
Ben Rosario, a U.S.-based marathon coach, initially launched The Marathon Challenge in Chandler, Ariz., in 2020, to assist marathoners hit Olympic qualifying instances in the course of the pandemic. Nonetheless, as in-person races returned, this occasion went on the again burner. Quick ahead to October 2024: Rosario has stop his teaching job with NAZ Elite to revive The Marathon Challenge, which is set to happen on Dec. 20 and 21, 2025. This time, the race isn’t only for the professionals.
Rosario has invited 1,000 of the world’s quickest amateurs (500 males, 500 girls) for US$520. These members, referred to as the Gold Wave, will probably be handled like execs, with facilities together with tempo teams, an indoor warmup space, loos, a bag drop-off in the beginning and two large fluid stations on every 6.75-km loop.
The race will probably be held at Wild Horse Move Resort in Chandler, on the identical criterium-style course utilized by The Marathon Challenge in 2020. The 2020 occasion noticed Canada’s Natasha Wodak run an Olympic customary time of two:26:17, which earned her a spot on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic group.
Rosario’s motivation for bringing the race again is to seize all the joy of the marathon and supply abnormal runners with “a better likelihood to set PRs in stunning climate on the flattest, quickest course you could possibly think about.”
Gold Wave registration is open solely to males who’ve run underneath 2:45:00 and girls who’ve run underneath 3:10:00 for the marathon, or underneath 1:17:30 (males) or 1:30:00 (girls or non-binary) within the half-marathon after Jan. 1, 2021.
The race goals to be the deepest and quickest marathon in North America. The skilled discipline may also be restricted to 100 males and 100 girls for US$209. Elite tempo teams will goal instances from 2:06:00 to 2:35:00. The race encourages execs who’ve run underneath 2:20:00 (males) or 2:40:00 (girls) to use.
The price of The Marathon Challenge is double the entry payment of the Boston Marathon, and triple the price of the Valencia Marathon in Spain (at the moment the quickest marathon on the earth, the place 5,200 runners ran underneath sub-3 in 2024.) But, there isn’t a race on the market that ensures a private finest, as you continue to must run 42.2 km.
Valencia Marathon sees report variety of sub-three-hour finishers
In the event you didn’t get into Chicago subsequent fall and are on the lookout for an alternate, quick possibility in North America, functions for The Marathon Challenge are open. For many who discover paying three-quarters of a grand too costly for a desert marathon, there’s additionally a 5K possibility, for a really reasonably priced US$50.
