The Columbus Marathon course

Out of the North High Street start by the Convention Center, past the LeVeque Tower, then east onto Broad. The road tilts up from the gun, so this mile costs more than the clock admits: pay it and move on.

Broad Street keeps rising as it leaves downtown, wide enough that the field spreads out without a fight. Hold the effort steady here and stop watching the pace.

The grade finally tips the other way on Broad. Free speed, but you have twenty three miles to spend it in, so take it with your legs and not your lungs.

The street stays wide and straight as downtown gives way to big houses and old trees, with a mild lift back into the grade. Every marker you pass carries a child's photograph and story, and the early ones are worth reading.

Right onto South Drexel and down to East Main, the first real change of direction in a while. The road drops as you turn, which makes the new rhythm easier to find than it should be.

Main Street runs west before Nelson Road turns you north, and that turn is where the long pull begins. Forty five feet arrive over the next mile at well under one percent, gentle enough to ignore and steady enough to matter.

The top of the Nelson Road rise comes early here and Broad Street takes you back west. Everything you spent climbing is now banked, so reset your breathing before you go chasing the pace back.

Back on Broad through Olde Towne East, then a left onto South 18th past the grand old houses. Ground this level is for eating and drinking, not racing.

18th Street delivers you onto Livingston Avenue heading west. Slightly downhill and quiet, and halfway is close enough now to start thinking about.

Livingston runs into the Third and Fourth Street pair and the course swings south. Double digits on a gentle descent: this is where a patient first hour starts paying you back.

German Village, and the streets get small: Deshler, Reinhard, short blocks and tight corners. Flat, but the turns eat momentum, so run the tangents instead of drifting to the crown of the road.

High Street points you north through the Brewery District and back toward the skyline. Dead level and straight, a mile to settle into before the field changes shape.

Downtown again with the LeVeque Tower back overhead, then a turn west onto Nationwide Boulevard. The road tips down and the half marathon ends near here while yours still has thirteen to go, so keep your hands off the accelerator.

Halfway lands as Park Street feeds you into Victorian Village on Buttles and Dennison. The half marathoners are gone, the road goes quiet and level, and your actual race starts now.

Neil Avenue north through Harrison West, flat and shaded and uneventful. Nothing happens this mile, which is the point: hold the number you have been holding.

Twelfth Avenue puts you on the Ohio State campus and College Road takes it from there. Level ground on a much bigger scale of building, which quietly makes your pace feel slower than it is.

Woodruff and then Woody Hayes Drive, the widest pavement of the day. The road runs downhill through here, so let the stride open while the course is still offering.

Kenny Road and West Lane Avenue hold the biggest climb on the course, and it arrives at the worst possible time. Shorten the stride, keep the effort flat, and ignore the watch until you are over the top.

The climbing is not finished: Lane Avenue keeps rising before North Star and Guilford turn you into Upper Arlington. Two uphill miles back to back at nineteen is the honest test of how you ran the first ten.

Quiet residential Upper Arlington on Guilford and Coventry, level at last. Twenty down, and every marker from here carries a kid who would take your legs in a heartbeat.

Coventry drops toward King Avenue and Grandview Avenue, and the course starts handing elevation back. Downhill on tired quads stings, so land softly and keep the cadence quick.

The steepest descent of the day runs down Grandview Avenue to First. Free time if your legs will take it and a wrecking ball if they will not, so check in honestly before you let go.

First Avenue heads east through Grandview with Edgehill and Bobcat mixed in. Still falling, still fast, and the finish is close enough now to do the arithmetic.

Third and Fifth Avenues bring you back toward the city on flat ground with small turns to negotiate. Whatever pace you think you have left, this is the mile that proves it is real.

Victorian Village a second time, Neil and Buttles and Park, the same streets you ran at halfway. Level road and shrinking blocks: pick a runner ahead of you and go get them.

Long Street to High Street with One Nationwide Plaza above you and the road falling toward the line. Twenty six children's faces are behind you now, so run this last stretch like you owe them something.