How to Choose Your First Marathon

Give yourself 16 to 20 weeks

Count back from race day. If you can run 3 to 4 days a week comfortably right now, 16 weeks of buildup is enough. Coming from the couch, give it closer to six months. That usually means picking a race at least four months out, which is exactly why the Race Finder covers a full year ahead.

Pick boring weather over a cool destination

Heat ruins more first marathons than hills do. Late fall and early spring races give you cool race mornings and a summer or winter of training. Start with the fall calendar or spring calendar.

Field size matters more than you think

A race with a few thousand runners gives you aid stations every couple of miles, crowds when it hurts, and pacers to lock onto. A 40-person backroads marathon is a beautiful thing, but it is a lonely place to learn miles 20 through 26.

Flat first, scenic later

Your first goal is finishing strong, not summiting something. Save the mountain races for marathon number two; they will still be there, mostly in Colorado and Utah.

Stay close to home

Sleeping in your own bed, eating your normal breakfast, and having your people at mile 22 beats any destination medal. Start with your state's page and see what is within an hour's drive. There are more marathons near you than you think.