What is the hardest/hilliest marathon of a major US city

IMO, weather is the deciding factor on what makes a marathon hard, and it's never a constant.

Why dont you guys stop being bishes. Its easy to find a trail marathon with 5000-7000 feet of elevation gain. Run that in under 3:30 and you're fast and tough.

This is a factor and it's why I didnt just title it hilliest. Atlanta's weather I'm guessing is worse than san Fran's so even with less elevation it may be harder. Same if the roads are completely torn up. This is meant as a subjective debate but we have some clear contenders

Looks like #39 to me

Baltimore isn't nearly as difficult as NY or Boston. There are two long hills (up and down), but they aren't that steep in either direction, and when you're not on those hills, it's flat and fast. No rollers at all.

Not sure it’s the hardest but Seattle is tough w 1231 elevation gain and the weather. Always cold, and often rainy/windy.

findmymarathon.com

Seattle Marathon | Race Info | Seattle, WA

Date: Nov 26, 2023 | Course Score: 96.95 - 21st fastest in WA & 364th fastest in USA | Boston Qualifier?: Yes | BQ%: 8.0% | 1,246 Finishers | Course is Hilly & on Road/Pavement | Temperature High/Low: 46F / 36F | Elevation Ma...

Link:findmymarathon.com/race-detail.php?zna...

Is it safe to run in Baltimore?

No, atleast a dozen contestants die a year during the race.

The Seattle marathon this year has just shy of 1700 ft of gain according to the course map

plotaroute.com

2023 UW Medicine Seattle Marathon on plotaroute.com

Route map for '2023 UW Medicine Seattle Marathon' - a 42.8km running route near Belltown, US. Plotted with the plotaroute.com route planner.

Link:www.plotaroute.com/route/2294099

It's #79 metro area:

en.wikipedia.org

Metropolitan statistical area

In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core (Census Bureau-defined Urban Area) and close economic ties throughout the region. Such...

Link:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_sta...

Cincinnati's Flying Pig is somewhere closer to the top. It has a lot of elevation in the 1st half. It's not as hilly as some of the other mentioned, I'm sure. But it's the 1st Sunday in May and that's just a little too late in the year for a cool marathon. It's typically warm and humid after you've been training in the cold all spring.

Metropolitan (Greater Nashville Area) Nashville is the 35th largest metropolitan area in the US.

The Flying Monkey Marathon has an elevation gain of 3,600 feet and a loss of 3,600 feet to finish back at the start. It has about a 1/4 mile of grass at the start and finish, but otherwise it's all pavement.

For arguments sake, when I am running a tough hilly Marathon the population of the area I am running in does not really matter to me. I have run many tough hilly Marathons that were not in a city.

Again, I am not sure I understand the correlation between a big city Marathon and a rural Marathon if the only comparison is elevation profile?

I ran 10 marathons. Atlanta 1X (1999 old course) Atlanta was an absolute killer! I ran Pittsburgh (2003) and Atlanta was 10X tougher. Pitt had a big hill around the 11 mile mark but the back half had some good downhills as Pitt is the only marathon I came within 30 sec of neg splitting

The big city flagship marathon is a beast all its own. It's basically a celebration or ad for the city and its neighborhoods, and fitness in general (see: the expo) and meanwhile the quality of the running is almost completely beside the point. No one cares if you go torture yourself running a 1000 foot gain loop in the woods for hours on end but if you tell a normie you ran the San Francisco Marathon and It Was Hard they will be impressed.

In today's monoculture hellscape of identical corporate chain restaurants and identical nightly setlists by national touring pop bands, perhaps the big city marathon course represents a final frontier of sorts, a final chance to experience something different. Discuss.

Oakland 'thon is way harder than SF

ATLANTA THOUGHTS

ran and won Atlanta (Publix Atlanta technically) a few years ago, my strava had it at 1,476 ft of gain. ended up with perfect weather

ran ~8 mins faster and PR'd at Boston ~1 month later and had a magic day thinking wow this is what a fast marathon course feels like (of course I know how that many would not necessarily label Boston as "fast)

Strava had me at 1,361 ft for the Trials in ATL, I think technically a faster course than Publix ATL marathon but with the wind and the aggressive pace it felt harder. did well but pushed my limits.

ran Georgia Marathon for my first marathon (completely different course- out to Decatur from Downtown and back, no longer exists bc Publix Atlanta took its place), Strava had me at 1,605 ft, had a great time, no expectations, no fueling plan, didn't need one, blessed to have had such a wonderful introduction to marathoning, top 5, definitely a harder course than any of the above

Old Atlanta Marathon course: used to be on Thanksgiving (now only a Half), before my running days but my Mom did it back in the day and, as another poster mentioned, Paces Ferry is no joke- out in Buckhead (ritzy) area and the hills are relentless. was there this weekend. tough stuff.

- Atlanta lifer (and lover), high mileage, get ~5,000-6,500ft of elevation per week in marathon training, all city streets from my door.

Great point on individuality. Radio stations too are now the same thing--same songs every few hours from the same bands. No B-cuts either.

Air Force--marathon on the runways.

MCM--surge up the first hill like Suribachi.

Boston--'Nuff said.

Columbus--Angel Mile (Mile 11, deceptive grade), tribute to fallen children who died :( and a lap around the OSU stadium

Cinci--Pig and lots of hills

Atlanta--Being near the OTs or part of that to a degree (I think the courses overlap or are near each other)

Disney--wear a costume and run 48.6 miles in 4 days if you want

Raleigh's City of Oaks Marathon belongs in this discussion:

+1,123 ft / -1,151 ft with the worst uphill coming between miles 21-23. Plus, half of the course (and most of the 2nd half) is on a narrow greenway that has numerous momentum-killing lumps/bumps, tight turns, and steep little hills. I live there and don't even like to run that part of the course for regular runs, let alone during a race.