Traxee - Women's Running - Run the Planet!

Maybe it’s the fact that I never got a summer vacation, but I have been pulled these last few weeks towards all kinds of travel brochures and dreams of visiting far-away lands. Just for kicks I Googled running vacations this morning and I found this great array of incredible marathons all over the planet. Here’s my dream marathon picks and the race descriptions. What is your marathon location fantasy? Have you lived yours?

Australia
The Sydney Marathon

The Sydney Marathon course is a combination of gradual climbs and long flat sections. The first 5k see the athletes running over the bridge and through the city. There are gentle gradual rises over the bridge and up Macquarie Street before the course heads into the Lady Macquaries Chair section. Very scenic with flat to rolling terrain. The next 15km are flat as the course goes through the eastern suburbs and Centennial Park before heading back through the city. The out and back section to Balmain is a combination of flat road and some up and down hill sections. Once back into the city the course turns left into Sussex Street and along Hickson Road before climbing up Townes and Dalgety Streets to the Observatory Hill and down into the Cahill Corkscrew and on to the Opera House forecourt finish line.

Italy
Venice Marathon

The start is located in Stra (a small country town about 25 km west of Venice), at the beginning of “Riviera del Brenta”, the beautiful riverside area where rich and noble Venetians built their vacation mansions in the 18th century.  The highlights of the course include Riviera del Brenta, with several 18th century mansions just next to the course (in particular the impressive “Villa Pisani” next to the marathon start line). Zattere, a 2-km-long embankment next to the Giudecca Canal, where athletes run close to the water. Pontoon Bridge over Grand Canal, a 170-meters-long floating bridge which is built the night before the marathon and dismantled the night after. St. Mark’s Square and Palazzo Ducale, renowned Venice landmarks. Finish line in Riva Sette Martiri, in the picturesque waterfront of St. Mark’s Basin. The first half of the race develops in a typical countryside landscape, following the course of the river in the “Riviera del Brenta”.  The marathon goes through the centre of Marghera and Mestre (i.e. the boroughs of the city of Venice located on the mainland), runs for 3 kilometers inside San Giuliano’s Park (the largest urban green area in Europe) and gets to Venice via the Liberty Bridge (a flat and straight bridge long just a little less than 4 kilometers). The race proceeds in the Venice port area and reaches the city centre for the last kilometers, which are simply unique. Marathoners run next to the Giudecca Canal to Punta della Dogana, where they cross the Grand Canal on a pontoon bridge, especially built for the race. Passing by Piazza San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale, the marathon route gets to the finish line located in Riva Sette Martiri.  

South Africa
Big Five Marathon

The Big Five Marathon® in South Africa brings together long distance runners from all over the world in one of the most spectacular “Big Five” game reserves in Africa. In these magnificent surroundings, one can combine exciting game drives on board custom made Land Cruisers with one of the most challenging marathon routes on the Adventure Marathon® circuit.

The route goes right through the habitat of the most famous African game: Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. No fences, no rivers, nothing at all separates the runners from the African wildlife. In these fascinating settings, we have selected a route that will prove challenging to even the most experienced long distance runners. Covering a variety of surfaces, ranging from deep sand to slippery rocks. For the race participants, the biggest challenge will be the extreme steep track going up the gorge, which separate the lower and the upper escarpments of the game reserve. Over the climb of three kilometres, the runners will experience a 500 metre increase in altitude, and sloped sections over 40 degrees. A unique race in spectacular surroundings.

Here is one runner’s post about this one:

“The marathon and half marathon went right through the game reserve. There were no fences, rivers or any baracades between us and the animals. The half marathon (23K) started up a very steep incline for about 2 miles and then continued through a challenging hilly course. The scenery was amazing. I saw many impalas, wildbeasts, zebras and other animals. I was forced to stop at one point because a rhino was standing in the middle of the trail. I watched as zebras and wildbeasts made their way across the bush. When I finally made it to the finish line, there was a giant ostrich there to greet me.”

New Zealand
Routeburn Classic (38K)

I simply cannot describe this to you. Watch the video below. Wow! Lots of women runners too!

I am telling you, people who run Ultras are not like the rest of us...though I long to do it myself one day. I looked up a couple of training plans for +30K races and all of them involve running up to 100 miles a week. I just need someone to show me how to find the time. I would so be there.

Posted by: bmoore on Sep 11, 2008 at 02:55 PM

All. All of the Above. I have gone abroad with school, but never to run a marathon. Crazy video. water? Is it safe to run up mountains after you have drenched your feet in a river?

Posted by: Karen on Sep 10, 2008 at 05:00 PM