Marathon 2026 - Alternatives to London

I did Belfast this year. It is a really good one and I enjoyed it. After Leeds (which is really hilly so not what you are after) it was my favourite.

I've also done Manchester which I enjoyed and York - never again, but I have done that 3 times due to it being one I can go and come back in a day so no hotels etc to factor into cost.

Before I picked Manchester last year I looked into the costs of a few. I looked at the marathon itself, a quick check on Booking dot come and travel costs. Edinburgh was the most expensive due to accommodation costs, but I was also looking at Copenhagen, Madrid and Geneva as I, too, was looking at Spring marathons. No idea if they are flat or hilly TBH, they were just ideas.

Hi @xsquared - yep Brighton is crazy busy but not as manic as London in terms of trying to find accommodation. I've done it a few different ways in the past- stayed in Hove but also stayed out on the railway line in Falmer. Much cheaper and only 10 mins or so on the train into Brighton for the start.

I was very pleased with my time! It is slightly hard to compare as I trained much better and more concertedly for this marathon than any previous, but I was aiming for 3hrs40 (stretch goal 3hrs38 to get London Good for Age time!) and sneaked in with 30s to spare on the GfA!!

To me it felt like a pretty speedy course - things started off a bit slow but the crowed thinned out fast and the first few miles are downhill which I found really got me in my stride. The last few miles were pretty tough going (aren't they always!) with a headwind, but I don't think this affected my time by more than a couple of minutes.

Hopefully that is helpful - happy to answer any other specific questions!

I did Edinburgh this year and really enjoyed it, and was very pleasantly surprised by the support from the locals after reading reviews like the above! I also thought it was lovely and speedy.

Downsides (which personally I do not think are major):

• Was a bit congested at the start as the waves are very big
• It's Scotland - we got alllllll the weather including beating sun and hail in the 3.5hrs I was running
• Getting back into town is a bit of a schlep but I actually think the walk to the busses meant I felt great later in teh day/the morning after!

My son also did Barcelona in March, that was pretty flat, and a lovely temperature.

I wouldn't recommend Edinburgh. It's not really in Edinburgh, you've got about 2 miles through the city centre then it's out through some suburbs and along the East Lothian coast. You run past the finish line at 10miles then have 8 miles out along one side of the coast road and back down the other! It's a nightmare for getting back into the city centre after the race and not easy for spectators to come and support you. It's also late in the spring and has a tendency to be a weekend of some sort of extreme weather - heatwave, gales, torrential rain, it's never just a nice calm ideal running temperature sort of weather! And if it's windy it usually comes from the west and will be in your face for the last 8 miles.

Paris is brilliant! Got my PB there. A massive event but no ballot. You start on Champs Élysées and finish Arc de Triomph. Loved it (well aside from at 20 miles. I never like any marathon at 20 miles). It’s also in April so great for training (week after London usually IIRC).

I've done Belfast twice and I think it's my favourite UK spring marathon now. It's an interesting course with good crowd support all the way round. The start area at Stormont is majestic, the finish area in a fenced-off corner of Ormeau Park is a little disappointing but there are plenty of good eating places just a short walk away (you pass a lot of them on Ormeau Road a couple of miles from the finish). If you're looking for a marathon to enjoy rather than just to do the business of getting a GFA time, it would be a good choice.

I haven't run Belfast myself @xsquared but friends who have say excellent things about it. Great city too. If you do it, report back!

My son ran Newport last year , it was well organised and had a good atmosphere.
you’d get pretty cheap accommodation as well!
https://newportwalesmarathon.co.uk/register-marathon/

It’s not the most attractive but Newport marathon is flat and is becoming more and more popular amongst the running community for those wanting to get a PB.

Shame you were too late for Manchester as that really is the best!

Edinburgh a good call as it's very fast. Same for Boston UK. Both dull in parts but if this is GFA business then that doesn't really matter.

I like Brighton but it is busier and not as fast.

Do not do York. It's not fast and it is boring as hell.

People have said good things about Portsmouth and Newport. I was considering Southampton but that’s two Laps, which im also not sure about.

im doing a random little marathon between bath and Bristol in October. It won’t be big crowds, but it’s flat, with the return being mostly down hill. I thought it might be a good one to see if I can try for a GFA place for London 2027.

Another vote for Dublin!

Essex has a few flat options. Probably on account of it being a pretty flat county!

I did Dublin and that’s been my fastest course, but I’m guessing Autumn isn’t what you’re after! Also not very exciting but Boston (Lincs) and Halstead (Essex) are fast courses

I’m doing my first at York this October. Also look at Chester, two weeks earlier, course is not terribly interesting but it’s flat apart from one hill. Very well organised and friendly.

Amsterdam. Easy enough to get to. Flat and a capital city. Nice course - or it was when I ran it, not sure if they've changed it since. Friendly supportive locals.

Boston U.K.

cheap to enter. cheap to stay. Support isn’t great on course as very rural but friendly and SO flat, I think only Valencia is a flatter course in Europe?

i was going to suggest Chester or York - they both get good reviews but are in the autumn. However, if you are going to do one in the autumn you could do Abingdon which is aimed at fast times.

Otherwise if you want to do spring, I've heard good things about Newport.

I like Shakespeare and have run GFA times there, but the option of turning off towards the finish at the halfway point is definitely a temptation and the long section of Greenway late in the second lap is a bit Marmite. I don't mind two-lappers. First lap, I know what to expect next time round. Second lap, I don't have to do this bit again, it's done. More than two laps and I might struggle.

I only mentioned spring marathons because presumably you want to get GFA times for 2027, but Chester (first weekend in October) is excellent too. Some say it's "hilly", but in reality it's mostly lightly undulating and potentially fast.

Another vote for York!

I did it in 2024 and think it could be my favourite. I’d have got a GFA time had it not been for a storm that came in for the last 15km, but I still managed a marathon PB by 15 minutes.

Edinburgh was awful…… once you get out of Musselburgh there’s….. nothing! No spectators or anything, totally soul destroying for me. It was a hot day too, thank god for the guy in his garden spraying people with his hosepipe!

I did it with the goal of a PB…… it was my slowest ever marathon!!

The walk back to the shuttle is is also 1/1.5km up a big hill - not what you need after running a marathon!

York?