Leicester, Nottingham, Scotland or New York? Looking for advice from those that have run a marathon before

[lobsterandprawns]

I am looking to do a marathon between September and November this year. I have done half marathons before but never a full marathon.

For those of you that have run a marathon before, do you think it makes a big difference where you do it?

Leicester and Nottingham are within a couple of hours of where I live so less travelling but I've heard that the Loch Ness one has beautiful scenery so that might provide a bit of inspiration and help at the difficult points. I've heard that the NY marathon has a superb atmosphere and the sheer number of people around you can help when things get tough. It's a lot more expensive as you have to buy an international place but I'm happy to do that as a 40th birthday present to myself.

So is it better to run locally (ish) to avoid the travel? Does it make any difference what the place you're running in looks like to how you feel when you're going round?

Thanks for any advice you can provide

Hi Lobsterandprawns it's great you're thinking of doing a marathon. Where you run can make a difference as it is good to have landmarks and scenery and imo a large amount of supporters to cheer you on when things get tough. The Virgin London Marathon appealed to me for all these reasons and after years of trying to get in, I finally ran it in April 2014.

However I live in the South East so going to London was not a huge stretch but still meant staying with my DS overnight to avoid trying to get there on the day. You need to bear in mind that whilst fun and exciting running 26 miles is physically and mentally exhausting. If you did decide to run in New York you would also have to add on a long journey and jet lag.

I would suggest running one nearer where you live to start then if you want to do another in the future you could try further afield.

Hope this helps and I wish you all the best.

Loch Ness would be bloody tough for a first, not as scenic (!!) but hull is in September, it's flat, you get to run over the bridge. There's the Yorkshire marathon.
New York is amazing but I think you've missed out for this year. Ballots being drawn today?