How to Find the Right Race for Speed Success

Chasing a personal-best 5K or a Boston qualifier?

The difference between success and disappointment often comes down to choosing the right race. Here’s how to stack the deck in your favor.

Other than qualifying windows, weather is probably the biggest thing to consider when it comes to timing, especially for a fast half or full marathon—that’s because the longer you’re out there, the more the elements can alter your race tactics. Factor in both race-day forecasts and your training climate, says Lara Rogers, coach for GRC Elite, Summer Running Gear.

Many runners—including those in the Midwest—perform their best after training through summer for a fall race. “That crisp, cool air on race day after training in the heat” can lead to faster times, says Becki Spellman, a four-time U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier and coach. In fact, most studies Trials of Miles.

That said, “relative to who athletes are and where they live, temperature isn’t always temperature,” says coach James McKirdy of the McKirdy Trained coaching collective. For example, an athlete training through a Florida winter may have an advantage in a spring race that’s warm and humid, simply because they’re better acclimated.

That’s provided, of course, that you run the time trials, or all-out efforts. Take Project 13.1 from Trials of Miles or the Marathon Training Tips for First Timers, which McKirdy organizes for runners eyeing a personal best in the 10K or marathon or a specific goal, such as breaking 3 or 4 hours.

To find other fast courses, scope out the race website for details about the course layout and elevation. “For any distance, tons of turns stink,” Spellman says. “They slow you down, they take your momentum.” The faster you’re going, the more a hairpin or switchback can throw you off your rhythm, making straight courses especially important for a speedy 5K or 10K, Rogers says.

Curves with a wider radius, such as those you might find in a looped course, have only a negligible impact on finishing times over distances as long as a half and full marathon, according to researchers at California State University and University of Colorado, Boulder.

That’s provided, of course, that you run the tangents—the shortest possible routes around turns. Running an extra quarter mile by taking turns wide adds more than 2 minutes to a 4-hour marathon; running 6.3 or 6.4 miles in a 10K at an 8-minute pace tacks a full minute onto your total, McKirdy points out. That’s why he marks the tangents in chalk on all his courses.

As for elevation: For shorter distances, such as 5K or 10K, “hands down, you’re going to run faster on a flat course,” Spellman says.

For longer distances, your mileage—or in this case, your pacing—may vary. Flat courses like the Chicago Marathon and Berlin Marathon is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to suggest they’re the fastest. But some people—Spellman included—prefer a slightly rolling marathon course, like Grandma’s Marathon or the California International Marathon, because they vary the demands on your muscles. You might not know your ideal marathon course for your first crack at the distance, but once you’ve run a few, you’ll probably get a sense of which camp you fall into.

And then there are downhill marathons, fair game for anyone not aiming for a world record. But be warned, they’re not always as easy as they seem: “I have absolutely had people run fast at them, but they can beat you up if you’re not ready for it,” Spellman says.

If you can’t of the McKirdy Trained where you’ll live, you’ll want to hit the gym to strengthen your quads and other leg muscles, so they can better withstand the significant eccentric contractions practice downhill running.

Check satellite photos, watch videos, or ask around about the race surface. McKirdy estimates that loose rocks, potholes, or otherwise treacherous terrain can add 2 to 4 seconds per mile. Spellman has had racers fail to realize they’ll be on a crushed limestone path instead of a road—and pay for it. “You lose a little bit every step with slip, and it adds up,” she says.

If a small section of a marathon is cobblestone, brick, or another rough surface, it might not make or break you, unless you’re so afraid of turning an ankle that you slow down considerably, Spellman says.

For half and full marathons, looped courses work well for many athletes. They naturally break the race into chunks, an effective strategy for making long distances more mentally manageable. And if you have spectators or even a coach there to support you, seeing them at regular intervals can provide a further boost, Spellman says.

Another advantage of loops: They allow easier access to fluids and fuel. Some, such as McKirdy Micro Marathons and the Spring Chance BQ.2 and Last Chance BQ.2 races outside Chicago, even offer the same type of personalized bottle support that’s typically reserved for elites.

“I believe—especially in the marathon—that is a drastically underestimated advantage that professionals have over the masses,” McKirdy says.

In large races, you might lose time bobbing and weaving around slower athletes, especially if you start toward the back of a given pace corral. But you also don’t want to be running all by yourself. Before registering for a smaller event, scope out previous results to make sure people are running close to the times you’re aiming for, Rogers says.

Spellman ran her personal best of 2:40:16 at the 2009 Twin Cities Marathon, which also doubled as the U.S. women’s championships and a qualifying race for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials. “I knew there would be people to run with and people to go after, and there was no way I was going to be alone,” she says. “If you’re in a race and you’re flying solo, it’s really hard to convince yourself to keep moving.”

Pacers and pace groups can be helpful, but only if they’re accurate—and unless you know them personally or have confidence in the race organizer’s vetting process, you’re taking a bit of a chance, McKirdy says. Often, amateur pacers go out too fast or aim to bank time, which can backfire in the later miles for many runners.

While all these details matter, keep in mind that there may be tradeoffs involved in hauling yourself halfway across the country in pursuit of the flattest, smoothest, straightest course. That’s especially true if you’re tight on time.

“Say you’re flying from New York City to run Eugene [Oregon]—do you have two extra days to get out there and make sure you’re hydrated and ready to go and feel calm? Or is it going to be more like, you get your feet on the ground, you go to bed and you wake up the next morning and race?” Spellman says. “Because that’s probably not logistically the best way to feel ready.”

Even a course that’s “slower” on paper might be better if it means you can sleep soundly in your own bed, have easy access to the foods you’re familiar with, and avoid anxiety are known for world records, and studies.

And then there’s the emotional connection to a familiar or hometown race. Spellman—a two-time champion at both the half and full distance at the Akron Marathon race series in Ohio—says that if you’ve conquered a course once before, it makes sense to return there.

“Athletes tend to run well at races they’ve run well at, and it’s because they go on with a little bit of confidence,” she says. The key is to remember that even if that race felt effortless in retrospect, you’ll likely still have to work hard to run your best. Brace yourself for that, and you might have a repeat breakthrough, she says.

Meanwhile, if you’ve had a bad race on a given course, that might add extra anxiety that can hamper your performance, Rogers says. But that depends somewhat on your personality: “There are those few people out there who want redemption—who are all in on flipping the switch on that experience,” she says. If that’s you, feel free to harness that motivation when you want a fast time.

Of course, even if you choose your course carefully, things can still go wrong. That doesn’t mean you can’t reach your goal. Spellman is proof: When injury prevented her from running her debut marathon on the flat, fast course nearby her in Columbus in 2007, she pivoted to the Austin Marathon instead.

Despite the hills, she finished second in 2:43:42—good enough to qualify for that year’s Olympic Marathon Trials. “I was able to get there and run healthy and have a great race,” she says. “I learned there are different ways to get the outcome you want and being adaptable is really important.”

Cindy Kuzma

Contributing Writer

Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.