Mileage Run Double Marathons: Fall-Winter 2013

This posting is devoted to listing all the double marathons that are possible to do over the weekend. I had a friend who was running a few doubles as he was gunning for top tier Marathon Maniac status in the memory of his father.

Most of these doubles occur in different states, so its a great and convenient way to get all 50 states if you can just double them up on the same trip! There are a few in the same state, in case you want to qualify for a higher tier MM status on number of marathons instead of number of marathons in different states/countries.

The race directors for most of these marathons know that people may do them as a double so they are much more likely to have packet pickup for the day of the race because of logistics of running two marathons on consecutive days. There are a bunch here in the Northeast as all the states are so close. However, some involve extensive drives (~300 miles) and others are difficult to do because of the early packet pickup times the day before. Many also involve open jaw flights as you will be flying into one airport and flying out of another. This definitely makes it harder to book as a mileage run.

As MM is a large close community, there are at least a few people doing any one of these marathons. Arranging another maniac to pick up your packet is fairly common and gets around the packet pickup limitation of some of these doubles. This is one of the biggest perk of being a MM. You can use the MM message boards to enlist the help of fellow maniacs as many of them have been in the same position before. Some people also ask if they want to carpool for the doubles or share hotel rooms. You have to save money when you can if you’re running so many marathons a year!

Edit: Will Run for Miles mentioned how there is a list of doubles on the 50states.org website: http://50statesmarathonclub.com/doubles.html. This list is rather outdated and some marathon dates have changed weekends. There is also a gadget on the RunningintheUSA website that has a search for these doubles: http://www.runningintheusa.com/Race/NearbyOnConsecutiveDays.aspx. This gadget is has the updated information. I will be using these websites to narrow down a list that are feasible on a weekend and also close to major airports.

The majority of the list is in Fall to Winter 2013 but eventually there will be a list on the main page listing all the doubles I can find. I didn’t realize there were this many.

Doubles List Fall-Winter 2013

Sept 8-9

(235mi, 3.5 hr drive in between)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
9-7-13 Woodstock Pinckney, MI Yes DTW 60mi
9-8-13 Hall of Fame City Canton, OH Yes CLE 60mi

Fly into Detroit Friday night. Can fly out of Detroit, Cleveland, or Pittsburgh after the Sunday Marathon. It is about 235mi between marathons or about a 3.5hr drive.

(190 mi in between, 3.5 hr drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
9-7-13 Lake Chelan Shore to Shore Lake Chelan, WA Yes SEA 190mi
9-8-13 Skagit Flats Burlington, WA Yes SEA 65mi

The first marathon is difficult to get to. Fly into Seattle and drive about 190 miles to Lake Chelan. Afterwards, drive about 190mi or 3.5 hrs to Burlington, WA. After marathon, fly out of SEA after a short one hour drive.

(230 miles in between, 4.5hr drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
9-7-13 Salmon Salmon, ID Yes BZN 230mi
9-8-13 Bozeman Bozeman, MT 8pm BZN

Fly into Bozeman Airport and drive 230 miles to Salmon, ID Friday night, or fly into SLC and drive 375 miles (5.5hrs). Then drive 230 miles or 4.5 hrs to Bozeman before 8pm to pickup your race packet. Fly out of BZN or drive 400 miles or 6 hours to fly out of SLC. Best option is to fly in/out of Bozeman.

(6 hour drive in between)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
9-7-13 Superior Falls Trail Two Harbors, MN Yes MSP 186mi
9-8-13 Sioux Falls Sioux Falls, SD Yes MSP 233mi

Fly into MSP and drive 5 hrs north to Two Harbors, MN Friday night. After the first marathon, Drive 6 hours to Sioux Falls, SD. After the second marathon, drive 4 hours to fly out of MSP.

Sept 14-15

(216mi, 3:30 drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
9-14-13 Hagg Lake Hybrid Hagg Lake, OR Yes PDX 1hr
9-15-13 The Tunnel Lite North Bend, WA Yes SEA 30min

You can fly into either PDX or SEA and drive about 200 miles. I’ve taken a late flight Friday night out of BOS to get to SEA by midnight so its possible to do this double without taking time off. Drive about 3.5 hrs after Hagg Lake to North Bend, WA, 30 minutes north of Seattle. Fly out of SEA, or PDX with about a 200 mile drive.

Sept 21-22

(186mi, 3.5hr drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
9-21-13 Top of Utah Logan, UT Yes SLC 80mi
9-22-13 Jackson Hole Jackson, WY ? JAC

Fly into SLC for the first marathon. Then drive about 190 miles or 3.5 hours up to Jackson, WY for the second marathon. Packet pickup is cut off at 8pm but communication via Facebook would suggest there is race day pick-up. Check with race coordinator.

(335mi, 5hr drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
9-21-13 Air Force Dayton, OH 8pm CVG 55mi Yes
9-22-13 Fox Valley St Charles, IL 6pm ORD

Fly into CVG for the first marathon. Indianapolis or Columbus are also close by. For the second day, drive up to St Charles, IL, which is about a 5 hr drive or 335 miles. You will need to make sure you can make the packet pickup as it closes at 6pm. The Air Force Marathon starts at 7:30 so you will need to finish in about 4 hours to make it for packet pickup. You could make alternate arrangements with the race coordinator for Fox Valley.

Sept 27-29 (Friday-Sunday)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
9-27-13 Emerald Bay Marathon South Lake Tahoe, CA Yes RNO 47mi
9-28-13 Cal-Neva Marathon South Lake Tahoe, CA Yes RNO 47mi
9-29-13 Lake Tahoe Marathon South Lake Tahoe, CA Yes RNO 47mi

This is a three day series but you can choose to only run the two on Saturday and Sunday. All starts are very close to each other so not much traveling. Either marathon can count for CA or NV as 50% of the course is ran on each state. You can fly into Reno (closest), Sacramento (second closest) or SFO (third closest, 226mi, 4 hr drive). Carson City is actually the closest but since it’s a small airport, I am not sure if there are any good flight deals to it.

October 5-6

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-5-13 NH Marathon Bristol, NH Yes BOS 2hr
10-6-13 Maine Marathon Portland, ME Yes BOS 90min

Fly into Boston and drive about 2 hours north for the first marathon. Then its a 2.5 hour drive over to Portland, ME for the second day. It is a short 90 minute drive to fly out of Boston. Jetblue operates flights out of Portland, ME to JFK and connections from JFK.

October 12-13

(90 miles, 1:45hr drive) BOS BDL PVD

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-12-13 Hartford Hartford, CT 9pm BDL
10-13-13 United Healthcare Newport, RI Yes PVD 27mi

You can fly into BDL directly (some great deals on AA LAX-BDL) or fly into Boston and drive about 2 hours to Hartford. Official website lists no race day pickup but I managed to arrange race day packet pickup for $20. Make sure to contact the race coordinator before attempting this. Then drive an hour 45 minutes or 90 miles to Newport RI. You can fly out of PVD or drive about 90 minutes up to Boston or back to Hartford.

(3.5 hour drive, not recommended but possible)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-12-13 Hartford Hartford, CT 9pm BDL
10-13-13 Green Mountain South Hero, VT Yes BTV

You can fly into BDL directly (some great deals on AA LAX-BDL) or fly into Boston and drive about 2 hours to Hartford. Official website lists no race day pickup but I managed to arrange race day packet pickup for $20. Make sure to contact the race coordinator before attempting this. Then drive about 3.5 hours north for the second marathon. The easiest way to fly home is to fly out of BTV on Jetblue to JFK and connections from there. You can also drive about 3.5 hours to BOS to fly home as well.  Much easier to run in Newport than in VT.

(155mi, 2.5 hr drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-12-13 Baltimore Baltimore, MD 9pm BWI
10-13-13 Atlantic City Atlantic City, NJ 6pm PHL 63mi

Fly into BWI, PHL or DCA/IAD for Baltimore Marathon. No race day pickup so must get to Baltimore by 9pm for packet pickup. Then it is a short 2.5hr or 155mi drive up to Atlantic City for day 2. Fly out of PHL, BWI, or DCA.

(233mi, 4hr drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-12-13 Freedom’s Run Shepherdstown, WV Yes DCA 90mins
10-13-13 Atlantic City Atlantic City, NJ 6pm PHL 63mi

Fly into DC (IAD or DCA) and drive about 90 minutes to Shepherdstown, WV. Then drive about 4 hours or 233 miles to Atlantic City, NJ. Make sure to get there in time for packet pickup at 6pm. You can contact the race coordinator to see if they can do a race day packet pickup or at a later time on Saturday. Fly home from PHL or BWI. Slightly longer drive down to DCA.

(Both races in the same city)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-12-13 Prairie State Libertyville, IL Yes ORD 45mins
10-13-13 Chicago Chicago, IL 6pm ORD Yes

Both of these marathons are in Chicago. Fly into ORD Friday night for the first marathon. Make sure to make it into downtown Chicago for packet pickup for Chicago Marathon. Fly out of ORD.

October 19-20

(Far drive in between, 5 hrs)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-19-13 Monster Mash Dover, DE Yes PHL 72mi
10-20-13 Empire State Syracuse, NY Email SYR

Fly into either BWI or PHL and drive to Dover, DE. Both are about 80 miles from the airport, or about an hour 40 minutes. Then drive about 5 hours north to Syracuse, NY for the Empire State marathon. Race day packet pickup can be arranged with the race coordinator. Then fly out of Syracuse. Rochester and Buffalo are also nearby airports.

(175mi in between)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-19-13 Indianapolis Marathon Indianapolis, IN Yes IND
10-20-13 Columbus Columbus, OH 7pm CMH

Fly into IND for the first marathon. Then drive 175mi or 2 hours 45 minutes out to Columbus OH to pick up your packet before 7pm. Fly out of CMH. Cincinnati is equidistant between Indianapolis and Columbus.

(320mi in between, 5.5hr drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-19-13 Des Plaines River Trail Lake County, IL Yes ORD 1hr
10-20-13 Detroit Detroit, MI 7pm DTW

Fly into ORD for the first marathon. Then either drive about 5.5 hours to Detroit or take a short flight to DTW. Make sure to get to Detroit by 7pm for packet pickup. Then fly out of DTW.

(360mi in between, 5.5hr drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-19-13 Des Plaines River Trail Lake County, IL Yes ORD 1hr
10-20-13 Des Moines Des Moines, IA 8pm DSM

Fly into ORD for the first marathon. Then drive 5.5 hours out to Des Moines, IA or fly to DSM for the second day. Packet pickup ends at 8pm. Fly out DSM or drive about two hours to Omaha, or three hours to Kansas City (MCI).

October 26-27

(146mi, 2hr 15min drive in between)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
10-26-13 Sphinx Greenville, SC Yes CLT 101mi
10-27-13 Atlanta Atlanta, GA 6pm ATL

Fly into CLT for the first marathon. Then drive about 2 hrs 15 minutes down to Atlanta for the second marathon in time for packet pick up at 6pm. Fly out of Atlanta after the second marathon, or drive about 250 miles back to CLT.

November 2-3

(325mi, 5 hrs)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
11-02-13 Midsouth Championship Wynne, AR Yes MEM 60min
11-03-13 bg26.2 Bowling Green, KY Yes BNA 65mi

Fly into MEM and drive about an hour to Wynne AR. Then drive 325mi or 5 hours to Bowling Green, KY for the second marathon. Fly out of BNA.

(262mi, 4hr 45min)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
11-02-13 Midsouth Championship Wynne, AR Yes MEM 60min
11-03-13 Bass Pro Conservation Springfield, MO 7pm MCI 170mi

Fly into MEM and drive about an hour to Wynne AR. Then drive 262mi or about 5 hours to Springfield, MO. Can fly out of Springfield, MO or drive about 170mi to MCI (Kansas City).

November 9-10

(70mi in between, an hour drive)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
11-09-13 Santa Barbara Int’l Veterans Santa Barbara, CA 8pm LAX 100mi
11-10-13 Malibu Malibu, CA Yes LAX 30mi

Fly into LAX and drive about 100 miles to Santa Barbara. Also can fly directly into Santa Barbara if the price is good. Then drive an hour down to Malibu for the second marathon. Fly out out of LAX.

November 16-17

(112mi 1:46 hrs)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
11-16-13 Richmond Richmond, VA 9pm IAD 122mi
11-17-13 Potomac River Run Carderock, MD Yes IAD

Fly into IAD or DCA for the first day and drive about 122 miles down to Richmond, VA. Can also fly into Richmond if the a good fare is available. Make sure to make it to packet pickup at 9pm Friday night. Then drive 112 miles back up to DC for the second marathon. Fly out of IAD, DCA or BWI after a short drive.

(247mi 4 hrs)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
11-16-13 Richmond Richmond, VA 9pm IAD 122mi
11-17-13 Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA 7pm PHL

Fly into IAD or DCA for the first day and drive about 122 miles down to Richmond, VA. Can also fly into Richmond if the a good fare is available. Make sure to make it to packet pickup at 9pm Friday night. Then drive 247 miles up to Phildelphia by 7pm for packet pickup. Then fly out of PHL or BWI after a short drive.

November 23-24

(218mi, 4 hrs)

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
11-23-13 White River Cotter, AR Yes LIT 141mi
11-24-13 Route 66 Tulsa, OK 6pm OKC 108mi

Fly into LIT and drive 141 miles to Cotter AR for the marathon. Can also fly into Tulsa and drive about 200 miles. After the marathon, drive 218 miles or 4 hours to Tulsa, OK for the second marathon. Note that packet pickup is at 6pm so you will need to be driving by at least 1:30pm. You can fly out of Tulsa, OK after the second marathon, or drive 108mi down to OKC to fly home.

December 31 to January 1st

Date Marathon Location Race Packet Airport Distance Sold Out
12-31-13 New Years Double Allex, TX Yes DFW
1-1-14 New Years Double Allex, TX Yes DFW

Fly into DFW for both marathons. Note, this is a marathon with just a 6.5 mile out and back course. 2 laps for a half marathon, and 4 laps for the marathon. This attracts a fair number of runners so the atmosphere should be pretty good, despite being an out and back course.

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