Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon

Seattle half marathon race numberHere are some details about the Seattle Marathon:

  • It is run the Sunday after Thanksgiving weekend. It’s a great way to burn off all those Turkey Day calories! The last longish run (8 miles) is ran on Thanksgiving, which is also a great way to burn close to 1000 calories before piling it all back on at dinner. :)
  • The expo is at the Westin, downtown Seattle. It’s a pretty standard marathon expo.
  • The conditions are usually not great, I must be honest. Typical weather is 40′s and wet. Luckily, most years have been dry, except for last year. It was horrible. One year it was dry, but really, really cold. And one weird year it was balmy. Balmy in Seattle in November is low 60′s. It was strange.
  • It’s a tough course. Not only because of the conditions, but more so because of the route. There are hills. A lot of them. The last half of the half marathon is much more challenging than the first. Watch out for Galer to Madison, right around mile 8…it is a mini-heartbreak hill. And just when you think you’ve ran the hardest hill, you get to Interlaken, which is basically a full mile…up hill. It hurts.
  • It finishes in Memorial Stadium, which is pretty cool. But that last stretch into the stadium, up Mercer is painful, too. It’s a slight incline for the last half mile. Do you really want to run uphill the last half mile of a half marathon? No.
  • It’s ranked 4th in top 100 marathons in the US!
  • It’s ranked 6/10 for difficulty. More difficult than 5/10 Boston!

Seattle Marathon course map

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE TO STAY

Downtown hotels-

Lower Queen Anne-

PRE RACE DINNER

Getting to the start-5th Avenue between Harrison and Mercer Streets, east of the Experience Music Project.

  • The race starts directly in front of the Experience Music Project, a modern Seattle iconic landmark known as, “EMP.” It’s a Frank Gehry designed, and Paul Allen founded/funded, guitar structure, which houses a music museum.
  • If staying close (less than a mile), I recommend walking. It will be a welcoming warm up. The start is .9 miles from The Westin downtown.
  • Seattle Center Monorail-(opens at 7AM race day, which makes it a better mode of transportation for spectators)

POST RACE

For post-race food, both downtown and lower Queen Anne are convenient.

Queen Anne restaurants

  • Peso’s Kitchen and Bar-this is a tradition for me and my dad, and, in my opinion, Seattle’s best breakfast. The food is good, and the ambiance is excellent.
  • Toulouse Petit-located next door to Peso’s. Same owner as Peso’s, which results in excellent food and ambiance, too.
  • Mecca Cafe
  • Space Needle

Downtown restaurants

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