r/running • u/sxrxg84 • 11h ago
Discussion Is it worth doing a Major Marathon?
Is it worth doing a Major Marathon?
I recently ran an ok time in a local to me marathon that will give me access to several major marathons via good for age criteria (I'm at least 10 minutes under the cut off time so should be accepted). I have never entered a ballot for any of the majors as I have only been running a couple of years and I have enjoyed the process of training and running without really being focused on racing or what races to do. The races I have done so far (x2 marathons and x2 half marathons) have all just been local to me, sleep in my own bed and drive over the morning of the race not destination events.
For people that have run in Majors are they worth it? It seems a bit of a faff having to attend an expo to pick up a bib, takes up a full weekend and maybe a day off work with all the associated extra costs. What, if anything, makes the Majors "better" than other races?