Fall Racing Calendar

If you know me, you know I normally have a fairly full racing calendar. With that said, although I have a lot of races on my calendar, I tend not to "race" a lot - meaning, I'll run races as training runs/ with friends/ not with a PR as my main focus.

This past marathon training cycle has included THREE full marathons. I ran the LA Marathon on February 14th, the Phoenix Marathon on February 27th and will run the Big Sur International Marathon on April 24th.

Ha, I didn't realize until I put these two finisher pictures side-by-side how similar
my two February marathon outfits were... I guess I'm pretty predictable!

Let's be real, the distance is a BEAST! I guess my thought with doing so many so close together is that if I'm already in "marathon shape", I might as well get in as many as I can before my fitness level dips down and I have to ramp it up and train all over again.

After Big Sur, I don't have any full marathons on my calendar for the year. I entered the drawing for the NYC Marathon, but if you remember the news from a couple weeks back - I didn't get in. So now my calendar is WIDE OPEN.

Yes, I realize it is crazy to already have a race on the
calendar for February 2017, but the registration prices
are just THAT good... Also, as you can see, my fall
(& winter) months are WIDE OPEN as of right now!

Having said that, I think I would like my fall full marathon (if I were to add one to the calendar) to be a FAST FULL! I think if I'm going to go through the motions, I'm going to give it my all and see what I can really do (I will be the first to admit that this training cycle I put in the mileage, but totally slacked on any and all speed work - hence my slower times).

Now, that doesn't mean I am going to be charging for a BQ or necessarily a PR, but I do think that if I run a fall full, I'd like it to be a fast course and one that I could really get serious about (unlike Big Sur which is TOTALLY all about the views... I mean have you seen that course?!).

So, here is where I need your help...

I'd love to hear the suggestions you have for a FAST FALL FULL! I have a couple potential races in the back of my mind (the Detroit Marathon {it would sort of be like a homecoming for me, finally getting to run a race in the state that I grew up in and love dearly}, the St. George Marathon {I've heard great things but it is a lottery entry so even if I want to do it, it's up to the race gods as to whether or not I get in and can run it}, the REVEL Canyon City Marathon {let's just say I have some unfinished business from last year and might need a redemption race}, etc.), but I know my scope is narrow and limited, so I figured I'd open it up to YOU!

Any suggestions for a fast full marathon?