Richmond Marathon Reviews & Race Reports
36 reviews from runners who've completed this race
Reviews & Race Reports
Course Challenges — The rolling hills can catch you off guard, especially around miles 16-21. Many runners reported struggling with fatigue and cramps during this stretch, so pace yourself early.
Crowd Support — Almost every report highlights the incredible crowd energy throughout the course. From cheering neighbors to organized water stops, this marathon truly lives up to its title as
Hit the wall at mile 21 but smashed my goal by 10 minutes!
Let me preface everything else by saying the Richmond Marathon ABSOLUTELY lives up to it's name "America's Friendliest Marathon". This was the best experience of my life. The coordination and the way it's all organized is chef's kiss - aside from the crowded bridge after you receive your metal. That was brutal.
Led the pack early, struggled with dehydration later on.
Gun goes off and so does the chorus of super shoes. My plan was pretty simple: aim for around 6:05 pace, but don’t dip under 6 minutes until mile 20, where I could full send the last 6. I settled into what felt like the right rhythm and tucked in with a pack, but pretty quickly realized I was moving a bit too fast. I eased off a few seconds and ended up in the group forming around the lead woman and her pacer.
Narrowly avoided a collision at mile 22 but still PR'd by 8 minutes
The start was electric, and I took off with the 3:25 group. Their 7:40 splits surprised me, but it aligned with my 3:22 plan so I figured I would stay with them for a bit. Aid stations were chaotic, so I pulled ahead after mile 4 to make fueling easier. I broke the race into fueling chunks, taking gels at miles 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 (caffeinated Maurten), and 22.
Overcame headwinds and hills to secure a surprising victory
Race day is exhilarating, and with ideal conditions, Richmond was no exception on Saturday morning. I had a great training block and was ready to run fast and compete for a spot on the podium after narrowly missing last year with a fourth place finish overall. My goal through the first ~9.5 miles was to remain controlled and find a state of flow.
Fought early pace urges, banked time for a strong finish
out of the gate i was getting passed a fair amount and was subconsciously trying to keep up with a lot of these people and those in front of me. it took about half a mile or so of reminding myself to slow a bit as i kept glancing at my watch to see a lap pace in the low 6:30s. i managed to slow down but found myself settling in to 6:4x miles, which i feared was a bit too fast. the first 10k flew by though, and i was feeling great and had a good amount of time banked against the pacing plan.