California International Marathon (CIM)

This is my third time running CIM – I just love this course. It's great for a PR. You've got a good chance of perfect running weather (40s) which seems rare for marathons these days. The first half is all rolling hills, and the second half is almost completely flat. I find this terrain works great for me because I use different muscles in the first half so my legs don't get too tired. The crowd support is good for a race that isn't a major. There are people throughout the course and a lot in the last couple of miles. The race is well organized; there are lots of bathrooms at the start, and the corrals are easy to fit into. I like the size since it's not so crowded that you're zig-zagging through people, but it's big enough to feel super high energy. This time I really just had a perfect day and was able to push in the last 10k.

Run conservatively at the beginning and it will pay off. It's easy to go out too fast on the downhills.