The Charles River Marathon course is a flat 2.6 mile loop run ten times on park paths around the Charles River (the race starts with a short 0.2 mile loop). The start and finish are at DCR’s Herter Park. The only significant elevation changes are the two crossings of the Charles River each lap.
The Charles River Marathon was the 317th largest marathon in the U.S. last year and was the 417th largest in 2022.
This year 55.2% of finishers qualified for the Boston Marathon and 21.5% of runners qualified for Boston in 2023.
This gives the Charles River Marathon the 46th highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in the U.S. last year and the 8th highest percentage so far in 2024.
Its Course Score of 99.55 ranks it as the 86th fastest marathon course in the U.S. and the 3rd fastest course in Massachusetts.
The typical race time temperature and humidity levels are above the ideal range for optimal marathon performance. This, coupled with the Course Score, gives the Charles River Marathon a PR Score of 96.86. This PR Score ranks it as the 340th fastest marathon in the U.S. and the 10th fastest in Massachusetts.
Learn more about PR Scores and Course Scores on the FAQ page.
Charles River Marathon Elevation Chart
Max Elevation: 16 feet (4m) Min Elevation: 2 feet (0m)
This marathon far exceeded my expectations. I was apprehensive at first about doing 10 laps of a flat course for a marathon, but I found a lot more positives from this by the end. The course loop is excellent, located along the pretty Charles River, and passes the finish line for rowing races on the Charles River. The rowers are out during the race and there was a lot of mutual recognition and respect for endeavors taking place. But for two small climbs in the bridges that book end the course, this is a genuinely pancake flat course. You will feel it in the hips the next day as a result.
The quality of the field is up there with the Boston marathon. The President of the Boston Marathon Association gave a speech before the start, and everything about this race has a Boston Qualifier vibe about it. With the course being ten laps, unless you can run at a pace in the 2:40 range, you will likely be passed by the front runners at some point. It's actually pretty cool being passed by runners going that fast. Make no bones about it though. This race is not for slow runners. The cut off time is 4 hours and 30 minutes, so if you can't run that fast, this would not be a race for you.
If you do enter, you will experience one of the very best organized events. There were three fueling stations on the 2.62 mile course, and the support from the gathered crowd is amazing. They put your name on the bib, so you will hear your name being shouted throughout. Multiple groups called me out by name on every lap! The rowing teams are particularly vociferous. The large crowd gathered at the finish line also comes into play 10 times!
There are so many small attention to detail things that make this race special. For example, there is a scoreboard that reports your lap time, pace and estimated finish time on every lap. If you are an out of towner like me, the hotel for the race is within 200 yards of the start line. Most of the runners were locals that know about this special event. If you need a BQ, there is no better event in my opinion. Get in early though: the field size is capped at 300. And you will be required to commit to raising at least $100 for charity. The main purpose of the event is to raise money for Race Cancer, an organization that is dedicated to raising awareness of the risks of skin cancer and you might see them at various race events, around the country, giving out free sunscreen to runners. The cause is great and the overall event even better.
Race Tips
Train on flat courses. There are not enough hills to work your quads and hamstrings. Your hips will take the pounding.
Studio Allston Hotel is just over the road from the start line. I did not leave the hotel until 20 minutes before the start. The hotel provided an $80’a night discount for runners. For pre race carb loading, Carlos Cucina Italiana in Brighton is excellent. They don’t take reservations so I ordered and ate back at the hotel. If you are local, there is a ton of free parking by the start line.
Anonymous's review of 2023 Charles River Marathon.
Ran 10/31/21. Several areas of the course was flooded from a week of heavy rain. They delayed the start by :50 minutes and rerouted part of the course but they had a USTAF official onsite to make sure it was properly certified before the start. Course itself is good, if you like loops. For me, loops work well. They have a table set up and you can leave your fluids, gu etc. with nutrition. You drop in a bucket and they bring it back to the table for next loop. This is an amazing feature few races offer and a huge benefit. Results include splits and standings on every lap as well as positive/negative split for 1st & 2nd half of race. Amazing data. Sufficient porta johns and parking. All these things are good.
Now the problems: the race director ran the race while there were lots of isssues happening from the flooding. He should have prob sat this year out to make sure things went smoothly. They had crews working to push the rain off the course and did a great job on all but 1 section. Kudos to the volunteers for that but shame on RD for not helping. They had 3 fluid stations, every mile, which was great until.they ran out of water after 2 hours!!! Anyways, I'm sure this stuff will be fixed in the future and some of it, they simply could not control, but a great concept race if they can execute better next time.
The 10 loop course didn't bother me nor any other runners I spoke with. It is perfectly flat and fast. It also has the advantage of having you come by the crowd at the start 10 times, which is nice because the rest of the course was very empty. The path that you run on is not closed so you will go by other runners and walkers and cyclists. This was OK for me, but it could be a nuisance. We had good pacers and a good pack around these pacers which helped a lot and made the race a lot more fun.
Race Tips
September in Boston can be a bit warm and it was in the 70s and a bit humid for this race. it would be better in October. I liked the loop course but you have to be aware of this and know that you'll be OK with it mentally. There is a short extra loop in the beginning just to round off the distance.
4.5 Stars from 4 Reviews
