Run It Fast®

This is the fun medal the finishers of the Myrtle Beach Marathon received on February 15, 2014 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[medal photo submitted by Brandon Duwe. – follow him on Twitter @brandonduwe]

This is the medal the finishers of the Mercedes Marathon received on February 16, 2014 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Very shiny! I wonder if the winner gets a car too?

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medal photo submitted by Drew.  Follow him on Twitter @trippingandy]

The prevalence of marathons has exploded in the past decade across the United States, and the entry fee for these races has exploded at the exact same pace.

So we have compiled the list below of The Most Expensive Marathons in the United States that we could find. We are sure there are many that aren’t on this list that we haven’t come across yet. Don’t worry! We’ll update the list as they come to our attention.

(The list is limited to 26.2 mile marathons. It does not include half marathons or ultramarathons.)

The Most Expensive Marathons in The United States

1. New York City Marathon – $255
2. Walt Disney World Marathon – $190
3. Chicago Marathon – $185 ($220 outside of the U.S.)
4. Los Angeles Marathon – $180
5. Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon – $180
6. Boston Marathon – $175 ($225 outside of U.S)
7. San Francisco Marathon – $165
8. Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon  – $160
9. Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon – $150
10. Big Sur International Marathon – $150
11. Malibu International Marathon – $140
12. Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon – $140
13. Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis Marathon – $135
14. Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver Marathon – $135
15. Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Marathon – $130
16. Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah Marathon – $130
17. Twin Cities Marathon – $130
18. Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon – $130
19. Griffith Park Trail Marathon – $125
20. Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio – $125
21. Maui Oceanfront Marathon – $125
22. Flying Pig Marathon – $115
23. Marine Corps Marathon – $110

How much is too much to pay for a 26.2 mile marathon? What’s your financial limit for a marathon?

So which marathons did we miss that deserve to be on this list? Email us at runitfast@gmail.com with the name of the race, price, and date of the race. You can tweet us on Twitter @runitfast as well.

Here is a massive indexed state-by-state library of all of the marathon, half-marathon, and ultramarathon medals (and more) we’ve received over the past four years.

Enjoy and be sure to Tweet us your medals @runitfast on Twitter or email them in to us.

United States

Well you have run a marathon in every state and on every continent. And now you can run a marathon in North Korea. There is only the slightest catch as you will find out below.

North Korea has opened up the Pyongyang Marathon to recreational runners, including Americans, for the very first time. That’s right, now you can run a marathon in North Korea if you finish it in 3 hours or less. If you are still running after three hours you will be shot forced to quit (unless you traveled into the country with Dennis Rodman. He will then sing you Happy Birthday and call on special favors from North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un…and you will still be forced to stop at 3 hours).

North Korea’s human rights record has been described as one of the world’s worst by the U.S. State Department, which recommends against all travel by American citizens to North Korea.

North Korea has detained at least seven Americans since 2009, including Kenneth Bae, 45, who was arrested in November 2012 while leading a tour group. He was accused of crimes against the state and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. He was moved to a hospital last summer in poor health.

As noted in the article, the 3 hour cutoff is faster than every qualifying time for the prestigious Boston Marathon.  A rough estimate of 0.000005% of Marathon Maniacs would be able to finish the Pyongyang Marathon in less than 3 hours.

You’d probably be better off signing up for the cheaper, more scenic, and challenging Cummins Falls Marathon on February 22, 2014.

This is the medal the finishers of the Houston Double Challenge received on January 18-19, 2014 in Houston, Texas.

Runners who completed the ABB 5K on Saturday and either the Houston Marathon or Houston Half Marathon on Sunday received this cool Double Medal. Congrats to RIF #48 Stephen who ran the 5K and the half marathon in Houston this weekend! Check out his half marathon and 5K medals:

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[medal photos submitted by RIF #48 Stephen Griffin – follow him on Twitter @stepheng73]

This is the colorful medal the finisher’s of the Houston Marathon received on January 19, 2014 in Houston, Texas.

Congrats to RIF #280 Suzy who PRd the marathon!

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medal submitted by RIF #280 Suzy Spiceland. Follow on Twitter @bookaroo32]

These are the medals the finisher’s of the Goofy’s Race And A Half Challenge received on January11-12 , 2014 in Walt Disney World, Florida.

Runners who completed the Walt Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday and the Walt Disney World Marathon on Sunday also received the Goofy Challenge medal. Lot of fun bling!

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[medal photo submitted by Carol Goodwin – follow her on Twitter @BellyDanceCarol]

This is the finisher’s medal for the Louisiana Marathon that took place on January 19, 2014 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Here is a pic of the Louisiana Half Marathon medal, front and back:

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medals submitted by Terry Williams, follow on Twitter @TerryMcWilliams, by Naomi Pipes, follow her on Twitter @NaomiPipes, and my James Pipes, follow him on Twitter @jameswpipes]

This is the fun finisher’s medal for the Maui Oceanfront Marathon that took place on January 19, 2014 on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

The cool thing about their medals is that they pick a different fish/ocean creature for the medal each year. You can see prior years here:

Maui Oceanfront Half Marathon Medal (2013)
Maui Oceanfront Marathon Medal (2012)
2011 Maui Oceanfront Marathon Medal

Congrats to RIF #1 Joshua who was 2nd in his Age Group at this year’s marathon!

MORE PHOTOS OF MARATHON/ULTRA MEDALS AND BUCKLES

[Medal submitted by RIF #1 Joshua Holmes. Follow him on Twitter @bayou]