From the Purple Mountains to the Shining Sea

My next two marathons are a study in contrast.  

First up is the Rehoboth Beach Marathon in December 2017, followed four months later by my 2nd time running the Blue Ridge Marathon in April 2018.

For comparison sake, take a look at some of the stats:

	Rehoboth Beach Marathon	Blue Ridge Marathon
Location	Beach	Mountains
Start Elevation	13 ft above sea level	1,033 ft
Max Elevation	20 ft	2,199
Total Elevation Change	296 ft	7,430 ft
Date	Dec	April
Typical Weather @start	40 degrees	65 degrees
People who run it are looking to	-       Qualify for Boston -       Check off DE as 1 state marathon run	-       Find bigger challenge than "just" 26.2 miles

Looking beyond the obvious, these two races actually have a lot in common. Both have wonderful after parties with excellent post race beer.  Nothing against Mic Ultra, but if I just ran 26.2 miles, I am not counting my caleries.  Rehoboth is sponsored by local beer company Dog Fish, and you get not 1, not 2, but up to 3 beers.  Blue Ridge offers a selection of several area micro beers native to the Roanoke Valley area.

Both also take advantage of state and national park land.  Rehoboth runs though Cape Henlopen while Blue Ridge runs along, well, the Blue Ridge Parkway.  That means incredible views, be it sunrise on the beach, or running above the clouds in the mountains.  

Finally, both are excellent source of revenue for smaller towns.  I am pretty sure some business in Rehoboth only stay open until the marathon before closing for the winter.  Year round population is less than 1,500 people, so race day with its 2000 runners more than doubles the population. Blue Ridge has estimated its 2017 impact to be more than $600,000 in local  revenue(http://www.blueridgemarathon.com/race-impact-continues-grow-tops-3-8-million-8-years/). 

I know the big races, such as Boston, New York, Chicago, and LA, command all the attention, don't overlook smaller races.