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.
Last year 21.5% of finishers qualified for the Boston Marathon and 49.1% of runners qualified for Boston in 2022.
This gives the Charles River Marathon the 44th highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in the U.S. last year and the 4th highest percentage in 2022.
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 339th 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)
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.