Baden Marathon

I enjoyed this race, it's good to do a smaller marathon as opposed to the big city events. The route is nice and pretty flat, it's not quite two laps. The event begins and all participants run about 10k together before the half marathoners turn left and the marathon & relay runners turn right. There are some good sights on the course the main one being the the Schlossplatz. When you return to this part of the course you will have completed 38k, the remaining 4K to the finish at the Karlsruhe Messe is nice & flat. However I know that for 2018 they are looking to make some changes to the route and the finish will be at the local stadium. Karlsruhe was easy to get to, fly to Stuttgart and then the train to Karlsruhe (takes around 1:15). I stayed at the Hotel Ambassador which is nice and central & just off the main street. Tram to the start takes about 20 mins. There are plenty of places to eat and drink in Karlsruhe, for some post marathon refuelling I recommend Braustuble which you will pass twice whilst running the marathon. I rehydrated with a few Hatz Dunkels & replaced my calories with a delicious schnitzel in breadcrumbs & pomme frites! If you have time try and visit the town of Esslingen which is about 15 mins by train from Stuttgart, it is a beautiful German town, and make time to walk up to tower for fantastic views. I recommend Karlsruhe for a great marathon weekend break.

The second part of the marathon is better than the first. Maybe there are too many runners.

This is a great race to put into your vacation schedule. The organization is very good and the city is a manageable size with reasonable lodging and food costs. Participants got a very nice gym bag with goodies stuffed in and the volunteers are helpful even if you speak only English. The one downside is that early in the course you're winding through the woods (which is very nice and shaded), but you are on a one lane narrow road and it becomes very tight. At that point, and for the next 2-3 miles, you're pretty much stuck in the pack wherever you entered that stretch. Other than that, it's a great event.