This year was stacked with race moments that stole the show—and rightfully so. We were all here for Tokyo, Boston, London, Chicago, Berlin, New York, Copenhagen Half, USATF Trials, the Bandit Grand Prix, of course. These are the weekends that stand alone on the calendar. The running universe orbits around them.
But there’s a final weekend that has quietly become must-see TV...
December 7th hosts both the Valencia Marathon and the California International Marathon (CIM). Two races that have matured into money-back-guaranteed opportunities to mint a PR or punch a qualifier.
In a desperate attempt to finally riff on Aristotle’s "Rule of Three" in a blog post, these races serve up opportunity, redemption, and control. Allow us to make our case for why the first weekend in December is one of, if not, the most important dates on the race calendar within this remixed ancient framework...
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OPPORTUNITY
Can you say, guaranteed entry? No bib chasing, no fundraising, no number crunching. Valencia is built for scale—about 35,000 spots and ~36,000 entrants each year. We don't see this lasting much longer, though. CIM on the other hand keeps it boutique at under 10,000 runners. If you want to run it, you most likely can.
Ride the wave. These races are just flat-out fast. Valencia is arguably the fastest marathon on Earth. The course is dead-flat, sea-level, and set up for perfect December running. It’s not just the winners either—the field is a conveyor belt of heaters, pumping out historic waves of sub-3s. CIM is a point-to-point, net-downhill, major-course-certified. I mean, what else do I have to say? There is a reason its a hot bed for the Boston & Olympic Trials Qualifiers alike.
REDEMPTION
December is the end of the racing year, sure — but more importantly it’s six weeks after the last Major. If Berlin, Chicago, or New York didn’t go your way, you don’t have to sit with that story all winter. Many people rewrite it.
Not to mention, CIM and Valencia sit at the very end of the US Olympic Trials qualifying window each cycle. Last year, the final day to punch a sub-2:18 men's marathon was on CIM Sunday. Without further adieu, maybe the greatest Bandit video of all time: Dr. Duriel Hardy sprinting to a 2:17:59 finish...
CONTROL
If another coach tells me “control what you can control”… I might actually listen and book a one-way business trip to Sacramento. The small fields at CIM create a nice clean racing environment. No corral wrestling, no 40-seconds slow first mile, no bobbing and weaving. And the weather should stay out of your way. This might be the curse of the commentator with regards to a warmer-than-average Valencia, but typically an early December marathon gives you singlet and sleeves weather (goated).
