Why These Two Races Keep Coming Up Together
Every fall, runners who didn't get into the New York City Marathon lottery start looking at the same two races: the Philadelphia Marathon and the Richmond Marathon. Both are in November. Both are open registration. Both clock in at an 8% BQ rate. Both draw serious regional runners who want a legitimate qualifier, not a bucket-list experience.
On paper, they look nearly interchangeable. They are not. The gap between them lives in course design, field dynamics, and how each race rewards, or punishes, different runner types. Pick the wrong one for your strengths and it doesn't just cost you a PR. It can cost you the qualifier.
This isn't a 'both are great, it depends' post. By the end, you'll have a clear answer based on how you actually run.
Course Profile: Where the Races Actually Diverge
Philadelphia is cataloged as mostly flat, with a net drop of 10 feet. That number is almost misleading. The course is flat on balance, but miles 7 through 11 take you through Manayunk, a neighborhood built on hills. It's not a mountain stage. But it's a real mid-race obstacle that arrives before you've banked any fatigue credit, and it can fracture your pacing plan if you haven't accounted for it. The reward comes after: the second half is a flat Schuylkill River out-and-back, almost textbook for negative splitting. If you can get through Manayunk with your legs intact, the back half is yours to attack.
Richmond is also cataloged as mostly flat, with a net drop of 88 feet. The drop is real and it's concentrated in the finish, which runs downhill into Brown's Island. The first half, though, is rolling. Not brutal, rolling. Hills come early and often enough that conservative pacing in the opening miles isn't optional, it's the strategy. Runners who go out too hot on Richmond's first half tend to hit the back half on fumes, regardless of what the elevation profile looks like by mile 20.
The verdict on course: if you're a runner who struggles on climbs or tends to blow up when hills interrupt your rhythm mid-race, Philadelphia's flat second half is more forgiving once you're past Manayunk. If you're a patient starter who can trust the process on rolling terrain and let the downhill finish do its work, Richmond's course structure rewards you. The 88 feet of net drop isn't massive free speed, but it's real, and it arrives when you need it most.
Weather: A Small but Real Edge
Both races fall within the range where marathons tend to go well. Neither is Houston in January or Chicago in a heat year. But they're not identical. Philadelphia's average high of 52°F is colder, and with Philadelphia's urban wind corridors, a bad weather day can feel genuinely rough. It can also be perfect. The variance is the issue. Richmond at 59°F runs warmer on average and, historically, more consistently. You're less likely to be adjusting your strategy at 6 a.m. because a cold front came through overnight.
If you run well in cooler conditions and want the upside of a crisp Philadelphia morning, the weather gamble can pay off. If you want to show up in November and have a reasonable expectation of what you're walking into, Richmond edges Philadelphia here.
Field Size and Race-Day Experience
Philadelphia is a big-city race. Nearly 12,400 finishers means deep corrals, early-mile congestion, and the kind of crowd support that carries you through historic neighborhoods from Fairmount Park to Center City. If race-day energy is part of what you need to run well, Philadelphia delivers it in volume. The tradeoff is logistics: you're navigating a large urban event, hotel prices spike, and the course can feel crowded in the early miles before the field thins.
Richmond at roughly 6,200 finishers is a mid-size race in the best sense. Corral access is easier. The race has a tight, community feel. Volunteer support is consistently praised, and the post-race experience, including the well-regarded fleece blanket at the finish, is the kind of detail that signals an organization that sweats the small stuff. Lodging in Richmond is more accessible and more affordable than Philadelphia race weekend.
If you're traveling solo and just want to execute, Richmond is the lower-friction option. If you're bringing family, doing a race-weekend trip, or you run better with a roaring crowd, Philadelphia earns its size.
BQ Rate and What It Actually Means
Both races sit at 8% BQ rate. That's the same number on two very different fields. At Philadelphia's size, 8% of 12,381 finishers means roughly 990 Boston qualifiers on the course with you. At Richmond, 8% of 6,200 means closer to 500. The absolute count matters less than what it signals about the field. Both races attract goal-oriented runners. Both have a self-selection effect: people who register for an 8% BQ race are generally there to race, not tour.
One practical difference: in Richmond's smaller mid-corral, you're more likely to find runners at your exact goal pace and stay with them. In Philadelphia's larger field, that pace group exists too, it just takes longer to sort itself out in the first few miles. Neither race is a disadvantage on paper. But if finding your tribe early matters to your race strategy, Richmond's tighter field makes it easier.
One honest caveat on BQ rates: the rate reflects both course characteristics and who shows up. Faster races attract faster runners, which inflates the rate. An 8% BQ rate at a mostly-flat November race is a legitimate signal, but it doesn't guarantee anything about your day.
Registration and Timing
Both races are open registration. No lottery, no qualifier required. Philadelphia runs in late November, typically the weekend before Thanksgiving. Richmond is also mid-to-late November. An 18-week training plan targeting either race starts in mid-July, which is right now.
For Northeast runners, Philadelphia is the easier travel decision: direct trains and flights, walkable race-weekend logistics. Richmond is a shorter trip for runners coming from the mid-Atlantic South, and offers a more contained, affordable race weekend for anyone making the drive.
Check each race's official site directly for current pricing tiers and any field cap updates, both races have historically filled, and registration costs tend to rise as the field fills.
The Verdict: Which Race Is Right for You?
These are both legitimate BQ vehicles. This isn't a case where one race is clearly better and the other is a trap. The choice is about course fit and race-day preferences. Here's how to make the call.
Choose Philadelphia if: you live in the Northeast and want easy logistics, you respond well to big-city race energy and crowd support, you can handle a mid-race hill cluster without blowing up your pacing, and you like the structure of a flat, attackable second half.
Choose Richmond if: you want a mid-size race with less logistical noise, you're a disciplined pacer who can run conservative on rolling terrain and trust the back half, you prefer more predictable weather, and you want a tighter field where finding your pace tribe is easier from the gun.
The one runner type Richmond genuinely outperforms Philadelphia for: the patient, even-effort runner who hates being surprised by hills at mile 9. Richmond's hills come early and cluster in the first half. You know what you're getting into. Philly's Manayunk section arrives mid-race when your legs are already working, and runners who struggle to recalibrate on the fly pay for it.
Both races belong on the shortlist for serious fall BQ attempts. If you've already looked at options like the Wineglass Marathon for a smaller Northeast qualifier, or the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon for a flatter Midwest option, Philadelphia and Richmond sit in a different niche: established mid-Atlantic November races with proven fields and strong race-day infrastructure. For context on how BQ rate and course drop interact at the faster end of the spectrum, our post on CIM vs Indianapolis Monumental: Which Is the Better BQ Race? covers that tradeoff in depth. The full picture of what's available is in The Best Boston Qualifier Marathons and The Best Fall Marathons.