When Susan Sweitzer of Middleton ran the Venice Marathon severalyears ago, the scenery was amazing.

“We ran through small villages and countryside,” she said of thepoint-to-point course that started miles away and finished in theheart of the Italian city. “Venice, of course, has all thesecanals, and they have a huge (pontoon) bridge they put up acrossthe Grand Canal just for the race. It was neat.”

For Karen Wendler of Madison, the Nike Women’s Marathon in SanFrancisco was one to remember.

“You’re overlooking Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge — you’relooking down on it,” she said of parts of the race course. “Thescenery was gorgeous. We ran through Golden Gate State Park. Wefinished along the Pacific Ocean, which was beautiful.”

Sure, you can take a bus trip. A guided tour is nice.

But when it comes to seeing all the sights a city has to offer,there may be no better option than tourism 26.2 — running amarathon there, that is.

“It’s such a great way to see a city,” said Wendler, who has a3:53 best in her 10 marathons, including such destination races asthe Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona marathon in Phoenix and the St. LouisMarathon. some she has run with her sister, Kathy Gerber ofChicago, and they’ve made it a “girlfriends getaway.” for others,Wendler has taken along her family, which includes four childrenand her husband, Steve.

“We try to stay a couple of days afterward,” said Wendler, 43.”The kids always want to go. It can get costly, but for St. Louisthey did come along. We went to museums and the (Gateway)Arch.”

The post-race touring is great for her as a runner, she added.”At that point, you’re really in the mode of rest. You can relax.You can eat what you want.”

Sweitzer, 41, who has two boys ages 6 and 3, also said she hasembraced the down time after the run on the marathon trips she hastaken, including the Venice race in 1999 and the famed BostonMarathon four times.

“It’s fun because you feel like, ‘Oh, I’ve earned thisvacation,’” said Sweitzer, whose Venice trip with her husband,David, included a week of touring afterward in the city and a visitto Italy’s ruggedly beautiful Amalfi Coast. “You really can kickback and enjoy it.”

Nationwide tour

Wendler said she has enjoyed traveling to different races somuch, in fact, that she recently made it her long-term goal to runa marathon in every state.

“I’d run Chicago twice and Madison twice. I thought, ‘Why do thesame ones over and over?’” said Wendler, a physician assistant forUW Health Verona. “A lot of it is about finding a place that’s niceto go that you haven’t been before. What a nice way to see otherparts of the country.”

She said she trains properly for her marathons but doesn’t dwellon her race times too much, usually running about a 4-hour pace,and added that “finishing and enjoying it” are her priorities. Shealso relishes the health benefits of being a runner. “What a greatway to be committed to staying fit.”

Sweitzer, who teaches marketing courses at Edgewood College andMadison Area Technical College, has added Ironman triathlons — a140.6-mile swim, bike and run — to her own fitness resume. She’sdone Madison’s Ironman Wisconsin twice (with an 11:29 best) andplans to do a half-Ironman in St. Croix in May. her travel and racecompanion for that event will be Tara Osborn, co-owner ofMiddleton’s Endurance House, which offers training support fortriathletes.

“We wanted to do a destination half-Ironman and we narrowed itdown to a couple,” said Sweitzer, who also is traveling with agroup of friends to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona running event inmid-January. “One (half-Ironman) in California was sold out. Therewas another one in Lubbock, Texas, and I vetoed that.”

So they settled on the U.S. Virgin Islands triathlon, which willbe a fairly quick trip, Sweitzer said. “We’re only going to stay aday after. We just don’t have time away from jobs and family.”

Wendler also has to take family obligations into account whenplanning her races. she said she starts by deciding on about atwo-week window, usually in spring and fall, when a marathon wouldwork for her family’s schedule, then checks a race calendar to seewhat’s offered.

She already has covered most of the Midwest in her quest to runthe United States, so planning “is going to get harder now” withfewer driveable destinations, she said. still, she is hoping tocheck off two or three more states each year until she’s hit thewhole country, with North Carolina’s scenic Outer Banks Marathon apossibility for fall 2010.

But she won’t stress over a timetable. “Whenever I achieve it,it’s fine.”

Wendler said she also has left room to deviate from her 50-stateplan for a possible international trip down the road.

“My sister wants to run Dublin, Ireland, when she turns 50 (in afew years),” Wendler said. “It’s just fun to look ahead to seewhat’s next.”

Going global

Next? how about Antarctica? now there’s a destination marathonfor you.

Organized by Marathon Tours & Travel based in Boston, whichspecializes in race trips, the Antarctica Marathon is one of theworld’s newest and most exotic marathon destinations. Thom Gilliganis race director for the marathon and also is president of MarathonTours, which he founded in 1979, one of the first companies (nowthere are many) to specialize in marathon tourism.

For this native of Boston, where interest in marathons ispractically congenital, it was the perfect way to combine his dualpursuits of running and travel.

“A lot of people in the travel industry don’t quite understandthe idea of traveling around the world to run a marathon, butrunners really do that,” said Gilligan, who has run more than 60marathons — with a 2:30 best — in nearly every placeimaginable.

When people book a trip through Marathon Tours, it coverseverything on the travel end, Gilligan said. “We leave the trainingup to the runners.” Entry in the destination marathon is included,even if registration for the race already has closed to others.

“We have worldwide contacts with race directors,” said Gilligan,whose company books trips for up to 8,000 runners per year. “Inmany cases, we can guarantee entry in certain events that are hardto get into. We have blocks of entries.”

That Antarctica Marathon, though, is a special case. It’s sowildly popular that the trip, led by Gilligan, has reached itscapacity of runners through 2012 (leaving plenty of time to trainfor 2013, of course). A big reason is that for many runners, itfulfills a goal of completing a marathon on each of the world’sseven continents.

“In 1995, I got this crazy idea to start the AntarcticaMarathon,” Gilligan said. “After that first race, a few of therunners said that had given them marathons on seven continents.

“I thought, ‘That’s an interesting life goal for a runner.’”

Gilligan started a seven Continents Club to encourage runners.He also watched in the next several years as many more marathonscropped up in fantastic destinations around the world.

“The Antarctica Marathon seemed to stimulate the market for alot of exotic marathons,” he said. “Since then there’s been theGreat Wall Marathon (in China), the Easter Island Marathon. … Ilike the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya.”

Gilligan characterizes these as “adventure marathons, off thebeaten path.”

“It also breaks through the touristy veneer,” he said. “You’rewith the local people; you’re mixing a little sweat, a littleagony.

“And, of course, there’s the thrill of finishing.”

But it’s just as much about the travel, seeing new places, as itis about the race, Gilligan said.

“The running is simply a catalyst for people to get to certaindestinations,” he said. “Runners are driven by their recreationalinterest, much like scuba divers or bicyclists will use theiractivity to get them to special places. … People are looking tocombine a running event with their vacation dollars.”

Costs can vary widely, he said, depending on such travel detailsas length of stay and accommodations.

“You could go to Disney (for the Walt Disney World Marathon inOrlando, Fla.) and stay three nights in a budget hotel, or spendthousands of dollars on a deluxe cabin for a week at the AntarcticaMarathon,” he said.

Prepare and enjoy

Naturally, in addition to cost considerations, there arechallenges involved in planning and running a marathon in adifferent city. Time zones might be different or there could beelevation changes. Eating out can present problems.

And sometimes race day is not without its own uniquedifficulties. Sweitzer, at her Venice Marathon, recalled beinggiven carbonated water instead of regular water to drink at aidstations.

“They handed us these bottles of sparkling water, you know, withcarbonation,” said Sweitzer. “I took one drink and …”

Sweitzer said she thought it was going to be awful, no goodhydration for her race. “I didn’t check nutrition and what theyserved on the course.”

But then she had a realization.

“I figured out you just pour off a little of the water and runwith it,” she said. “The shaking takes out the carbonation.”

Sweitzer said things at the Venice Marathon certainly could bedifferent now than when she ran there, but she advised beingprepared to deal with unusual circumstances before and during adestination marathon.

“Obviously, you want to think through all the days your bodyneeds to adjust to the food and the atmosphere,” she said. “Makesure you’re adjusting to (any) time difference and fooddifferences.

“You have to understand what clothes to bring, how to dress,what to eat.”

Arriving a few days early for a marathon is advisable, andWendler added another important tip for anyone going to adestination marathon by airplane: Keep your running gear in yourcarry-on luggage.

“We always have our running clothes and shoes and our raceinformation in our carry-on,” she said.

Both women, though, said the bottom line in any marathon trip issimply to relish the experience.

Wendler said she loved the San Francisco race she did for its”extra goodies” on the course. “There was (San Francisco-made)Ghirardelli chocolate at the aid stations,” she said. and insteadof a medal, “They give you a Tiffany’s pendant at the finish. … Westayed a couple of days after and toured the city, eating andshopping.”

Sweitzer cited great race support as another highlight of herVenice experience. “People really seemed to be cheering on thewomen (who were fewer in number),” she said, “especially when wepassed a guy running.”

Added Sweiter: “I think the biggest theme is each marathon oreach destination has something unique. … there are so many coolmarathons to do.”

Tourism 26.2: Let sneakers be your tour guide with a destination marathon