How about the Marathon du Medoc et des Graves which is a race through the vineyards of the Bordeaux region in France. Many runners dress up in different crazy costumes, one can sample wine along the route, have dinner at a chateaux etc. I'm not a marathon runner but this has always interested me, sounds like a lot of fun.

Edited to add link:

www.marathondumedoc.com/default.html

[This message has been edited by DEK (edited 09-25-2003).]