Old Forge Marathon Weekend

This is a nice change of pace race if you want to just get out and enjoy nature for a marathon instead of pavements. Most of the race is on snowmobile trails. Not too hilly, but its deceptive. Be prepared to be by yourself for long stretches of the race. For about 10 miles, I was the only person around aside from race volunteers and the faster people passing me on the turnarounds. The one big downside was the lack of hydration stations for the last 10 miles of the race. From miles 16-25, there was just one active station with any water. I was told by someone else who has done the race 5 times that this was very unusual and the race is usually well stocked, but for whatever reason this year, they ran out of supplies at several key points.

This was my first time at this race. It was a clear sunny day with start time temps in low 60's. There was a large parking area about 1/4 mile from race start. Number & swag pickup about 45mins before the race was seamless with no lines and friendly volunteers. No lines at restroom facilities either. Although I only ran the half-marathon since I was just using it as a training run, I got a feel for the full race. It is not a good course to try to set a PR for either marathon or half unless you have been training on hills & trails. It is low-key race on a scenic course over wide dirt/stone road trails with lots of tree cover. Both the marathon & half use same start for several miles until they split. It is a challenging course, especially the first few miles which has several hills with a couple long inclines. Also, the trail conditions were slightly difficult in the sense the trail has quite a bit of loose rocks in places. I ran in my racing flats and definitely had to watch my footing so not to turn an ankle. Lightweight racing trail shoes may have been the better choice just to prevent the poking of rocks into bottom of my foot which occurred several times. Spectators were minimal on the course due to being in the back roads of the state park. But, volunteers were enthusiastic at the water stops which were spaced every few miles. The finish mile is the reverse of the 1st mile, on majority of asphalt road and the last 1/4 mile was a downhill into the finish. The finish area had many more spectators. Although I don't care about finishers medals, they are probably the best I have ever seen. I normally toss finishers medals, but this one is worth keeping for the cool design. After race there seemed to be plenty food/water/beer and a nice area to relax on the grass awaiting the award announcements. Overall it was a well run and fun race to do.

Well run race with water stops every 1 1/2 - 2 miles. Nice wide trails in the forest of Old Forge. It is a very well marked rolling course with no major climbs. The volunteers were very helpful and cheerful which I find to be a nice help. Terrific area for tourism and plenty of choices for overnight lodging.