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Massachusetts > Memorial Day Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K
Lenox, MA • Sunday, May 26, 2013 • Course Map
Once you get a look at the gorgeous natural beauty of the Berkshires here in western Massachusetts, it becomes instantly clear why these misty hills and mountains have drawn American notables from around New England to come here to live or just for a visit, from authors Nathanial Hawthorne and Edith Wharton to industrialist Andrew Carnegie, not to mention the Astor and Vanderbilt families over the years.
Today, the small town of roughly 5,000 residents welcomes many more throughout the year, especially during the summer and fall. That's why the unofficial start of the summer season makes the perfect time for Lenox's Memorial Day Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K, which marks its 4th annual running on the Memorial Day weekend in 2013.
Runners in the half marathon -- like those in the other races -- will follow an out-and-back loop course that starts and finishes at the famed Tanglewood Music Center, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The center also is the home of the annual summertime Tanglewood Music Festival, where in addition to the symphony groups in musical styles ranging from choral music, jazz, modern-day pop music, chamber music and musical theater perform concerts for the thousands of music lovers who attend each year.
From the Tanglewood center, runners follow a counter-clockwise loop route around Stockbridge Bowl (a lake that's also called Lake Mahkeenac). The 13.1-mile route unfolds southward from Lenox along Interlaken Road (Highway 183) all the way down to the small towns of Glendale and Stockbridge.
After crossing under Interstate 90, the road becomes Glendale Road and then keeps heading southward until runners hit Glendale Middle Road, where they turn left and head into Stockbridge, another small town here in the Berkshires that's a year-round draw for vacationers and is also home to the Norman Rockwell Museum, where the world's single largest collection of Rockwell's paintings and art are housed.
Once runners pass the Stockbridge Cemetery on their left and head east along Main Street, they make another left onto Prospect Hill Road, which begins the second section of the loop route that brings the field back up to Tanglewood for the race finish. Along the way, runners will be able to see much of what makes this area such a scenic treasure, from the tree-covered hills and mountains in the distance to the meadows and farmland between Stockbridge and Tanglewood.
The race is open to both runners and walkers, and in keeping with the spirit of the day there will be a Color Guard send-off for runners at the starting line, by the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Race Weather & Climate
Located among the scenic Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, roughly 130 miles west of Boston and about 136 miles north of New York City, Lenox typically sees mild to moderately warm weather in the last weeks of spring.
In May, average monthly temperatures range between 70°F and 43°F -- on the day of the race (May 26), the average high is 73°F and the average low is 46°F.
Course Map
View the race route map for the Memorial Day Half Marathon
Fees
$60 for the half marathon, if registered by December 31, 2012
$65 between January 1 - February 28, 2013
$70 between March 1 - April 15
$75 after April 15
Registration
To reserve your spot in the late spring 2013 running of Lenox's Memorial Day Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K or 5K race, register online at MarathonGuide.com.
Official Race Website
www.memorialdaymarathon.com
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