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Michigan > Wild Life Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K
Concord, MI • Sunday, October 13, 2013 • Course Map
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Several hundred runners and walkers cross the finish line each year in all three races combined at the annual autumn running of Concord's Wild Life Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K, which marks its 5th annual running in the fall of 2013.
The race takes runners and walkers along the Falling Waters Trail, a paved 10.5-mile trail that today is a popular recreational trail and linear park for the local residents that live between this small town in southern Michigan and the nearby town of Summit Township, where the trail ends today.
Built on a former railroad line that once stretched from Michigan all the way into Canada, the trail had been abandoned in the mid 1970s and lay unused all the way into the mid-1990s, when local efforts to turn the railroad into a linear park system finally got underway.
Today, of course, the vision is well on its way to being accomplished, with 12-ft-wide paved surfaces throughout the Falling Waters Trail -- so named for the Potowotomi Native American tribes who originally inhabited this area, and named the Jackson County area "the land of falling waters." The race is organized by the Friends of Falling Waters Trail, a local nonprofit that helps maintain and protect it, and the race proceeds go to benefit both trail maintenance and park improvements all along the more than 10 miles of trails.
Participants in the half marathon get to enjoy a trek along roughly six miles of the Falling Waters Trail, as the 13.1-mile race takes runners on an out-and-back course that starts and finishes in Concord and takes runners eastward toward Summit Township all the way to the half marathon turnaround point, where runners then start heading back toward the finish line back in Concord along the route they've just run.
Though the elevation map below indicates some changes in elevation along the course, it's worth noting that the changes are very mild and gradual, as the differences in elevation range only about 50 feet over the course of the half marathon's 13.1 miles -- so runners and walkers will experience essentially a very flat and fast course. Each of the event's three races start and finish at Concord High School and run through the village streets, and those running the half marathon will run past the waters of Lime Lake around the middle portion of the race.
The race also is part of the Jackson Citizen Patriot Running/Walking Series, thanks in part to the fact that both the half marathon and the 5K race are open to both runners and walkers.
Race
Weather & Climate
Located near the southern border of Michigan's Lower Peninsual, just over 90 miles west of Detroit, Concord typically sees chilly (and often cold) to moderate weather in the mid-fall, with average monthly temperatures for October that range between 39°F and 60°F, while rainfall totals for the month average just over 2.3 inches.
On the day of the race (Oct. 13), the average low is 40°F and the average high is 62°F.
Course Map
View the race route map for the Wild Life Half Marathon
Starting Time
8:15 AM - full marathon
8:20 AM - half marathon
8:40 AM - 5K
Fees
$40 for the half marathon, if registered by August 15, 2013
$45 between Aug. 16 - September 15
$55 after Sept. 15
Registration
To reserve your spot in the fall 2013 running of Concord's Wild Life Marathon, Half Marathon or 5K race, register online at Active.com.
Official Race Website
www.wildlifemarathon.org
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Ever run in Michigan's annual Wild Life Marathon or Half Marathon? Share your impressions, stories and tips from the event.
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