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Ohio > Athens Marathon & Half Marathon
Athens, OH
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Date
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Event
Details
With more than 680 runners in attendance at this year's running of this
race along the banks of the Hocking Canal, which connects the river by
the same name with the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio,
the race organizers of the Athens Marathon & Half Marathon
welcomed their largest field of participants ever in 2008, for a race
that unfolds along a gorgeously
scenic route that takes runners from the green, tree-lined campus of
Ohio
University on an out-and-back trail along the canal.
The 13.1-mile course for the half-marathon, much like its 26.2-mile
counterpart, is mostly fast and flat with the exception of a fairly
steep downhill that descends from the start of the race at the
university campus (at Court & West Union Streets) to the second
mile marker. From there, the race flattens out all the way to the
turnaround point on the canal at the 6.45-mile point, where runners
then turn around and head back along the course they've just run.
Runners get a mix of springtime sun -- as well as often
still-chilly temperatures -- along with a mix of semi-urban course
through town with the backwoods bicycle trail known locally as the
Hockhocking Adena Bikeway, a 19-mile biking trail along the Hocking
Canal named for the Adena Native Americans who lived along the river
more than 2,000 years ago. Both half- and full-marathon participants
begin their run along the trail just after the 1.5-mile point in the
race, and stay on the trail for approximately the next nine miles.
The bikeway takes runners along what was once a railroad bed used by
the Columbus and Hocking Valley Railroad lines, though today it's known
for entirely different varieties of vehicles -- mountain bikes,
rollerblades, wheelchairs and non-motorized scooters, in addition to
lots of walkers. In the springtime, when the race takes place, the open
fields and greenspaces along the trail come alive with many kinds of
blooming wildflowers, including wild Geranium, Dutchman's Breeches,
Large-flowered Bellwort, Phlox, Virginia Bluebells and many others.
The last mile and a half of this out-and-back race splits off from the
rest of the course at the same spot where runners first entered the
bicyle trail, and takes participants along the intown stretch of the
bikeway all the way to Schafer Street, which funnels the field along
the final few hundred yards of the race toward the
finish line at Ohio University's Pruitt Field, at the track around the
football stadium.
Race
Weather & Climate
Located in the southern half of the state, about an hour's drive
southeast of nearby Columbus, the city of Athens generally experiences
mild to sometimes still quite cold weather in the early spring, with
relatively even precipitation year-round. In April, average monthly
temperatures range between 65°F and 36°F, while
rainfall amounts average around 3 inches for the month.
Fees
(2008 fees)
$35 if registered by March 15, 2008
$40 for signups after March 15
Registration
Online registration is not yet available for the 2009 running of the
Athens Marathon & Half Marathon. Check this space later for
updated
information on how to register.
Websites
www.athensmarathon.org
HockHocking
Adena Bikeway
Course Map
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Your Race Story
Ever run in Athens' annual Marathon or Half Marathon? Share your
impressions and read fellow
runners' stories and tips for the event.
Discuss it in the HalfMarathons.Net
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