Steel Rail Half Marathon & 8K

Sunday, May 19, 2024 • Lanesborough, MA • Course Map

Set for its 11th annual running this year along the gorgeous, tree-covered hills and woodlands of Berkshire County in western Massachusetts, the Steel Rail Half Marathon unfolds along a point-to-point route that starts in the small town of Lanesborough and finishes 13.1 miles later in nearby Adams.

Runners start the race at Berkshire Mall, where they’ll make nearly two loops around the mall’s Loop Road before heading out onto the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, which stretches just over 11 miles and runs through Lanesborough and Cheshire before ending in Adams.

The trail’s 10-foot-wide path is paved and flat throughout, and organizers note that there are only three turns throughout the entire race.

Other than that – and a few very small hills in the first few miles – runners will enjoy a very gradual downhill descent that drops just over 200 feet in elevation by the time runners reach the finish line at the trail’s visitor center, just off Depot Street in Adams.

The race is limited to the first 750 entrants and the course time limit is 3 hours, for a race the organizers say is “very fast.”

Runners on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail at the 2015 Steel Rail Half Marathon. (Photo courtesy Berkshire Running Center)

Runners on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail at the 2015 Steel Rail Half Marathon. (Photo courtesy Berkshire Running Center)

Photo courtesy Anita Louise Photography.

Photo courtesy Anita Louise Photography.

Anita Louise Photography

Photo courtesy Anita Louise Photography.

Photo courtesy Anita Louise Photography.

Photo courtesy Anita Louise Photography.

Race Weather & Climate

Nestled among the hills of Berkshire County in western Massachusetts, Lanesborough lies just a few miles south of Cheshire, which usually sees some of its mildest (and wettest) weather of the year in May.

On race day (May 19), the average low is 39ºF and the average high is 59ºF.

Past Results

Course Map

See the race route map for the Steel Rail Half Marathon here.

Starting Time

9:30 AM

Fees

see event website

Registration

To reserve your spot in the 2024 running of Lanesborough’s Steel Rail Half Marathon, visit the event website below.

Official Race Website

steelrailhalfmarathon.com

See more races in: May, Massachusetts

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