Buffalo Creek Half Marathon

Saturday, October 21, 2023 • Cabot, PA • Course Map

runsignup-blue

Featuring a course that follows a long, gentle downhill slope from the starting line in the small Western Pennsylvania town of Cabot all the way down to the finish line in nearby Freeport, the Buffalo Creek Half Marathon marks its 18th annual running in 2023, and usually draws several hundred runners each year to this mostly rural race.

Most of the race — except for the first mile and a half and the last half-mile, which are run on paved roads — takes runners over the crushed limestone trails of the Butler-Freeport Community Trail, a rails-to-trails project in southeast Butler County that’s converted the former Western Pennsylvania Railroad into roughly 15 miles of limestone trails perfect for running, walking, hiking and biking, with numerous trailheads all within about an hour’s drive of Pittsburgh.

The race indeed follows a long, steady downhill descent from the start in Cabot to the finish line in Freeport, starting at an elevation of about 1,320 feet above sea level and descending throughout the race’s 13.1 miles to the finish, which lies at about 780 feet above sea level.

There’s a brief flat stretch between about mile 2.5 and the mile 4 marker; other than that, most of the rest of the course follows a long, gentle downhill slope.

Runners for the Buffalo Creek Half — so named because most of the trail used in the race follows the creek by the same name — should arrive prepared for cold weather, as past years have seen some pretty cold temperatures.

The scenery more than makes up for any bitter weather, however, as the race is scheduled during the fall foliage season, when the leaves are turning throughout the forests that border the trail.

Race Weather & Climate

Located near the state border with Ohio in Western Pennsylvania, roughly 35 miles north from Pittsburgh, the small town of Cabot typically experiences mild to cool and sometimes quite cold weather in the mid-fall, and its second-driest month of the year on average when the race is held.

On race day (Oct. 21), the average low is 38ºF and the average high is 62ºF.

Past Results

Course Map

See the race route map for the Buffalo Creek Half Marathon here.

Starting Time

  • 9:00 AM

Course Limit

3 hours

Fees

  • $60+ for the half marathon

Registration

To reserve your spot in the 2023 running of the Buffalo Creek Half Marathon, register online at RunSignUp.com here.

runsignup-blue

Comments

Ever run in the Buffalo Creek Half Marathon? Share your impressions here, or post your review in the Comments below.

See more races in: October, Pennsylvania

1 comment… add one
  • James Hommes October 24, 2017, 3:01 pm

    I just wanted to thank you for a great race. I also wanted to apologize to the race director for not being there for the awards or picking up the award. I won the race Saturday, but I was confused on where the awards were and I did not have a car so I was riding home with someone else. Anyways, I think it was a great course and a beautiful day! Thanks again.

    Jim Hommes

    Reply

Leave a Comment

MENU