Hershey Half Marathon & Relay

Sunday, October 20, 2019 • Hershey, PA • Course Map

The smell of chocolate in the air is the telltale sign that you’ve arrived in Hershey, Pennsylvania — also known as “Chocolatetown, USA” and even “the sweetest place on Earth” — the world-renowned home of the Hershey Company, the maker of the Hershey chocolate bar and Hershey’s Kisses, as well as the H.B. Reese Candy Company, which makes the just-as-famous Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

The race takes runners and two-person relay teams on a tour of this city’s chocolate- and candy-themed tourist and theme park attractions.

The race follows an out-and-back loop course that starts and finishes at the city’s Hershey Park Stadium (near the intersection of Hershey Park Drive and Hotel Road), and takes runners past a number of local attractions like Hershey’s Chocolate World, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Factory and features a run along “Chocolate Avenue,” where the streetlights are shaped like Hershey’s kisses.

After running through the theme park in the early miles, the race then takes runners out into the city of Hershey in the middle and later miles of the race, with stretches that take runners past local landmarks like High Point Mansion, the home of Milton S. Hershey, the entrepreneur whose name is now synonymous with chocolate candy the world over, who started the Hershey company on what was once just an empty farm field here in the area back in 1903.

Though there are some uphill and downhill stretches along the route, the changes in elevation are very gradual over the course of the race’s 13.1 miles, as the difference between the lowest point and the highest point of the race is about 120 feet. Both runners and walkers are welcome to participate in the race.

Race Weather & Climate

Located in southeastern Pennsylvania, roughly 15 miles east of Harrisburg and just under 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Hershey typically experiences cool to moderately warm weather in the early fall, with record temperatures in October that have reached as low as 18°F (in 1975) and as high as 89°F (in 2007).

On race day (Oct. 20), the average low is 40ºF and the average high is 63ºF.

Past Results

Course Map

See the race route map for the Hershey Half Marathon here.

Starting Time

7:30 AM

Fees

see event website

Registration

To reserve your spot in the 2019 running of the Hershey Half Marathon & Relay, register online at RunSignUp.com here

Official Race Website

hersheypa.com

Comments

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

See more races in: October, Pennsylvania

1 comment… add one
  • julie kauffman May 9, 2016, 10:04 pm

    when can you start signing up for the half marathon

    Reply

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