Known for its challenging hills and mountains, the backwoods of southern Indiana are the setting for this annual springtime race, which includes a full, 26.2-mile marathon and a 13.1-mile half marathon in addition to a 10K, 50K and 50-mile trail races through the hills near the unincorporated community of Gnaw Bone, which lies just a short drive from nearby Bloomington. Like its counterpart races in the Dances With Dirt race series — which also includes Florida’s Dances With Dirt Green Swamp Marathon & Half Marathon — the Gnaw Bone races take runners over wild, untamed terrain here in this part of the southern Indiana wilderness, which also plays host each October to the “Hilly Hundred,” a cycling race that draws thousands of riders each year to its two 50-mile courses.
The course is filled with brush, trees and natural junk along the race route, as well as river and creek crossings.
