North Olympic Discovery Half Marathon

From the starting line on Barr Road near the Agnew Soccer Fields, those running the half marathon follow a course that’s a combination of city streets through Port Angeles as well as a wide, hard-surface trail made of mixed materials.
For the first several miles of the race, the course snakes its way along trails that parallel the Old Olympic Highway and through forest-shaded areas just a stone’s throw from the water’s edge of the Port Angeles Harbor.
Runners trek through a number of small creek beds as they cross through the race’s first few miles from Siebert Creek on the way to Morse Creek, with some steep but short hills along the way.
At about the seven-mile marker, runners approach the crossing over Morse Creek, which organizers say is perhaps the most scenic and inspirational point of the race, and makes the miles you’ve run all worth it.
Here, runners head downhill from the trail and then cross over an old railroad trestle bridge over the creek, which brings water down from the nearby Olympic Mountains toward the harbor, and then head out onto the finish stretch of the race, the five-mile run along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the finish line at the downtown City Pier.
With the exception of the aforementioned hills around the creek beds in the first few miles of the race, the half marathon’s first seven miles are mostly fast, with little in the way of elevation changes. The last five miles along the water are perhaps the flattest stretch of the race as runners make their way along the water to the finish line near the Port Angeles City Pier.