Sunday, October 15, 2023 • Circleville, WV • Course Map
Called the “highest race in West Virginia” by the race organizers — The Mountain Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving mountain environments around the world, which collaborates with the West Virginia Mountain Trail Runners Association to stage the event — the West Virginia Trilogy Half Marathon is part of the series of races by the same name, which also features 50K and 50-mile races over the course of the weekend.
This race series takes runners on a tour of the winding trails up and down the hills and mountains of the Monongahela National Forest just outside the small community of Circleville near the state’s northeastern corner.
Marked by the natural beauty of its mountains, forests and trees, Circleville also is the home of The Mountain Institute’s Spruce Knob Mountain Center, a 400-acre mountain preserve that serves as both an educational center for visitors — thanks to its remote location in the mountains of West Virginia, the Spruce Knob center offers some of the best viewing anywhere of starry skies at night — and as a base for TMI’s environmental preservation and research programs.
The race marks its 11th annual running in the fall of 2021, and its 2014 running met the very definition of a small, intimate field of runners — 71 runners crossed the finish line in the half marathon, in addition to 98 runners in the 50K and 50-mile races combined.
The organizers dedicate the proceeds from the event to benefit the Spruce Knob Mountain Center, to help fund its educational and research programs and continue the mission it has been dedicated to for the past three and a half decades.
Runners in the half marathon need to be ready for a challenging trail race through the hills of the Monongahela National Forest, whose more than 900,000 acres stretch across 10 counties from near Lewisburg, W.V., all the way northeast to the town of Petersburg and the state’s border with Maryland.
Throughout its vast wilderness areas are hundreds of miles of back country trails for hiking, camping, mountain biking, fishing and wildlife viewing, and the park draws thousands of visitors each year.
The half marathon starts and finishes at the Spruce Knob center and take runners into the trails that wind through the hills of the forest as well as through wide-open meadows and across mountain streams, and runners need to be prepared for plenty of changes in elevation, especially over the course of the 13.1-mile race.
The Monongahela lies over one of the highest mountain ridges in the state, and the elevation throughout the forest ranges from roughly 1,000 feet to more than 4,000 feet above sea level in some areas.
Race Weather & Climate
Located along the edge of the Monongahela National Forest here in eastern West Virginia, just under 190 miles by car east of the state capital of Charleston, Circleville typically experiences cool to mild weather in the mid-fall.
On race day (Oct. 15), the average low is 40ºF and the average high is 69ºF.
Past Results
- 2022 Results
- 2019 West Virginia Trilogy Half Marathon Results
- 2018 West Virginia Trilogy Half Marathon Results
- 2017 West Virginia Trilogy Half Marathon Results
- 2016 Run for the Hills Half Marathon Results
- 2015 Run for the Hills Half Marathon Results
- 2014 Run for the Hills Half Marathon Results
- 2013 Run for the Hills Half Marathon Results
- 2012 Run for the Hills Half Marathon Results
- 2011 Run for the Hills Half Marathon Results
Course Map
See the race route map for the West Virginia Trilogy Half Marathon here.
Starting Time
9:00 AM
Fees
- $50 for the half marathon, if registered by August 23
- $55 after August 23
Registration
To reserve your spot in the 2023 running of the West Virginia Trilogy Half Marathon, register online at RunSignUp.com here.
Official Race Website
Facebook Conversations
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