Eastern Continental Divide Marathon and Half Marathon

The inaugural Eastern Continental Divide Marathon and Half Marathon is set for Thursday, October 8, 2020. Both the marathon and half marathon will start at 8:00AM. This event takes place in its entirety in Pennsylvania on the outstanding Great Allegheny Passage (GAP). The primary highlights of the course include crossing the Eastern Continental Divide and a view of the north end of the 3294 foot long Big Savage Tunnel. The eastern end of the course is just a few feet from the tunnel entrance tunnel. The race course does not enter the tunnel. Marathoners and halfers will run a slightly different course which allows the marathoners to run across the scenic 910 foot long Keystone Viaduct twice.

This race is the second event in the 2020 Mid-Atlantic Marathon and Half Marathon Series taking place from October 7-11. The other events in the Series are the GAP Marathon and Half, the GAP Trestles Marathon and Half, the Salisbury Viaduct Marathon and Half, and the Hancock Marathon and Half. In order, the series races take place in MD, PA, PA, PA, and MD. Run one, some, or all these great trail races!

Registration

To register click here. $55 for the half marathon and $70 for the marathon through June 30th; $65 for the half marathon and $80 for the marathon from July 1st to August 31st; $70 for the half marathon and $90 for the marathon from September 1st until the race. Online registration closes at 5:00PM eastern time Tuesday October 6th.

Please note that this event is a shirt optional race. Runners have the option to not receive the very nice soft cotton race shirt which reduces the below listed entry fees by $10.

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Race Location/Info

In a first for Altis Endurance Sports, the marathoners and halfers will start at different locations due to parking constraints.

Marathoners will park and start their race at the Miller Run Road GAP parking area. There is no address for the parking lot. The GPS location of the parking area is 39.795746, -78.976176. Runners who have GPS units that don’t use GPS coordinates can use 401 Deal Road Meyersdale Road Meyersdale, PA to get you to a quarter mile from the parking area. Directional arrow signs will also direct you to the parking area. A small map of the parking area is below.

Half Marathoners will park and start their race at the Deal Road GAP parking area at 1777 Deal Road Meyersdale, PA. A satellite view of the parking area is below.

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Packet Pickup

There is no Wednesday night packet pickup. Thursday race morning packet pick-up will commence at 7:15 AM at each race start/finish location.

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Travel

Use this link to view the airports closest to Meyersdale, PA. According to the Travel Math link, the distances to Meyersdale, PA from major airports are: PIT – 106 miles; Harrisburg (MDT) – 155 miles; Dulles (IAD) – 161 miles; DCA – 170 miles; BWI – 172 miles

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Hotels

There are no chain hotels in Meyersdale, but there is the morguentoole.com hotel and four Bed and Breakfast locations in Meyersdale. The morguentoole.com hotel has several different room types that will interest a wide variety of runners. If you are interested in staying in Meyersdale the morguentoole.com web site is worth the time to view. This Trip Advisor link provides some info on all the Meyersdale lodging options.

The Frostburg/Cumberland/La Vale, MD hotels and the Somerset, PA hotels are 30 minutes from the race start/finish.

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Course Info

The half marathon course is a typical Altis Endurance course that uses a quarter marathon length (6.56 miles) of trail. Halfers head west on the GAP from the start. After running west for 4.5 miles halfers reach their west turnaround. Runners turn around at this point and head east on the GAP for 6.56 miles. Upon reaching the east turnaround at the entrance to the Big Savage Tunnel, runners turn around and head two miles back to their race finish at the Deal Road GAP parking area. According to mapmyrun.com the course has 963 feet of elevation gain. Since the elevation chart shows a bunch of hills or bumps on the course that do not exist, it is likely that the 963 feet of elevation gain is a high number. The course map link can be viewed at https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2725860661

The marathon course is slightly different from the half course to allow the marathoners the chance to run the fantastic 910 foot long Keystone Viaduct. Marathoners head west on the GAP from the start for 1.73 miles. Shortly after crossing the Keystone Viaduct runners hit the course marathon west turnaround. At this point runners turn around and head east on the GAP back to the start. The map of this initial out-and-back can be viewed at https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2725898377

Marathoners continue running east after reaching the start. Upon reaching the east turnaround at the entrance to the Big Savage Tunnel, runners turn around and head to their race start/finish at the Miller Run Road GAP parking area. Upon reaching the start/finish marathoners turn around and run the out-and-back to the Big Savage Tunnel a second time. Upon returning to the start marathoners record their race finish. There are several ways that one could describe the marathon course. One way is to say that marathoners run one quick out-and-back to the west, and then two long out-and-backs to the east to complete their race. According to mapmyrun.com the course has 2183 feet of elevation gain. Since the elevation chart shows a bunch of hills or bumps on the course that do not exist, it is likely that the 2183 feet of elevation gain is a high number. The map of the marathon out-and-back to the east can be viewed at https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2725884544

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Volunteer

If you would like to be a race volunteer please contact Mike at events@altisendurance.com. Volunteers earn free race entries for themselves (or to donate to a friend/relative) in any Altis Endurance race and/or donations to a favorite charity/non-profit organization.

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Awards

The finisher awards are produced by Steel Images. Great thanks to runner Markus Mueller for designing the 2020 finisher award which is pictured at the top of the page. There are no age group awards or first finisher awards.

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Weather

Historical average high and low temperatures in Meyersdale, PA on October 8th is 62 and 43.

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Aid Stations

Half marathon aid stations are located at 1.8, 3.5, 5.3, 7.0, 8.8, 10.4 and 11.5

Half marathon port-o-lets are located at 3.5, 5.3, and 8.8

Marathon aid stations are located at 1.7, 3.5, 5.1, 7.0, 8.6, 9.6, 11.2, 13.1, 14.8, 16.4, 18.3, 19.9, 21.0, 22.6, and 24.5

Marathon port-o-lets are located at 3.5, 7.0, 11.2, 14.8, 18.3, and 22.6

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Cutoffs

Runners have eight hours to complete their respective races.

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Refunds/Transfers/Miscellaneous

As is the case with most races, there will be no refunds of entry fees to entrants. Transfers of race bibs from one runner to another is also not allowed. This event is limited to 75 entrants. There will not be a waiting list if the race fills.

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Questions

If you have any questions please contact Mike at events@altisendurance.com.

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