Description

The Gorges Ithaca Half Marathon, presented by Cayuga Medical Center, brings you a taste of gorges Ithaca. The course follows the Black Diamond Rail Trail and paved Cayuga Waterfront Trail, offering a fantastically fast and scenic half marathon. 

Upping the adventure value, the course uses a point to point format, starting from the Cayuga Medical Center and ending just shy of the Ithaca Commons. Runners will have a short uphill off the start, followed by a residential couple road miles including descent into the Black Diamond railtrail. From there entrants will be treated to 4.5 miles of a gentle downhill grade over hard-packed cinder, passing numerous waterfalls along the way. After leaving the BDT runners will run point to point along the paved Cayuga Lake Waterfront Trail, before exiting for a final mile and half through Ithaca's Fall Creek neighborhood.

Each runner will receive 6 (potentially 7) aid stations on course, a catered spread of local food and beverage post-race with a band to relax to, and a finisher's waterbottle, medal, and a Patagonia sleeveless T that you'll hopefully want to wear every day (guaranteed only to the first 1100 entrants). Complimentary Bus Shuttle from the Ithaca Commons to the Start Line for all runners is included in the race entry fee. Hopefully we'll luck out with another beautiful weekend in a pretty great part of the world. Join us. And bring a friend.