Blackwater Canyon Half Marathon
Parsons, WV
- Half Marathon
- Road (Paved), Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
The Blackwater Canyon Half Marathon will take place on the Blackwater Canyon railroad grade and Allegheny Highlands Trail running from Thomas, WV to Mill Race Park in Parsons, WV. Please join this epic event in support of the Highlands Trail Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to trail development in the … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Sep 12):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 81 | 82 | 81 | 75 | 83 |
| L (°F) | 45 | 48 | 57 | 65 | 56 |
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Beautiful small town race!
First time in West Virginia and was blown away by the beauty. Drove from the Pittsburgh airport and taken aback by the gorgeous trees with emerging foliage and rolling farmland. … MORE
First time in West Virginia and was blown away by the beauty. Drove from the Pittsburgh airport and taken aback by the gorgeous trees with emerging foliage and rolling farmland. This race was super small and intimate and had a lovely sense of community. The weather was perfect and the trail was beautiful. I loved that the medals were custom made by a local potter (who has a studio shop close to where the starting line is!) volunteers were all super kind, bib pickup was super no frills. I don’t have “negatives” per se but here are some things to note for any other visitors that may differ from larger races:
-the instructions said pickup was on “front street” in Thomas – which is correctly named, but for some reason it doesn’t show up that way in google maps, it says state highway and numbers. So maybe listing a couple shop names could help for directional purposes
-transportation was very clear and timely, but fyi there was not an option to have transport back to the starting line (I had stayed walking distance to the starting line, but had to drive 20 mins away much earlier than planned to park at the finish and take shuttle to start – and there are no Ubers in the area)
-absolutely loved that the race was plastic free, definitely advise to bring your own portable hydration. We were given cups but the aid stations were super few and far between (there honestly wasn’t an alternative because of how narrow the trail was)
-visitors might be advised to train on trail terrain. The trail was on mostly rocks for more than half of the race, which is a very unnatural material and I found myself tripping and fell a couple times from the rocks. It was also on a single file sized path for several miles, but everyone did a good job with politely passing. The small field size also helped with this.
All in all – absolutely recommend! I loved visiting Thomas and Davis and the Blackwater falls area. Perfect time of year for this race.
Beautiful + Downhill
This is a very beautiful and downhill course! I've run plenty of races in WV, and this is my favorite half marathon of the state. Even though it is downhill, … MORE
This is a very beautiful and downhill course! I’ve run plenty of races in WV, and this is my favorite half marathon of the state. Even though it is downhill, it is still a trail race, so you can easily trip and fall (almost happened to me). Around mile 10, you get off the trail and run on pavement to the finish line. This is a good opportunity to PR!
Going down
This is a beautiful run along the river. Point to point race. Mostly trail, crushed gravel, single track and large stones make up the 1st 10 miles. The last 3 … MORE
This is a beautiful run along the river. Point to point race. Mostly trail, crushed gravel, single track and large stones make up the 1st 10 miles. The last 3 miles are paved and you finish in a park. Nice post race party
Must run in West Virginia
Scenic trail run downhill. Paths were great and the surroundings were perfect. Will do this race again. Volunteers and staff magnificent. MORE
Scenic trail run downhill. Paths were great and the surroundings were perfect. Will do this race again. Volunteers and staff magnificent.