Join some of the most scenic marathon and half marathon courses in the country. This epic trail will take you on a fast and stunning journey from a start in the mountains of Snoqualmie Pass, WA down the famous Iron Horse Trail. With Boston Qualifiers becoming harder and the need …
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Join some of the most scenic marathon and half marathon courses in the country. This epic trail will take you on a fast and stunning journey from a start in the mountains of Snoqualmie Pass, WA down the famous Iron Horse Trail. With Boston Qualifiers becoming harder and the need for speed a requirement, this course offers a series of fast and beautiful races that will help you achieve your marathon or half marathon PR!
The Run Super Series chose this course in North Bend, WA, located just 45 minutes east of Seattle, WA because of its beauty and close proximity to many tourist activities. Our experienced race crew will be limiting its races to 800 spots each. Run one of the most scenic marathons in Washington and one of the fastest courses in the country, achieve your personal best!
The Cascade Express Marathon is one of the fastest marathon courses in the country! This course is one of the top 20 Boston Qualifier Courses in the country with a BQ rate over 34%! Enjoy 26.2 miles of scenic downhill with gorgeous view of the Cascade Mountains as you glide down the gravel trail on this point to point course. This is the ONLY marathon course that features jaw dropping views as you run along Keechelus Lake. With 1500’ of gradual net downhill, we assure you that you will “find your super fast” on the way to a speedy time, PR or BQ!
The race begins at the Hyak Trail Head at Palouse to Cascades State Park. The first five miles are an out and back section that offer flat terrain and jaw dropping views. Catch your pace along Keechelus Lake on this section and settle into your running groove on the smooth trail. At Mile 5.2 you will enter the famous 2.4 mile long Snoqualmie Tunnel. As you exit the tunnel, you are greeted with yet some more stunning views of the Cascade Mountains. From there, you have 1500’ of gentle downhill descent over the final 17 miles as you glide across railroad tressels, past waterfalls and take in the endless mountain vistas!
The Cascade Express Half is one of the fastest half marathon courses in the country! Enjoy 13.1 miles of scenic downhill with gorgeous view of the Cascade Mountains as you glide down the gravel trail on this point to point course. This is the ONLY half marathon course that features a run through the famous 2.4 mile Snoqualmie Tunnel. With 800’ of gradual net downhill, we assure you that you will “find your super fast” on the way to a speedy time or a PR!
The race begins at the Hyak Trail Head at Palouse to Cascades State Park. It enters the famous Snoqualmie Tunnel after only half a mile. You will run through the 2.4 mile tunnel emerging into the heart of the Cascade Mountains. From there, you have 800’ of gentle downhill descent.
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This is my favorite place to run.
This course go through a tunnel which is awesome then it's a gentle down hill easy place to set your PR and a great race to get you BQ if … MORE
This course go through a tunnel which is awesome then it’s a gentle down hill easy place to set your PR and a great race to get you BQ if that’s your goal. Plus you get awesome mountain views the whole was. I’ve run the full Marathon and the half on this course.
Ehhhh..
Don't get me wrong, the scenery and the downhill easy peasy nature of this course is worth the sign up alone. It was gorgeous and the weather was perfect! There … MORE
Don’t get me wrong, the scenery and the downhill easy peasy nature of this course is worth the sign up alone. It was gorgeous and the weather was perfect! There was a little bit of smoke, but I didn’t notice it till I woke up coughing the next day.
The swag was very MEH. The medal was a combination of the half and full marathon. Which was SO disappointing because this was my first marathon! I wanted a marathon medal!! It was also just an unattractive medal (see photo)
I immediately threw out the tee. It was cheap and the women’s was a weird v-neck which again..is just so weird.
My other issue is that things seemed unorganized? We started getting a panicked call for volunteers in our inbox less than a week before the marathon. Which really showed during the race. Some stations only had one person, which is fine, but I felt bad for the volunteers in the middle of no where without help or someone to talk to.
The snacks at the end were sad and difficult to locate. We missed out on a few of the photo ops during the race bc I guess some photographers didn’t show up until later?
All small stuff, but it really added up.
Gorgeous Course! Small Production
This is the same course as the Tunnel Marathons, so the views are the same and we run through the tunnel for about 2 miles! Running on gravel was the … MORE
This is the same course as the Tunnel Marathons, so the views are the same and we run through the tunnel for about 2 miles!
Running on gravel was the hardest part since I’m used to road running. The second hardest part was running in the tunnel since it was dark, and my footing wasn’t the best. Since the course is used by the public, we had to dodge bikers, other runners, and dog walkers.
The production of the race wasn’t that great since I felt like we didn’t get much swag or food, so I felt underwhelmed. Additionally, we ended right in the middle of the marathon course, so several marathoners had to awkwardly run past us while we are standing around.
Overall, this is a good race since it’s realistic for people to PR, it’s not overwhelming with thousands of runners, and the views were amazing.
Amazing course race and community
The run super series is very organized, fun, have pacers, very visible mile markers, amazing swag, amazing ambassadors and volunteers. Race director is super fun and cares about each every … MORE
The run super series is very organized, fun, have pacers, very visible mile markers, amazing swag, amazing ambassadors and volunteers. Race director is super fun and cares about each every runner.
Downhill!
This race is popular for being mostly downhill, which definitely helps make things easier 😅 There's basically two lanes on the gravel trail where tires have ground down the rocks … MORE
This race is popular for being mostly downhill, which definitely helps make things easier 😅 There’s basically two lanes on the gravel trail where tires have ground down the rocks enough to be smooth. If you’re in a crowded part of the race, or trying to pass, you have to run in the middle which has bigger, golf ball sized rocks. Watch your ankles! The tunnel was fun, but expect humidity and to be dodging water trickling from the ceiling.
My favorite race up on Snoqualmie Pass!!
Run Super Series put on an awesome race. The views were beautiful, the swag was great and everything went so smoothly!! The super crew and all the volunteers were amazing! … MORE
Run Super Series put on an awesome race. The views were beautiful, the swag was great and everything went so smoothly!! The super crew and all the volunteers were amazing! Plus the swag was far better than any other race I’ve done!
Great Race
Great race on a beautiful course. Gentle downhill after the first 5 miles. Course is mostly packed small gravel, but a few area of loose larger gravel. Really felt those … MORE
Great race on a beautiful course. Gentle downhill after the first 5 miles. Course is mostly packed small gravel, but a few area of loose larger gravel. Really felt those larger stones on miles 20-26. The tunnel is pitch black. They have flashlights, but would wear a headlamp if I did it again.