EVENT ON HIATUS FOR 2018. From race website: “Cumberland has been a great host for the Cumberland C&O Towpath Marathon and Half Marathon the past three years. Nevertheless Altis has decided to put this race on hiatus at least for 2018 to conduct the inaugural Hancock Marathon and Half Marathon using 6.56 miles of the Towpath. At Cumberland the goal has been to get 6.56 miles of towpath/trail to use as a course and Altis could not make that happen.
The fourth edition of the Cumberland C&O Towpath Marathon and Half Marathon is TBD.”
—–
The event will use 3.28 miles of the flat crushed stone surfaced Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath. Half marathoners will complete two out and backs of the course and marathoners will complete four out and backs of the course. A great deal of information on the fantastic C&O Canal Towpath can be found at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Trail Link website https://www.traillink.com/trail/chesapeake–ohio-canal-national-historic-park.aspx
The race start/finish is located on the towpath about 300 feet south of the C&O Canal Towpath Cumberland Visitor Center located in the Western Maryland Railroad Station near 13 Canal Street Cumberland, MD 21502.
The Cumberland C&O Towpath Marathon & Half Marathon will be the fifth and final event in the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Marathon and Half Marathon Series. The other events in the Series are the Brush Tunnel Marathon and Half, the GAP Marathon and Half, the GAP Trestles Marathon and Half, and the Barnum Rail Trail Marathon and Half. In order, the series races take place in MD, MD, PA, WV, and MD.
The Cumberland C&O Towpath Marathon and Half Marathon is a Trail Runner Magazine 2017 Trophy Series event. To learn more about the Trophy Series, navigate over to trailrunnermag.com.
LESS
Friendly folks; well organized.
I love these small events where the race director remembers you and calls you by your first name at the aid stations. Also, the volunteers were able to remember my … MORE
I love these small events where the race director remembers you and calls you by your first name at the aid stations. Also, the volunteers were able to remember my name and greeted me when I arrived at the aid stations. This marathon was not quite as scenic as the Barnum Rail Trail marathon, but was on the historic C&O Cumberland Towpath, which has unique characteristics of its own including a barge like they used to tow up the canal. Interesting course, but a more suburban setting.