Jackson River Scenic Trail Marathon & Half Marathon
Covington, VA
- Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K
- Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
This fun event has something for everyone! The USATF certified course begins and ends at the Intervale Trail Head of The Jackson River Scenic Trail in Covington, Virginia. The trail follows an old railroad bed of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. The course has a smooth crushed gravel surface and … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jun 13):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 86 | 77 | 79 | 66 | 82 |
| L (°F) | 65 | 64 | 61 | 50 | 66 |
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Flat, quiet, shady course
I ran this for the second year in a row. The course is flat, out and back, on a rails to trails crushed stone path, with trees on each side. … MORE
I ran this for the second year in a row. The course is flat, out and back, on a rails to trails crushed stone path, with trees on each side. The trees provided shade about 95% of the half marathon course but the scenery did not change. The only crowd support came from the few road crossings (police/course marshals) and other runners. The u-turns for each distance (5k, 10k, Half, Full) are marked by a sign, spray-painted line, and aid station. There was one portapotty located about 5.5 miles into the half marathon, then an aid station, and at a clearing a photographer. Except for the first/last aid station (hydration only), all aid stations on the half marathon course had water, gatorade, Gu chews, oranges, bananas, and some other snacks. Packet pickup was the day before or at the race start and included a t-shirt, mug, bib, and some tourism pamphlets about the area. The finisher’s medal was the same for all race. The age group awards were a wooden block with lettering and a cutout and hook to hang the finisher’s medal. If you’re looking for an shaded, flat, quiet course this could be your race. However, it is held in early-mid June so prepare for high humidity.
Beautiful scenery, flat course
Parking was well organized and plentiful. This wasn’t a huge race so good race for those who dislike huge crowds. Absolutely beautiful course on a crushed gravel trail along the … MORE
Parking was well organized and plentiful. This wasn’t a huge race so good race for those who dislike huge crowds. Absolutely beautiful course on a crushed gravel trail along the Jackson River, always sheltered by trees so the temperature is gorgeous! This was a wonderful segway into my half marathon attempt. I found the race bag to be subpar (not many goodies) and this was quite an expensive race. The nutrition stations were good but the post race food was disappointing – just more oranges and granola bars. I was also somewhat disappointed with the race photos but that is not a deal breaker for me – maybe I am just not photogenic! 😂 Would definitely do it again!
Awesome Trail
Easy out and back course, flat with plenty of water stations. Most of the trail is under tree canopy so plenty of shade, with a well marked path. Parking was … MORE
Easy out and back course, flat with plenty of water stations. Most of the trail is under tree canopy so plenty of shade, with a well marked path. Parking was fine, within 5 min walking distance to starting line. Packet pick-up was easy, no issues. Swag was ok.
Not for me - maybe for you
This was my first marathon and I wanted to run something really flat. This is for sure extremely flat! Maybe too flat (elevation ~200 feet). The volunteers were awesome though … MORE
This was my first marathon and I wanted to run something really flat. This is for sure extremely flat! Maybe too flat (elevation ~200 feet). The volunteers were awesome though this is essentially not staff. I think there were like… three water stations – which is probably a limitation of the area so whatever I came prepared.
For me, the woods got really monotonous and the fact it was an out and back just about mentally killed me. It also started to get VERY hot towards the end.
I don’t want to hate on this because I think it was well organized and could be pretty if that’s what you’re into. Definitely a little local event and I loved it for that!
Nice course, average race
This is an average race. That isn't a criticism. Most races these days check all the boxes: nice course, good support on the course, chip timing, post race snacks, etc. … MORE
This is an average race. That isn’t a criticism. Most races these days check all the boxes: nice course, good support on the course, chip timing, post race snacks, etc. This race checked those boxes, with a few things better than average and a few worse than average.
First, the course was great. You can’t see beyond the trees on the path for part of the race, but it’s a nice surface and you do have river views for part of the run. It’s almost completely flat, so if you are looking for a soft surface flat course, this is your race… I’ve not raced too many (any?) non-paved trails that are this flat.
The aid stations were great. They had sports drink, water, and a few stations had gel. A few may have also had cut oranges. But the liquid was all in bottles which may have been a Covid-related thing. But it’s wasteful because runners don’t usually need more than a few ounces of liquid at each stop. Who drinks a 10 or 12 oz bottle of Gatorade or water? Wasteful, but again, it was likely Covid related. The post race food and drinks could have been a bit more robust. No chocolate milk? That’s becoming a fairly standard thing to see at races, and rightly so since it is widely considered nearly the perfect immediate post-race drink.
Parking was good and there were porta-potties at the start. This is a small race and I don’t think they’d be able to get much bigger due to parking limitations. But the nearby town of Covington is a cute town, worth walking around in, but as cute as it is, it isn’t real tourist friendly. I think I saw maybe only one or two places to eat on the main street, and one of them was closed. The other was a hot dog and ice cream joint, which isn’t exactly what races are looking for pre-race. Still, I loved this little town and the race. I probably won’t do it again, but only because it was a 6 hour drive for me to get to Covington from my home. If I lived only an hour away I’d do this one again.
Good to be running a real race
After Covid 19 races aren't quite the same. We don't talk as much and get to know runners as well. The expo was a packet pickup. The shirts weren't there … MORE
After Covid 19 races aren’t quite the same. We don’t talk as much and get to know runners as well. The expo was a packet pickup. The shirts weren’t there on time. The course is great… we had a warm humid day to run. The heat and humidity really got to me. But I ran a real marathon in June.