Kinzua Half Marathon & 5K
Mt Jewett, PA
- Half Marathon, 5K
- Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
Take a trip to the Allegheny National Forest this summer and experience one of America’s most scenic forests. Called “The Land of Many Uses,” the Allegheny National Forest is known for its diverse recreational offerings like hiking, boating, swimming, and biking. Experience what National Geographic calls “one of America’s most … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jul 18):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 75 | 74 | 77 | 73 | 76 |
| L (°F) | 58 | 59 | 59 | 66 | 59 |
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Small but well-run race
This was a tough one. The first 2-3 miles were on paved road and had some rolling hills but not too bad. The 5 miles after that were on a … MORE
This was a tough one. The first 2-3 miles were on paved road and had some rolling hills but not too bad. The 5 miles after that were on a trail and straight up. I found myself rage-walking for a lot of this section because on top of how steep it was I was afraid of twisting an ankle. The rest was relatively flat or slightly downhill and on a packed limestone trail.
All that aside, the race was well organized especially for a smaller run and the swag was great. I love my shirt, the medal is beautiful, and I got a great backpack for doing the 5K/half challenge. The course was pretty, I just didn’t realize how much true trail running would be involved.
Trailier than Advertised
This is a half marathon produced by Wolf Creek Track Club located in Kinzua Bridge State Park in Northwest PA. It is directly south of Buffalo, just passed the NY … MORE
This is a half marathon produced by Wolf Creek Track Club located in Kinzua Bridge State Park in Northwest PA. It is directly south of Buffalo, just passed the NY state border. I chose this race since it was one of the closer half marathons this weekend to me and I liked that the 5K was the evening before so I could do the challenge and not need a hotel Friday since it is over a 2 hour drive from Rochester so would be a little far to drive for a morning race without getting a hotel. My biggest complaint about the race is the lack of pre-race communication. The website though is quite detailed. However they only sent one email out the day before the race. It would have been nice to have gotten the “our race is approved” email and maybe an update 1 to 2 weeks before and an update when the packets were sent. Also as you will see later in my review there was not enough details about what the course was like. For better or worse there were a lot of covid protocols in place. Now that I am vaccinated, I am pretty comfortable without all the protocols but I understand why a race would keep them since some people may not be comfortable without the protocols yet. The race packet was mailed. It included the shirt, a drawstring bag and the medal was also mailed. The shirt is a forest green short sleeved tech shirt with the race logo. It is a little plain but nice enough. The drawstring bag is just a generic one from the race company but its good to get extra swag. The medal is beautiful, nice quality and really big. However as I stated before in my 5K review they never sent me the Tornado challenge medal I was supposed to receive. If I was just doing the half marathon I would have given the swag 4 or 5 sneakers but I only gave it 3 due to the missing medal. I will change my review if they mail it as promise…hint, hint Wolf Creek Track Club if you are reading this. I drove down Saturday after my race in NY and did the 5K in the evening. Most of the closest lodging is in Bradford, PA. Just a warning it is about a 30 minute drive from Bradford to the park. Not a big deal but plan your time accordingly. Parking is very easy and there were porta potties by the parking lot and the start line. This had a rolling start from 8:00 to 8:30. Again a little anti-climactic as most races I have done recently have had mass starts but as I said I can understand why they kept it. It is chipped time so there is no penalty to starting late. The Kinzua Bridge is not part of the course. But the start is right by it and you can easily explore it before or after the race. This is also an out and back on the rail trail. The first 3.5 miles of the course are on gravel and quite easy. Then the next 3.5 miles were on trail and while I wouldn’t call it difficult or technical there were a lot of loose rocks. I wish I was warned about this earlier as I would have worn trail shoes. Unfortunately around mile 5 I twisted my ankle on one of the rocks. It was a pretty minor injury and I was able to complete the race but had to do so at a slower pace and walked a lot of the more trail area to prevent further injury. My initial pace the first 5 miles was solid at about 12 min/mile but I had to slow down quite a bit after. I was very happy to get back on the gravel trail as that felt better on my ankle and was able to run the last 3 or so miles pretty well. The course is pretty but nothing special on the rail trail. Other than the loose rocks, it is not difficult. There are no true hills just some gradual inclines and declines. There were mile markers and signs throughout to make up for there being minimal spectator support. Although there were a handful of people at the intersections. There were 3 aid stations. Another complaint I have is the aid stations. They were back to those annoying little water bottles and gatorade. Again I realize they kept the covid precautions so that is not my biggest complaint. My biggest complaint is the trash cans were right next to the aid stations not a few yards ahead. This was a real pain. Normally with the little bottles I grab the bottle, walk and drink it until the garbage can and use that as a walking break but I had to full on stop and drink the gatorade and then put it in the trashcan. Someone said they would pick up any bottles thrown in the woods but I absolutely cannot litter and throw bottles in a forest. Therefore I stopped at each aid station for at least 1 to 2 minutes which did not help my time. Also I cringed as I saw so many plastic bottles littering the trail. Adding extra garbage cans or moving them so there were a few yards away would be such an easy fix. Other than this, I thought the race was very well produced. My time was pretty bad since I was injured but I managed to finish under 3 hours. It was kind of anti-climactic to already have received the medal and not get one at the finish line. But there were bottles of gatorade and water along with chocolate chip cookies, granola bars, fruit snacks and bananas at the end. There was also a food truck in the park where you could get lunch. There was nothing vegan but there is nothing vegan in the area outside of taco bell so I had a cheese quesadilla and fries and an amazing blueberry milkshake from the food truck. I had a fun time this weekend exploring Kinzua State Park and I thought this was a fine race. There was nothing too exciting about the race itself but it was fine and only a couple hours from Rochester and it is a cool area to explore with lots of hiking. This isn’t a race I would highly recommend or go out of my way for but it’s relatively close to me and there aren’t a ton of summer half marathon options so I’d consider doing it again. It wouldn’t be my first choice for a half marathon for PA, but it’s not a bad race just remember trail shoes. Although they did say the park plans to make the rest of the trail gravel so it may not be as technical in future years. Now it’s time to rest my ankle so I can be healed for next week.
***Update – the race company mailed me the challenge medal as promised. They told me they would do it first thing Monday and I honestly believe they did as it arrived in just a few days. Medal is nice although the half medal is nicer. This improves the swag to 4 sneakers. I was also very impressed by how fast they mailed it. This company clearly cares about individual runners and owns up to their mistakes. After this I am definitely more likely to run another one of their races***
They Forgot to Mail Challenge Medal
I did this 5K as part of the Tornado Challenge with the Kinzua Half Marathon. More details will be in that review. I loved that the 5K is the evening … MORE
I did this 5K as part of the Tornado Challenge with the Kinzua Half Marathon. More details will be in that review. I loved that the 5K is the evening before and one reason I chose this specific half marathon for this weekend since it meant I could do 2 5Ks on Saturday and I didn’t need a hotel Friday evening to do the challenge. The 5K starts at 7pm. I arrived early and spent a couple hours explore Kinzua Bridge State Park which is pretty cool. The race had a rolling start from 7pm to 7:10pm. Starting area seemed well organized. I went near 7pm. Course is just an out and back on a nice but not super exciting gravel rail trail. Just some gradual inclines and pretty easy. It was kind of drizzly this evening. I purposely went at a slow training, pace. My finishing time was slow for a 5K but I was aiming to run a 36 minute 5K and ran a 36 minute 5K. The packet with all the swag was mailed before hand. For the 5K you got the race shirt and drawstring bag and you are supposed to get a challenge medal if you do both the half and 5K. However I was very disappointed my packet didn’t include the challenge medal. I did speak the the race staff members at the registration table who were extremely nice and wrote my name down and said they would mail it to me. We will see. If it does get mailed and depending on how nice it is, I will update and change my review accordingly. Overall this was a fine 5K but nothing special and kind of disappointing not to get the challenge medal.
***Update they mailed my challenge medal very promptly and I got it in the mail a few days after the race. I updated the swag rating***
Flat, Shady, but same view the whole run
Of course in the year of Covid, things are different. This was a run on a gravel rail trail, with is nice and shaded, but that's all you can see. … MORE
Of course in the year of Covid, things are different. This was a run on a gravel rail trail, with is nice and shaded, but that’s all you can see. You did not run out on the Bridge, just near it. The best thing about the race was that we went a day early and hiked . The ANF is amazing!