Welcome to the NCR Marathon and the NCR Half Marathon presented by the Baltimore Road Runners Club! The NCR Marathon is Baltimore’s oldest continuously running marathon. BRRC also presented the historic Maryland Marathon dating back to 1973 before moving to the North Central Railroad Trail. The course has a .8 mile downhill road section with the remaining 25.4 miles on the NCR Trail making this unique in being a net downhill, fast marathon, enjoying a hard packed surface. This is a great fall Boston Qualifier. Have a great run at the fastest marathon without the pavement!
The half marathon also starts and finishes the same as the marathon making it too uniquely fast, without significant pavement.
We start at the historic and beautiful Oldfields School campus with the course running .8 miles down Glencoe Rd. to where it turns onto the NCR trail and goes out and back along the trail to finish on the trail at Glencoe Rd. Runners will also enjoy the Oldfields School gymnasium for their post race fun including food, music and awards.
The trail surface is a compacted combination of dirt and fine stone and winds along the Gunpowder river through quiet farmland.
The race is an out and back course primarily along the Northern Central Railroad Trail. The North Central Railroad was one of the first railroads in America, dating back to 1832. For 140 years, trains compacted and groomed what was to become our NCR trail. That’s a lot of compacting and grooming! No wonder it is perfectly packed dirt and limestone! The trail winds along the Gunpowder River, through quiet farmland. The start is at historic Oldfields School and will go downhill on Glencoe Road approximately 0.8 miles to the NCR trail where it will turn right onto the trail and will go out and back along the NCR Trail. Runners will enjoy finishing at Glencoe Road, wrapping themselves in their coveted NCR blanket, donning their cool medal, and appreciating a well earned 0.8 mile ride to the post race party at the renovated Oldfields Gymnasium!
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This will be my last time running this r
I've ran this race in the past and has always been a good time but this year made me not want to return. The people who volunteer are always amazing … MORE
I’ve ran this race in the past and has always been a good time but this year made me not want to return. The people who volunteer are always amazing but this year there was one guy in particular who was awful. The person who was in charge of telling people if they’d make it or not at mile 12 and 15 should not ever volunteer here ever again. He kept telling me I wasn’t going to make it before I even hit mile 13. Told me again at mile 15 I wasn’t going to make it and was forcing me to run when I was already hurting. I could have made the cutoff if it wasn’t for all the questions this person was asking me. Looking back I should have just ignored him but since I was on my own I felt super uncomfortable. Still tempted to contact BRR to let them know about this guy so he can’t do the same to someone else. This was NOT my first marathon either.
Perfect race
Smallish marathon but so well run. Hoodie for signing up was very nice. Buses to the start were running smoothly. Got to wait in a heated gym. Plenty of portajohns … MORE
Smallish marathon but so well run. Hoodie for signing up was very nice. Buses to the start were running smoothly. Got to wait in a heated gym. Plenty of portajohns outside at the start. Course was one of my favorites.. crushed gravel. Not pavement and not the hazards of a true trail race. Scenery along the river was pleasant. Even saw a bald eagle in a tree! Aid stations were nicely spaced A little hard for spectators due to limited road crossings on the course. The weather was chilly but turned out great for running (20-30 degrees but windy). The out and back allowed us to see and cheer the faster runners Bag check at the gym was a plus. Hot soup at the finish hit the spot!! I would definitely recommend this to someone doing the 50 states or anyone looking for a fast course and a well run marathon!! Oh yeah. The cool heavy finishes blanket was a great surprise!!
I did it for the blanket
Not gonna lie, I signed up for this race for the snuggly finishers’s blanket. It’s as soft as your favorite hoodie. And speaking of hoodie’s, the super comfy purple hoodie … MORE
Not gonna lie, I signed up for this race for the snuggly finishers’s blanket. It’s as soft as your favorite hoodie. And speaking of hoodie’s, the super comfy purple hoodie you get as race swag is a new favorite.
The race itself was a fun event. You have to take a shuttle to get to the start line. Get to the shuttle plenty early…the line is long. The race starts on the hilly, wooded campus of an old boarding school. From there on, you’re basically on a railroad-straight greenway the whole way, an easy out-and-back course. It’s pretty enough (trees!)…no real memorable scenery, but a pleasant enough setting for a run.
Spectator areas are a bit limited, so if you like when your cheering crew bounces from spot to spot to see you throughout the race, this is one where you may only get to see them a few times.
Porta potties, aid stations…I really don’t remember.
There’s no parking near the finish line. There’s a shuttle back to where you began the day, or you can hoof it uphill to the parking near the school. It’s not crazy far, but after a long run, it’s…extra.
The post-race food was decent: Hot soup (my new favorite post-race nourishment), cookies, chips, soda, Gatorade, and bananas. It’s in the gym back at the start line (see previously mentioned uphill climb).
Added bonus: You can change clothes at the gym if you want.
All in all, a nice event. A change of pace from big city races with tons of production and crowd support…this is running for the pleasure of running. Enjoy!
Nice Small Race
Great race setup, management and overall production. Course is a flat out and back with some pretty views and nice homes. Not a lot of crowd support because it is … MORE
Great race setup, management and overall production. Course is a flat out and back with some pretty views and nice homes. Not a lot of crowd support because it is held on a rail trail but the people who did show up were awesome and the aid station workers were very encouraging as well. Definitely a race worth doing.
The nicest swag
I have ran on NCR plenty of times, it’s my go to route for a long run as there are no cars or traffic lights. This race very low key … MORE
I have ran on NCR plenty of times, it’s my go to route for a long run as there are no cars or traffic lights. This race very low key but well organized. You get the nicest blanket, a thick blanket not a flimsy one when you finish.
10-minute PR on the beautiful NCR trail.
Very well put on event by the local running club. Always run the weekend after Thanksgiving, so it allows you to run off some of that good Thanksgiving goo! The … MORE
Very well put on event by the local running club. Always run the weekend after Thanksgiving, so it allows you to run off some of that good Thanksgiving goo! The year I ran this, in 2008, the start and finish was at the sparks elementary school. We ran down 1.5 miles to the trail, which is completely flat for an out n back then ran uphill to the school for the last 1.5 miles. Note: the course has since changed to run entirely on the Torrey Brown trail which is beautiful and flat and much faster! Great memories for this one. 10 minute PR, plus ran with my two best running buddies. MY two oldest Sons came down from PA and provided course support and massages afterwards! You run along the Gunpowder river and I saw a majestic Buck jump in and outta the River at about mile 2.5. One of those running memories I’ll probably never forget.