New Hampshire Marathon & Half Marathon
Bristol, NH
- Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
New Hampshire’s best kept secret for over 30 years… is the New Hampshire Marathon! Come experience the natural beauty of the North East in NH at this small, friendly and community oriented event. There are events for every age, ability and goals – full marathon, half marathon, 10K and a … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Oct 03):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 75 | 71 | 83 | 57 | 56 |
| L (°F) | 35 | 49 | 48 | 36 | 53 |
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The views make it worth it!
The hills and the pitch of the roads were tough and but the views were simply amazing. Probably one of my most scenic races I've done (42nd state). Run on … MORE
The hills and the pitch of the roads were tough and but the views were simply amazing. Probably one of my most scenic races I’ve done (42nd state). Run on open roads and the last third of the race the traffic had picked up a bit near the lake but they were considerate of the runners. The finish line was exciting and festive. Download music/podcast ahead of time if you’re into that. I lost cell service several times. I paired with Leaf Peepers Half Marathon in Vermont to make it a doubles weekend.
Beautiful scenery, ignore everything els
A small race in a small town. We struggled to find a hotel within an hour drive and learned on race day that we were not alone in this. Bristol … MORE
A small race in a small town. We struggled to find a hotel within an hour drive and learned on race day that we were not alone in this. Bristol is full of B&Bs though. If you’re traveling in for the race I recommend going that option.
The race starts at a local high school, there is no timing mat at the start. It runs on open streets the entire time around a gorgeous lake. Rolling hills throughout, with a few pretty decent climbs mixed in. There is a 2-3 out and back section leading to the half marathon turnaround, no timing mat here either, just a race volunteer with a list of names and a highlighter.
We spent the entire morning dodging cars and traffic around the lake as we ran. Very few spectators along the course. The race finish is back at the high school, there was a timing mat here.
The school offers post race showers, that’s. Great perk.
Fun People Make For A Great Experience
This race was smaller than I was expecting, but that's not a bad thing. Everyone was just so nice! The Half runners are bussed to their start line about halfway … MORE
This race was smaller than I was expecting, but that’s not a bad thing. Everyone was just so nice! The Half runners are bussed to their start line about halfway through the marathon course. Quiet and peaceful area for the most part. The scenes around the lake were amazing! Quite a few hills that make for a small challenge, but nothing too bad. The only negative is the traffic on the last half of the course. Other than that, this was a fun race.
Great hometown race, hilly
The race was fun, beginning of the course was hilly then it moved in to rolling hills. The hometown feel was great, not a ton of spectators, road is shared … MORE
The race was fun, beginning of the course was hilly then it moved in to rolling hills. The hometown feel was great, not a ton of spectators, road is shared with cars which can be off-putting. Highly recommend the pasta dinner the night before.
Download your music!
This was a beautiful race around a huge lake. The race starts with parking at the local high school, from there you jump on a school bus for a long … MORE
This was a beautiful race around a huge lake. The race starts with parking at the local high school, from there you jump on a school bus for a long 30 min ride to the start which is in the middle of no where, and has no phone or internet service. The course is not blocked so there is traffic, one one lane roads. Most traffic are considerate but there’s a lot of tourist traffic and motorcycle groups who ride that road. The course is hilly and curvy so if you have bad ankles and/or knees it’ll hurt.
Post race is nice…pizza, and snacks, a massage/stretching tent, live entertainment, and showers in the local high school gym. Cold showers if you are back of the pack.
Well organized race - beautiful setting
This was a really nice race in a lovely place. A little hilly, but not excessively. Mid-way through the race, in a residential area, the road narrowed and on-coming traffic … MORE
This was a really nice race in a lovely place. A little hilly, but not excessively. Mid-way through the race, in a residential area, the road narrowed and on-coming traffic was a little scary. My only complaint is that the first water stop in Hebron was unmanned, and only had Gatoraid left. This was four miles into the race. i would have carried water had I known.
Beautiful and Hilly!
State #45 for us - We stayed at the Pleasant View Bed and Breakfast. It was a beautiful run and lots of local support. Lots of Hills. You are bused … MORE
State #45 for us – We stayed at the Pleasant View Bed and Breakfast. It was a beautiful run and lots of local support. Lots of Hills. You are bused to the start and run back to where your car is parked. Small packet pick up at the school, fruit and pizza at the end of the race. We partnered this state with the Maine Marathon on the Sunday.
Great fall course- highly recommend
I did the half, which started in a beautiful areas near some barns. You run around a stunning lake and the foliage, beaches and homes were so pretty to run … MORE
I did the half, which started in a beautiful areas near some barns. You run around a stunning lake and the foliage, beaches and homes were so pretty to run by. It is an open course where you run on the shoulder but for most of the race the running space was flat/even and drivers were very considerate. Good number of aid stations, more port-o-potties than I usually see which is great! Onne neighbor had boxes of snacks/waters for the runners which was a nice treat. Pre-race communications were good and they were responsive to questions/needs. They did have a space for showers in the school gym which amazing for the out of town travelers.
There are hills but I didn’t find them overly taxing (there is one at mile 3 I could have done without as someone from Louisiana with no hills at all!) but overall I would definitely recommend the half.
Rolling hills, beautiful fall foliage!
This is a well-organized small town race. Packet pickup is super easy, I got mine the day before but it was also open the morning of the race. Parking was … MORE
This is a well-organized small town race. Packet pickup is super easy, I got mine the day before but it was also open the morning of the race. Parking was simple and very close to the finish line. The race itself had plenty of aid stations with water and electrolyte beverages, volunteers were friendly, and the post-race party featured items like pizza, fruit and granola bars. Great race to check New Hampshire off your list if you’re doing the 50 states!
Lovely town, organizers and participants
Really sweet, small race with lovely views. Get in on the local spaghetti feeds and post race massages! The course wasn't overly difficult with rolling hills- the most challenging part … MORE
Really sweet, small race with lovely views. Get in on the local spaghetti feeds and post race massages! The course wasn’t overly difficult with rolling hills- the most challenging part was feeling lop-sided from the running on the road side slant for the majority of the race. The road wasn’t closed but the shoulder was plenty wide and I was never concerned about traffic. Great community, great race!
Very challenging course!
LOTS of hills, and it's an open course, where you share the road with traffic. For the most part, drivers were respectful of runners, but others came quite close with … MORE
LOTS of hills, and it’s an open course, where you share the road with traffic. For the most part, drivers were respectful of runners, but others came quite close with no regard of runners. Everyone ran on the shoulder.
It’s a small town race, and there were maybe around 300 runners when I ran it. Besides all the challenges of the race, my favorite part was running along newfound lake, just beautiful!! All the volunteers were friendly, showers were available to runners (cold), and we were given lots of coupons (free beer at a local pub, and 15% off runners alley~this alone was amazing!~)
Medal is small, but the t-shirt was great quality soft cotton. Overall a good race for someone who is looking for a challenge. Still think it was worth running it.
Well Run Smaller Event
Pros: Out and back, very cool swag, high energy finish with music and food (pizza!), pretty course, morning of packet pickup, and walker friendly. Cons: No pacers, need to catch … MORE
Pros: Out and back, very cool swag, high energy finish with music and food (pizza!), pretty course, morning of packet pickup, and walker friendly.
Cons: No pacers, need to catch the bus for the half an hour before the start.
Beautiful, but HILLY race!!!
It was a beautiful, well-organized small-town race. Extremely hilly… they keep on coming till the very end. The views of the Newfound lake were absolutely beautiful. Is not a PR … MORE
It was a beautiful, well-organized small-town race. Extremely hilly… they keep on coming till the very end.
The views of the Newfound lake were absolutely beautiful.
Is not a PR race, but the beauty of the course is totally worth it. I will absolutely run it again if I can.
Lovely small race with lots of support
Lovely small race with lots of support from friendly volunteers. Be aware - this race is, however, an open course. You share the roadway of a two-lane road with traffic. … MORE
Lovely small race with lots of support from friendly volunteers. Be aware – this race is, however, an open course. You share the roadway of a two-lane road with traffic. Lots of signs to warn traffic, but I ultimately found this nerve-wracking.
Great race Support and good marathon
Its simple packet pickup and small town race great race support team and wonderful pasta dinner Good aid stations and course support Beautiful Course with Rolling Hills. save energy for … MORE
Its simple packet pickup and small town race
great race support team and wonderful pasta dinner
Good aid stations and course support
Beautiful Course with Rolling Hills. save energy for last miles
Hilly & Scenic Course
I was doing the Maine Half Marathon on Sunday and was already planning to stay at my parent's house in NH Friday night so decided to make it a double … MORE
I was doing the Maine Half Marathon on Sunday and was already planning to stay at my parent’s house in NH Friday night so decided to make it a double and do this half marathon Saturday morning. This is located in Bristol which is about a 40 minute drive north of Concord. This is a small but not tiny no frills race with about 150 marathoners and 250 half marathons. The finish line is at a school in Bristol. Easy and scenic drive up there. The marathon is a loop. For the half you are shuttled to the half way point of the marathon and it is a point to point. I got packet pick-up the morning of the race. It is in the basement of the school. It was easy and included a nice long sleeved tech shirt and some coupons and information pamphlets about NH. I then went on the school bus that took us to the start. Shuttles seemed well organized. It was a cool morning. Perfect running temp but cold for standing around waiting to race so they kept one bus for runners to stay warm in. There were porta potties at the half start but the line was very long. As I said this is a no frills race. There is not timing mat at the start. Just a banner that says start. Still everything was organized and started on time. As this has a small field and the half and full had different start line it took everyone very quick to go past the start so you’d only lose a few seconds at most not having the timing mat. The course is rolling hills back to the school. It is a beautiful course with fall foliage and lovely lake views. One of the prettiest courses I’ve done in the northeast. It was very well marked and easy to follow. One negative is the roads were open. It was at first on quiet country roads which was fine but the last couple miles were along a main highway and there were cars zooming past. There were signs to watch for runners and a large shoulder to run on so it’s didn’t feel unsafe but it also could have been safer. The course is very hilly. It is about the same as the Rochester half marathon in terms of total elevation but at least the half is net downhill. The first few miles were relatively flat and more downhill. The middle was very hilly and rough and the end was mostly downhill. If you did hill training you could get a decent time though it’s not a PR course. There were plenty of aid stations about every 2 miles. A little closer together closer to the end when you need more. Finish line again just a banner but there is a timing mat and a clock with your time. My finishing time was fine for the amount of hills. I was aiming for about 3 hours. The medal is tiny. Just a little medal of NH. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have been giving the same medal for 20+ years. There was good post race food and festivities for the size of the race with the typical fruit, granola bars, bagels along with pizza including cheese. They also had students hold a bake sale. Overall this was a good race. It was not my favorite half marathon for NH and wouldn’t be my first choice as I’d prefer a bigger race with bigger medals and closed (or at least coned off) streets, but if you prefer low frills, smaller races or want to combine NH with Maine this is a good choice.
Beautiful Scenery
Beautiful scenery, course wasn't too hard. Rolling hills, but mostly down hill. There were plenty of water stops, and really nice people. The shirts were nice and medals could have … MORE
Beautiful scenery, course wasn’t too hard. Rolling hills, but mostly down hill. There were plenty of water stops, and really nice people. The shirts were nice and medals could have been a little better.
Good scenic Fall race event
This is a point-to-point race which I love. This race had some up and down during the first half (ie mix of inclines and down hill). Travel logistics was very … MORE
This is a point-to-point race which I love. This race had some up and down during the first half (ie mix of inclines and down hill). Travel logistics was very easy. There was plenty of parking available at the high school (site of the Bib pick up) close to the start and finish. The scenery was great throughout the course.
Hills and Thrills
The first half of the course has rolling hills. Most of the uphills had a downhill right after which was nice. Good amount of water stops. Almost no crowd and … MORE
The first half of the course has rolling hills. Most of the uphills had a downhill right after which was nice. Good amount of water stops. Almost no crowd and only a small number of participants. I wish I had more information about race day before getting there.
Beautiful fall colors
It is a beautiful time to run and see the fall colors. Starts and finishes in a quaint New England town with most of the course around a scenic lake. MORE
It is a beautiful time to run and see the fall colors. Starts and finishes in a quaint New England town with most of the course around a scenic lake.