The Oak Tree Half Marathon is the premier distance running race in the region. Run through the National Historic Landmark District of Geneseo and head into the Genesee Valley past 300 year old oak savannahs, sheep pastures, and horse farms. The course features spectacular scenery with a small town feel …
MORE
The Oak Tree Half Marathon is the premier distance running race in the region. Run through the National Historic Landmark District of Geneseo and head into the Genesee Valley past 300 year old oak savannahs, sheep pastures, and horse farms.
The course features spectacular scenery with a small town feel but includes all of the amenities you would expect at a big city race. The 13.1 mile course runs on paved (40%) and dirt (60%) roads. The majority of the course is closed to traffic during the race.
With live music on the course, historic aircraft flyovers, and hand-made finisher medals, the Oak Tree is a unique half marathon that showcases the beauty of the Genesee Valley.
The Oak Tree 5K is the companion race to the half marathon. Around 400 runners and walkers participate in the 5K. The 5K highlights the Natinal Historic Landmark District of the Village of Geneseo, traveling through the business district before touring several historic residential streets.
A water station and music will be on the course and you will finish on the track at the Geneseo Central School where you can relax to cheer on the half marathon runners.
LESS
Nice little half
This was a nice little half marathon run in the vicinity of Geneseo, New York. Proceeds help benefit conservation, so it’s appropriate that much of the race was in the … MORE
This was a nice little half marathon run in the vicinity of Geneseo, New York. Proceeds help benefit conservation, so it’s appropriate that much of the race was in the country, along beautiful tree-lined roads. The course was hillier than I expected and kicked my butt near mile 11
Nut Butter and Rain and Hills
This is a race located in Geneseo that takes place the Sunday of Labor Day weekend with a 5K or half marathon option. Geneseo is a cute, little college town … MORE
This is a race located in Geneseo that takes place the Sunday of Labor Day weekend with a 5K or half marathon option. Geneseo is a cute, little college town about 30 minutes south of Rochester. As I am on call this weekend, I chose the shorter 5K distance. There wasn’t a ton of pre-race communication but they did send an email with packet pick-up and race info the week of the race. There was early packet pick-up closer to Rochester on Friday and packet pick-up in Geneseo on Saturday along with race day packet pick-up. I did it race day since I didn’t have time Friday between work and my evening race. Race day packet pick-up is at Geneseo Central School. It is set up so the race festivities are in the middle of the track area and the races ends at he track. Packet pick-up was easy and included bib, shirt and the first 100 people to pick up their packets got some delicious cocoa almond nut butter. Glad I woke up early for that. The shirt is a short-sleeved tech. It is a mustard yellow color with the race logo. It’s not my favorite color but I’ll wear it. One issue with the shirts is they had gender specific shirts but when you registered they just assumed women would want “women-cut” shirts and men would want “men-cut” shirt and didn’t have registrants pick a style. I was handed a women’s medium but asked for a men’s medium instead since I don’t like women’s cut and a women’s medium would be too small and they did give me the shirt I wanted since they were letting people exchange sizes but this could have been avoided by having registrants specify preferred shirt style. There were bathrooms by the track and the line wasn’t bad. The start is about 1/4 mile down the road. The half marathon starts at 8am and the 5K at 8:15 am. The start “line” could have been better. There was no timing mats at the start just a sign that said half marathon start and one that said 5K start. However the lack of a true start corral did allow more room for runners to space out so there was very little time from when the first runner crossed the “start” than the last runner so the lack of timing mats didn’t matter much. The start of the 5K is kind of fun because you got to see the half marathoners running by and can cheer them on before you start. The first mile of the course is mostly flat and relatively fast. It was pouring rain on us while we waited for the 5K to start but it cleared up during the race. I got paged about 1/2 mile in which made my first mile a little slow. The first mile is along the main road. This is a pretty area so it’s quite scenic and then you head downtown. The downtown area is cute. Despite the weather there were some spectators and volunteers cheering us on downtown. Then right after mile 1 there is an absolutely brutal, killer hill. There was no way I was running this entire thing. It was steep and long. My Garmin showed a total elevation of 141 feet and most of it was this hill. But what goes up must come down so the last mile and a half is downhill or flat with just the occasional roller. The half marathon does not go up this hill but I’ve heard there is a different brutal hill for the half. The race also had separate 5K and half marathon mile markers and for the 5K there was a water stop at the halfway mark. At the end of the race you turn back into the school and finish along the track. The end is really nice. It is a fast and fun way to finish. There was a finish arch, timing mats and an announcer who cheered each runner on. My time looks bad but I actually got paged twice on this race and when I wasn’t answering phone calls my pace was good for the difficulty of the race. There are no medals for the 5Kers only for the half marathoners. But that is okay I registered early and registration was only $10. Nut butter and a tech shirt is plenty of swag for $10. The medals for the half seem nice. For post-race food there was fruit, bagels and granola bars. The nut butter on a plain bagel was a delicious breakfast. Overall this was a good race. It is definitely hilly. I mean this is a road 5K so it’s an easy race relative to a marathon or a trail race but this was definitely one of the harder road 5K’s I’ve done. The scenery is quite nice if you like pleasant, country scenery and production was pretty well done with just a few minor things that could be improved. This is one I would do again and if I wasn’t on call would do the half marathon. The half marathon would be a good option for 50 staters who prefer smaller, country races. This is also a convenient race to travel to since it is on a 3 day weekend and has race day packet pick-up. If you do travel to the race definitely go visit the nearby Letchworth State Park. It is amazing!