The Swanzey Covered Bridges Half Marathon is held each year in memory of its founder, Elijah Barrett. Elijah organized the event to donate the proceeds to help the students of Monadnock Regional Middle-High School. He had attended MRMHS and eventually coached runners there. The race itself, mostly flat, fast terrain …
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The Swanzey Covered Bridges Half Marathon is held each year in memory of its founder, Elijah Barrett. Elijah organized the event to donate the proceeds to help the students of Monadnock Regional Middle-High School. He had attended MRMHS and eventually coached runners there.
The race itself, mostly flat, fast terrain with a few gentle, rolling hills thrown in are par for the course along the Swanzey Covered Bridges Half Marathon – also called “Elijah’s Race”, in honor of the local runner who started it all. This race showcases the signature landmarks of the southwestern New Hampshire town, located just over 10 miles each from the borders with Massachusetts and Vermont.
The race course – with between 300-400 feet of elevation gain – features views and scenery that captures perfectly the quaint, authentic feel of New England, taking runners through bridges with names of Thompson, Carlton and Cresson, most of which date to the pre-Civil War era. Participants race across a course made up mostly of paved roads – though shortly after the start of the race, participants will enter a section of improved railroad bed and about a mile of dirt trails.
Thereafter, the race course returns to paved roads as it follows a counter-clockwise loop through the Swanzey area back to the finish at Monadnock Regional Middle-High School.
After the runners have crossed the finish line, there will be a post-race barbecue, with hamburgers and hotdogs, pasta salad and watermelon. Runners and joggers of all skill levels are welcome.
The race being held at Monadnock Regional Middle-High School allows the use of bathrooms, locker rooms and post race showers. There are also 6 water stations spread throughout the course, with every other table supplying gatorade!
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Race to run for a good cause
I picked this race to run in New Hampshire as it was in memory of Elijah who put this race on years ago as fund raiser for his high school … MORE
I picked this race to run in New Hampshire as it was in memory of Elijah who put this race on years ago as fund raiser for his high school cross country team. When he died of cancer at 31 his friends and family continued to put the race on his honor and the volunteers were the type of folks you wished you had more of in your life. It was a beautiful course – loved seeing the old homes, trees, and rivers . Water and Gatorade were every two miles. Course was marked with blue arrows and when you finished the course the booster club of the high school served you hot dogs , hamburgers, col watermelon, chips, and potato salad . You got to sit at table under a tent with a nice cool breeze. The last runner finished at 3:44 and there was still food and volunteers to cheer him on ! Our suggestions to the folks that run the race- high schoolers want to run at 9;00. But it is time to change that as runners reading this want to start at 7;00 to avoid the heat and humidity and sun we had to run in today when we started at 9:00. Hope they will change the start next year. There were about 200 who ran the race. The proceeds go back to band and track and race was not expensive so I didn’t expect much for the shirt; the medal was the covered bridge. Most of the folks running it were from out of state. Prize for 1st and 2nd age group was new hempshire maple syrup. This is the race to run to give back to the community, enjoy the route, and leave your watch at home!
A small production but well managed
I really liked this race. It was a small production that took you through some scenic farm land and over 3 covered bridges. I ran a lot of this on … MORE
I really liked this race. It was a small production that took you through some scenic farm land and over 3 covered bridges.
I ran a lot of this on my own, at times with no other runners around me, but never got lost – the course was well marked. The roads weren’t closed for this and in places there wasn’t much shoulder to run on. However, it was very well signed that a race was on and for drivers to be courteous.
There were plenty aid stations and a great BBQ at the end.
My only negative was that it started too late at 9am – it would have been better / cooler at 7am.
Nice, smaller, charity race
This is a smaller half marathon that takes place in Swanzey, NH which is near Keene by the Vermont border. This race is a fundraiser for the students of the … MORE
This is a smaller half marathon that takes place in Swanzey, NH which is near Keene by the Vermont border. This race is a fundraiser for the students of the local Middle/High School and is in honor of the race founder who also used to be a coach for the school. This was an interesting race to compare to Blueberry Cove last weekend as they are both smaller races that raise money. However this race had a much cheaper entry fee and better production. If you sign up early this race is $60 which is a fair price for a race like this. If you sign up last minute the price does go up to $80 which may be a little overprice for this race but that’s on you for signing up late. This race starts at 9am which is a bit late for this time of year but it is mostly shaded and Keene is a bit cooler than other part of the state. This race is also about a 1.5 hour drive for me so even though it got a bit hot at the end at least I didn’t have to wake up super early or get a hotel. Communication was fine. Not the most detailed website or emails but all the essential information was communicated. There is the option for early packet pick-up but I got it the morning of the race. Packet pick-up and the finish is at the school and it went smooth. I was happy to see actual bibs though they were generic. There is also an okay cotton T-shirt but better than nothing. The start was about a block from the school. It was just on the road and there is not a timing mat for the start but it’s a small race with about 100 runners so everyone starts around the same time. I think there was a start flag to indicate it. The course is very scenic. You go under a number of covered bridges which is really cool. The rest is though neighborhoods and farms and pretty forests. It is one of the more scenic races I’ve done in NH and the covered bridges definitely added to it. The roads are open which isn’t my favorite and some had kind of tight shoulders. It was very well marked with both arrows on the ground and course marshals and volunteers. There were also mile markers and aid stations every 2 miles with water and gatorade. One negative is the last 2 aid stations had no volunteers when I arrived. Not sure if this was just for slower runners or if they were short on volunteers. The course isn’t too hard. I think about 400 feet of elevation gain. Mostly rolling hills nothing terrible. There is one section for maybe a mile that is non-technical rail trail the rest road. The toughest part for me was since it’s such a small race I was running by myself a lot and I find it harder to motivate myself to go fast when I’m alone as I tend to go in training run mode. The finish has a timing mat and a clock with your finishing time. I was slow but as my race on Monday had a tighter time limit my goal was to take it easy and finish around 3:30 which I did. The medal was much improved from what I’ve heard. It wasn’t the biggest or flashiest medal but a very cute covered bridge design medal. The finish area was very fun for a small race. There was a raffle and I ended up winning some kitchenware for my new apartment. There was also a BBQ which included veggie burgers and pasta salad. Overall I thought this was a nice, scenic small race. Personally I prefer the big, exciting race atmosphere and don’t love running alone so much so it wouldn’t be my first choice for a NH half for 50 staters but if you like smaller races that I would definitely recommend this one for you. Since I now live in NH and I don’t need a hotel for this race, I would do this one again.
A lot of potential but fell short
This is a nice scenic race through four covered bridges. However, this seems to be a low budget race. Although it is for a good cause and in memory of … MORE
This is a nice scenic race through four covered bridges. However, this seems to be a low budget race. Although it is for a good cause and in memory of their founder. That being said there was very little communication prior to the race day. The only thing posted was the day of packet pick up that it was only going to be day of race. I actually sent an email to make sure race was still on. Also, the swag was extremely disappointing! The medal was very cheap but I believe I paid like a $70 entry fee. They did host a post race BBQ that was very nice!
Great scenic small town race.
Great course, very well marked course and course marshals, well organized, great post race BBQ. The race starts on a slight down hill with the first bridge that you run … MORE
Great course, very well marked course and course marshals, well organized, great post race BBQ. The race starts on a slight down hill with the first bridge that you run through only .25 mile in. The you get on a nice rail trail for just over a mile then back on the roads for the remainder of the race. You get to run through 3 more bridges while traversing this rolling course. Never too much elevation gain but just enough to keep the race interesting.
One of the friendliest races!
I really enjoyed this race both for the course (just enough hills to make you work for it, without it being too impossible) and the atmosphere. It is a smaller … MORE
I really enjoyed this race both for the course (just enough hills to make you work for it, without it being too impossible) and the atmosphere. It is a smaller race and a little disorganized at the start… a little unclear where to go for the start, and I think they shot off the start gun before everyone could hear major announcements. This being said, everyone racing was so friendly and it was a great time!
Post-race BBQ was a major plus!
Nice small country race in NH
Nice course that passes thru 4 covered bridges. Most of the race is on country roads that are still open to traffic. Rolling hills from mile 5-13. None are huge … MORE
Nice course that passes thru 4 covered bridges. Most of the race is on country roads that are still open to traffic. Rolling hills from mile 5-13. None are huge but it felt like I was going up and down the entire time during this part of the course.
Covered Bridges
The biggest draw of this race is the covered bridges. In fact you'll run over four bridges throughout the race. The first couple of miles are on paved roads. About … MORE
The biggest draw of this race is the covered bridges. In fact you’ll run over four bridges throughout the race. The first couple of miles are on paved roads. About half way through the race we switched to a trail.
At the end of the race they had a lovely BBQ with hamburgers, hotdogs, corn etc.