The Wade Mountain Marathon is North Alabama’s ONLY trail marathon. Also both 10K & Half Marathon options as well! Come get some under the brilliant fall foliage of late October. Perfect temperatures (Avg’s 49F/73F) and a rarely seen trail, brought to you by the same directors as the Wild Thangs Trail Series, Eagle Ridge & The Grand Viduta Stage Race Cathedral Caverns Trail Run & others. So you know we’re going to do this right and give you a great experience. After the race we will grill out hamburgers and have drinks available to all the runners.
The Half Marathon has 1,598ft of elevation gain meanwhile the Marathon has 3,166ft of gain.
ALL races include the hooded sweatshirt, awesome finisher medals and post race meal.
Waitlists will be available if the event sells out.
Shirts & Awards
The race shirt will be a hooded sweatshirt! How cool? Age groups will be: 0-14, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65+ for ALL races.
Weather
These are low-traffic trails, so we expect this race to go off rain or shine. In the event of severe weather (highly unlikely in late October) we will delay the start as necessary to avoid lightening or high winds.
However: If it rains heavy enough that the trails cannot sustain the event, we may delay, alter the course, or ultimately cancel. The Land Trust will get the final say. Their first priority is the sustainable conservation of the greenspace and we will stand behind that mindset.
Cutoffs
Cutoff for the marathon will be 8 hours. Marathon runners failing to reach the start/finish area around half way (14.8 mi) by 12:45pm will be cut off.
Cutoff for the half marathon will be 6 hours. Safe and appropriate progress will be checked at the aid stations.
LESS
Well organized single-track trail race
Everything about this race was simple, but well-organized. I highly recommend! The race is small, so parking and logistics are all very easy. I arrived about 45 minutes before gun … MORE
Everything about this race was simple, but well-organized. I highly recommend!
The race is small, so parking and logistics are all very easy. I arrived about 45 minutes before gun and was directed to park just beside the trailhead.
Course: 2 identical loops of nearly all single-track and fairly technical (rocks and roots) trail. However, the first mile is an out-and-back on the paved road to spread out the field of runners (great idea!). There are also a few places where the trail is flat and wide, and although technical, most of the course is “runable”. There is over 3,000 feet of elevation gain over the entire race, which is expected for a mountain trail marathon, but each climb is manageable. Overall, a great trail race!
Swag: Very nice, quality hoodies instead of shirts! Love it! Thanks for something different! “Medals” are large and wooden, which is appropriate for the race. A cold beer and a delicious grilled burger post-race certainly hit the spot before my flight home.
I traveled alone to this race, so it wasn’t a big deal for me…but the only real “negative” would be that spectating is almost impossible (therefore, there are NONE on the course). The trail is not easily accessible (to my knowledge) from anywhere but the trailhead. Therefore, spectators only see runners at the start, halfway, and then the finish.