About the Back Your Badge Marathon
The course is USATF certified and qualifies for Boston, which tells you something about how seriously it was put together. It winds through Plainfield's park trail system and along a historic highway, passing local police, fire, and communications facilities along the way. Aid stations are spread generously across the full distance, with water, electrolytes, ice, cooling towels, and medical support at many of them.
Packet pickup happens the evening before at a recreation center, where a pasta dinner is also served, free for participants. Marathon runners get a dedicated parking pass that puts them right next to the start and finish, with gear accessible in their cars. General parking is available at nearby trailheads, both within a short walk of the start line.
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Finish-Time Stats
Going by the 2025 results, this is a decent-sized field, and the spread of finish times is wide, so this is a mostly recreational race rather than one for club runners.
5K · 2025 results
330finishers
17:26winner
41:27median
1:09:35cutoff
Top 3: David Eichenberger (17:26) · Jake Hally (17:54) · Joseph Hoffman (18:00)
13.1 Miles · 2025 results
265finishers
1:15:10winner
2:24:11median
3:53:42cutoff
Top 3: Cole Rightley (1:15:10) · Andrew Mahaffey (1:23:36) · Brady Spence (1:24:11)
26.2 Miles · 2025 results
107finishers
3:22:46winner
4:57:21median
6:48:17cutoff
Top 3: Bella Metternich (3:22:46) · Allison Enochs (3:24:34) · Cinco Winston (3:29:38)
The Back Your Badge Marathon has been held every year since at least 2023. That is as far back as RunSignup's records for this race go, so it may well be older.
How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Jul 27, 2026.
Distances & Start Times
26.2 Miles9/20/2026 07:30$105
13.1 Miles9/20/2026 07:30$80
5K9/20/2026 07:20$40
1 Mile9/19/2026 09:00Free
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Where to Stay
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