About the Jim Thorpe Area Running Festival
The half marathon and shorter distance both run on a paved rail-trail through Lehigh Gorge State Park, tracing the Lehigh River between steep canyon walls. The full marathon is point-to-point and drops steadily nearly the entire way, enough of a net descent to qualify for Boston without a time penalty. Both shorter events and the marathon involve a scenic train ride to the start.
There is no race-morning bib pickup, so plan ahead. Pickup the evening before is at a coffee shop on Broadway in town, and marathon runners get a second window the following morning near the train station. After finishing, a post-race crawl hits several spots along Broadway, with food and drink specials at a handful of local bars and restaurants.
Free race emails
Get the Weekly RunSesh
In for this one or still deciding, keep race season near Jim Thorpe on your radar: a Monday look ahead and a Thursday rundown of the weekend's races.
Two helpful emails per week. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Distances & Start Times
13.1 Miles4/24/2027 08:00$89
26.2 Miles4/25/2027 08:00$119
7 Miles4/24/2027 07:00$74
39.3 Miles4/24/2027 08:00$183
26.2 Miles4/25/2027 07:15$109
Going for a Time?
Set a goal and get a pace band: every mile split on a card sized for your phone lock screen, so race morning needs no math.
Where to Stay
Traveling for this race? The map shows hotels and rentals in and around Jim Thorpe — pan or zoom to compare what's nearby.
The map is provided by Stay22. If you book through it, RunSesh may earn a commission at no extra cost to you — it never affects the races we list.
