Run for Gold Metric Marathon pres. by HPDM

Congratulations to all finishers of the 2nd annual Run for Gold Metric Marathon. We hope to have you back on Aug. 10, 2014.

2014 entry form – PDF

* Event Facebook page * PHDC Facebook page
* Relay details (2-person and 3-person options)
* Official list of entrants  (through Aug. 3)
* 2013 race page – results and photos
* 2012 results * 2012 race photos * Course map

The 3rd annual Run for Gold Metric Marathon and relay (pres. by HPDM) is set for Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014. There will be no race-day registration allowed.

Race-day timeline of events
* 5:30 a.m. – Packet pick-up begins at the Frostburg Depot
* 6:40 a.m. – Bus departs Frostburg Depot for Meyersdale
* 7:30 a.m. – Race begins

Posted Sunday, Aug. 3 @ 1:45 p.m.: Attention Run for Gold participants (especially all individual runners and relay runners going from the Eastern Continental Divide to the finish line):

* You are strongly encouraged to carry your own water/sports drink during the race

* There will be a fully stocked aid station at Mile 7.5 (Eastern Continental Divide) with at least the following: water, Gatorade, pretzels, bananas, oranges, cookies, gummy bears. Could be more, but that’s what is promised.

* Finish line foodstuffs include: water, apples, bananas, oranges, cookies, pretzels.

* Gels – bring and carry your own this year.

* Drop bags – yes, you can put a drop bag in the back of official race vehicle (black Land Rover) either before you get on the bus or when you disembark the bus. Valuable for such items as headlamp for Big Savage Tunnel, for example. However, DO NOT put your car keys in there, or wallet. It’s not guaranteed that the drop bags beat you to the finish line.

Details: Runners will once again run from Meyersdale, past the Eastern Continental Divide and through the Big Savage Tunnel and finish atop the switchbacks at the Frostburg Depot. The event is sponsored by LaVale-based Heavenly Prints Digital Media.RFG_aidstation_ECD

The 16.28-mile course (see map, below) takes place exclusively on the Great Allegheny Passage rail trail and features a long incline for the first half of the course and a more noticeable descent from the tunnel to Frostburg. There also is a relay option, in which runners meet teammates at roughly the halfway mark at the Eastern Continental Divide. Entry this year will be $10 per runner, regardless if they run a relay or the entire distance.

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Pannone, Hamilton pace Run for Gold field

FROSTBURG, Md., Aug. 12, 2012 — For some, the 16.28 miles in the Run for Gold 26.2K was simply a part of the an individual’s fall marathon training plan.

For others, though, the distance was entirely new.

Road_ID

Elevation profile for the Run for Gold Metric Marathon. Elevation gain of 579 feet (mostly in first 7.5 miles) and elevation loss of 762 feet (from 7.5 to 15.8).

Elevation profile for the Run for Gold Metric Marathon. Elevation gain of 579 feet (mostly in first 7.5 miles) and elevation loss of 762 feet (from 7.5 to 15.8).

The 26.2K course, which converts to 16.28 miles, was chosen to show support for amateur athletes who competed in the 26.2-mile endurance race in London. There also was a two-person relay option for those who don’t desire to contest the full distance. A total of 13 athletes participated in the local event, which started at 7:30 a.m. as runners faced an unseasonably cool temperature of 60 degrees under a cloudy sky.

Mark Shipley, 36, of Cranberry Township, Pa., ran 3 miles before the event started and another 3 afterwards. In between, the marathoner — training for the Wineglass Marathon at the end of September — lost a close contest between friend and fellow 1994 Fort Hill graduate Jason Pannone, 36, of Cumberland. Pannone covered the 16.28-mile distance in 1 hour, 54 minutes and 27.8 seconds — nearly three and one-half minutes ahead of Shipley.

“Twenty-two long years of trying… and finally an overall win!” Pannone posted on his Facebook wall. “Small race or not… that was a lot of fun!”

Christina Crites, meanwhile, toed the Run for Gold start line in what would, when finished, be her longest run ever. Paced by veterans Sharon Ellsworth, 47, of Cumberland, and Ray Hunt, 49, of LaVale, the 36-year-old LaVale resident averaged 10:26 per mile and aptly maneuvered the uphill switchbacks to the finish line at the Frostburg Depot.

The idea of the Run for Gold came from Colorado runner  and advocate Shannon Price, who previously has used Facebook as a tool to promote National Run to Work Day in the United States. This time, his goal is to inspire and motivate runners across the globe while cheering on the competitors in the marathon. Most participants chose to don the red, white and blue of the USA to support all American competitors in the Olympics this year.

Locally, the 16.28-mile course started near Meyersdale, Pa., and finished in Frostburg, Md. Runners used the Great Allegheny Passage the entire distance.