Congratulations to all finishers of the 2nd annual Run for Gold Metric Marathon. We hope to have you back on Aug. 10, 2014. If you would like to be considered to be next year’s race director, please email [email protected].
* 2013 race page - expanded results and photos
* Event Facebook page * PHDC Facebook page
* Relay details (2-person and 3-person options)
* Official list of entrants
* 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
