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Steamtown Marathon Course Info and Statistics
The Steamtown Marathon is a USATF-certified (PA 97033 WB) event. The course features a full net elevation drop of 955'.
The race starts at 8:00 a.m. at the Forest City High School (100 Susquehanna Street, Forest City, PA 18421) and finishes at
Courthouse Square in beautiful Downtown Scranton (209 N. Washington Avenue, Scranton, PA, 18503).
In 2005, 2006, and 2007, several national running sources and websites have listed the Steamtown Marathon as one of the fastest marathon courses in the entire country.
Click here to read just one of the press releases.
Recently, MarathonGuide.com listed the marathon courses that posted the highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifying times since 2003. The Steamtown Marathon finished 18th in 2007 with 21% of the field qualifying despite this past year's sweltering conditions. From 2003 to 2006, the Steamtown Marathon finished no worse than 9th and in 2004 was ranked 4th in the country with 29% of the field qualifying. To read the article listed on MarathonGuide.com, click here:
Click
here to see
a map and elevation chart for the first half of the course
Click
here
to see a map and elevation chart for the second half of the course
Click
here to see an elevation chart for the last three miles of the course
Please click this link to see an interactive map of our course. Please be advised that while the course is accurate, a few of the mile markers are off by a hair because of the difficulty in cutting the tangents exactly right when plotting the course.
How fast is the Steamtown Marathon course?
Well, certainly
beauty is in the eye - ok maybe the legs - of the beholder, but a quick
check of the facts provides convincing evidence that the Steamtown Marathon is one of the
fastest mid-size marathons in the United States. Based on the facts, it's also one of the best and fastest courses to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
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The course features a 955' net elevation drop
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From 2002 through 2005, more than 26% of all Steamtown finishers qualified for Boston.
In 2006, 28% of all finishers qualified for Boston.
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Runner's World has named Steamtown, “One of the nation's 10
fastest U.S. marathons.”
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Running Times has listed Steamtown as having one of the nation's 10 fastest marathon
courses.
According to
www.runningusa.org,
26% of all finishers in 2004 marathons ran under 4 hours. In 2004, 56.4% of all Steamtown finishers ran under four hours. In 2005, no other U.S. marathon with at least 750 finishers had a higher percentage of overall finishers under four hours than did Steamtown (54.7%). From 1996 through 2005, 7,409
(57.4%) of Steamtown's 12,910 finishers ran under four hours. In 2006, 57.3% of all finishers posted times under four hours.
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According to
www.marathonguide.com, 1.6% of all finishers in
2005 marathons ran under three hours. In 2005, 4.2% of all
Steamtown finishers ran under three hours. From 1996 through 2005, 4.5% of all Steamtown finishers ran under three hours. According to
www.marathonguide.com, Steamtown was one of only nine
U.S. marathons with at least 300 finishers to have at least 4% of its
finishers run under three hours in 2005. In 2006, 4.3% of all finishers posted times under three
hours.
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In 2005, Steamtown's median finishing time (using clock time of all
finishers) was 3:55:28, the fastest median time of any U.S.
marathon with at least 750 finishers. The slowest median clock time
in Steamtown's 10 year history was 3:56:03.
In 2006, Steamtown's median finishing time was 3:54:27.
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According to
www.runningusa.org, the median finishing time for
all male marathoners in 2004 was 4:23:35. For females, it was 4:55:21. At Steamtown in 2004, the median finishing time for males
was 3:45:47 and for females was 4:12:53. In 2005, the
times were 3:49:11 and 4:09:04 respectively.
The key to running Steamtown is managing the hills. Much of the first eight
miles features significant downhills while the last few miles include
several short, but challenging uphills. Many runners have set personal
records here by wide margins. Others however, have failed to prepare for the
hills and have crashed and burned, wondering how anyone could call Steamtown
fast.
We recommend you review the following course description very carefully and
visit the
Training Tips section of this Web
site to get advice from elite runners who know the Steamtown course very
well.
The following course is certified to USATF standards. The
Steamtown Marathon is an official qualifying event for the Boston Marathon.
The race will start adjacent to Forest City Regional High
School in Forest City, Susquehanna County. You won't believe the welcome you
receive from the Forest City High School cheerleaders! The race will begin
at 8:00 a.m. sharp.
Steamtown Marathon
Detailed Course Directions
Start – Susquehanna Street at the high school (Boom! A Civil
War re-enactment group fires a canon to get you started.)
0.5 miles – right turn onto Dundaff Street (this is the really
steep two-block downhill you may have heard about)
0.7 miles – right turn onto Main St. (Rt. 171). The residents
of Forest City line several blocks of Main St. and cheer you on! Lots of
downhill once you leave town – beautiful fall foliage too!
0.7 miles to 6.9 miles - although this long stretch of the course is a
bit rolling and even has a few uphills, it's also the section where you'll
experience much of the overall elevation drop. Scenery changes here from "Main
Street USA" to rural highway back to Main Street again.

- 6.9 miles - Main St. (Rt. 171) becomes Belmont Street
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- 7.3 miles – right turn onto Canaan St.

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- 7.35 miles – right turn onto N. Main St. (Welcome to Downtown
Carbondale and its large enthusiastic crowd!)

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- 7.7 miles – N. Main St. becomes S. Main St. (aren’t you
thrilled to know that?)
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- 7.8 miles – bear to right onto Pike St (see ya Downtown
Carbondale!)

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- 8.3 miles – Pike Street becomes Gordon Avenue
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- 9.6 miles – right turn onto Erie St.
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- 9.62 miles – left turn onto Lackawanna Ave.
- 10.85 miles – right turn onto Poplar St.

- 10.95 miles – left turn onto Main St (welcome to Downtown
Mayfield Borough)

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- 12.1 miles – bear left onto Washington Avenue (welcome to
Jermyn Borough, home of The Windsor Inn, maker of the world’s second
greatest hot wings!)

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- 14.27 miles – turn left from Main St. onto Monroe St. (Propst
Mini-Mart on left)
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- 14.38 miles – turn right onto S. Laurel St (you’re now in a
traditional Archbald Borough neighborhood)
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- 14.79 miles – Laurel St. becomes first segment of Rails to
Trails. Sorry, you can’t drive this part of the course, but you’ll
love running it. An absolutely beautiful, tree lined dirt trail (hard
compacted dirt, perfect for running). Fantastic fall foliage and the
Lackawanna River just a few feet to your right!
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- 15.35 miles – dirt trail becomes River St. (paved road). Road
winds for a few blocks past a few small houses.
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- 15.64 miles – after crossing Lackawanna River over small
bridge, make an immediate left back onto Rails to Trails (hard dirt
surface again – river now on your left).

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- 16.63 miles – cross Bridge St. (paved street, Cousin’s Market
½ block to your left) then get right back onto trail. A nice crowd is
expected to gather here.
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- 16.84 miles – you’re still on the trail here and you’ll see
the back of Santarelli Oil on your right.

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- 17.10 miles – trail ends, turn right on Depot St.
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- 17.13 miles – turn quick left onto River St.

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- 17.35 miles – turn right onto Keystone Ave
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- 17.49 miles – turn left onto Main St.
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- 17.69 miles – turn left onto Riverside Drive

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- 17.95 miles – turn left into Mellow Park at main gate, bear
left inside park on paved pathway, do loop around soccer field, pass
bandstand on left, bear left at fork and continue alongside chain link
fence, curve clockwise around the tennis courts, then head back and
exit park back through main gate (yes, you’ll have a chance to see the
runners that are trailing you here!)

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- 18.51 miles – exit park and turn left over foot bridge –
cross Lackawanna River into Condella Park, Olyphant Borough.

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- 18.59 miles – turn right onto wood chip trail in Condella Park.

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- 18.97 miles – bear left on side trail and run towards
Condella Park exit.
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- 19.03 miles – exit park, running a short distance on
Susquehanna Ave.
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- 19.05 miles - turn left onto Dolph St.
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- 19.13 miles – turn right from Dolph St. onto James Ave.
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- 19.25 miles – turn left onto Jackson St, then make an immediate
right onto N. Valley Ave.
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- 19.73 miles – Turn right at "train station" bandstand
onto W. Lackawanna Ave. (Welcome to Downtown Olyphant and its cheering
fans!)

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- 20.08 miles – turn left onto Main Ave. at the ship’s anchor
(yes, there’s really a ship’s anchor at the intersection)

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- 20.83 miles – turn left onto Eagle Lane and enter the Dickson
City Industrial Park
- 21.06 miles – after crossing railroad tracks, turn right on
industrial park road
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- 21.47 miles – exit industrial park and turn left onto
Boulevard Ave. (road meanders through Dickson City and Throop boroughs)
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- 22.52 miles – stay on Boulevard Ave (that’s Lackawanna
County’s exciting recycling center on your right…oh boy!)
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- 23.07 miles – you’re now crossing Parker St. on Boulevard
Avenue (Yikes! A nasty little uphill starts here, but don’t worry, it’s
only about one block long).
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- 23.29 miles – bear right at the Convenient Store and stay on
Boulevard Ave.

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- 23.77 miles – At the T- intersection at the funeral home (how
appropriate), turn left from Boulevard Ave. onto Electric St.
- Note: This is where the eight-block uphill used to begin, but fear
not, we’ve traded it for a hill that’s only three blocks long and
two of the three blocks are just a slight uphill!
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- 23.82 miles – the Electric Street hill begins!

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- 23.90 miles – after just one block, the Electric St. hill
ends! At base of traffic island, bear right then left and run two
blocks on a slight uphill on Sunset St. The crazy neighbors from Green
Ridge love to cheer the runners on here!
24.12 miles – Turn right onto Wyoming Ave. and run one block.

24.21 miles - turn right onto Delaware St., run two blocks, and
make a left onto Capouse Ave.
24.44 miles – cross Green Ridge St. on Capouse Ave. (enjoy the
little downhill!)
24.59 miles – follow Capouse Ave. through the little
"S" curve at the Marion St intersection.
24.94 miles – turn left from Capouse Ave. onto Walnut St
25.09 miles – cross Wyoming Ave. on Walnut St.
25.30 miles – turn right onto N. Washington Ave. (can you see
Downtown Scranton in the distance?)
25.50 miles – Arrgh! Who put that two-block uphill here by
Coopers Restaurant and why is Cooper’s shaped like a boat?

25.90 miles –
And down the stretch they come!

26.20 miles – The finish is at N. Washington Ave.,
about 250 ft past Linden St. It’s a downhill FINISH! Relax with a
snack on Courthouse Square and cheer the other runners home!

See what Marathon Guides has to say about us:

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