The course
Out-and-back. Lakeside. Certified. Built for a PR.
Both races start and finish at the Madison Barracks Polo Fields on Pike Rd, right on Lake Ontario's Black River Bay. Out through the village, down Main St with the crowds, onto quiet rolling farm roads. Half marathoners turn at mile 6.55; marathoners keep rolling to 13.1. The trip home trades Main St for Washington St, then hands you a gentle descent back toward the lake. Negative-split bait, honestly.
- ~570 ft
- of gain (full)
- 246–470
- ft elevation range
- 6 hrs
- time limit (≈13:45/mi)
- Paved
- marked & marshaled
The real thing
The certified course, to scale
Every aid station below is placed by measured distance along the certified route, the same way it's placed on race morning. Hover a dot for details.
The interactive map has zoomable marathon and half views, the elevation profile, spectator spots with directions, parking and packet pickup.
Watch it first
See the course before you run it
First-timers, this is your homework. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
5:41 Full Marathon course preview
Every mile of the 26.2, start to finish.
Plays from YouTube
3:26 Half Marathon course preview
The 13.1 out to the turnaround and home.
Plays from YouTube
3:24 Drone flyover of race morning
The start area, the village and Lake Ontario from above.
Plays from YouTube
The one rule
⬅️ Run LEFT.
It's an out-and-back, so there's two-way runner traffic most of the morning. Stay to your left, especially near the turnarounds. We've worked with local authorities to minimize traffic, but a few local vehicles may appear, so stay alert.
Half turnaround (mile 6.55): stay left, loop around the sign, head home.
Marathoners: stay left and keep going; your turn is at 13.1. Turning at the half turnaround as a full registrant is a DQ, not a half finish. Rules of competition
Support
Aid every ~1.5 miles, a toilet at every single one
Water and lemon-lime Gatorade at every station. Bring your own gels; drop trash at stations or mile markers. Every station is run by a local team competing for your post-race vote: the Water Station Contest.
🍌 Bananas at mile 6 for everyone, plus miles 8, 13.1, 18.5 and 20 for marathoners.
🍊 Orange slices at the half marathon turnaround: everybody passes it at mile 6.5, and marathoners get a second pass at 19.5 on the way home.
Half Marathon
8 aid stations, plus the turnaround
Marathon
17 aid stations, plus the turnaround both ways
It counts
USATF certified, and yes, it's a Boston qualifier.
Both courses are USATF-certified, measured by Don Hughes, with over 100 courses certified in 18 years. Certification is what makes your time count for records, rankings, and the Boston Marathon.
Marathon certificate
NY23021DNB ↗
Half certificate
NY23020DNB ↗
Boston standards
Current BQ times at baa.org ↗
Chasing a course record? There's a $100 bonus in it for you: see the records you'd be breaking.
Boston qualifying
What you'd need to run here
Pick your group and we'll show the standard you'd be chasing on this course.
Your Boston standard
2:55:00
about 6:40 per mile for 26.2
What actually got in
2:49:43
standard minus the 5:17 cutoff
The catch worth knowing: hitting the standard puts you in the pool, not the race. Boston is oversubscribed, so the B.A.A. announces a cutoff each year. For the 2027 Boston Marathon, which our 2026 race qualified runners for, it was 5:17 under the standard, up from 4:34 the year before. Aim under, not at.
Standards and the current qualifying window are on baa.org; our marathon is USATF-certified, so a time here counts.
