5th Annual Lake Placid Marathon Kicks Off Lake Placid Summer Racing Season

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. --- Lake Placid’s summer race season “officially” kicks off the weekend of June 12 through 14 when 2,000 runners participate in the fifth annual Lake Placid Marathon. Runners from over 45 states and five countries including Canada, Chile, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, are set to run. The Sunday, June 14, event includes a 26.2-mile long marathon, 13.1-mile half marathon or the 26.2-mile long marathon relay.

In only five years, the race’s field has doubled in size and the event has quickly become one of the most popular races in the Northeast. This year’s general entry for the Lake Placid marathon, half marathon and marathon relay was sold out on April 29.

“Runners love Lake Placid and our races are geared towards a wide range of athletic abilities,” noted co-race director Brad Konkler. “Obviously, the July Ironman and the half-marathon event in the fall have been huge successes, but co-race director Jeff Edwards and I thought that there was still room for another race, especially in the early season. This race also fills the town on what would be a quiet weekend.”

The race weekend events begin Saturday, June 13, with a free kid’s race on the Olympic Speed skating oval, beginning at 2 p.m., while the Lake Placid Film Forum’s screening of “Run For Your Life” will be seen at 4 p.m. at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. Sunday’s race begins at 8 a.m., with a shotgun start, in front of the speed skating oval. All races end at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.

“The weekend is about much more than the race, it provides a weekend Adirondack experience for friends and family,” added Konkler. “In addition to this there are a number of charitable organizations who also benefit from this race, including Team in Training (TNT), Run for Dad and the Lake Placid Outing Club. Last year TNT and Run for Dad used the event to raise over $400,000 for cancer research and awareness.”

Once the gun sounds, thousands of runners will make their way along Main St. and through the center of town for the first half mile. The field will then proceed clockwise around Mirror Lake and proceed out to Route 73 before doing a 2.8-mile out and back on River Rd for the first loop. All three races will end in the speed skating oval.

For more information about the fifth annual Lake Placid Marathon, log on to www.lakeplacidmarathon.com.