About the Hiking Marathon

This hiking marathon was started by an idea that came from Hot Springs, AR, where the community,held a marathon on their trails. Fairfield Glade volunteers had been building trails for four years and it was thought that holding a marathon would be a great way to promote the use of the trails. The Friends of the Trails offered to organize the event and generous sponsors stepped forward which enabled it to be free to enter for all hikers.

The first marathon in 2015 was extremely successful. Over 300 completed the marathon. This happened with little publicity. The marathon caught the imagination of the local people in Cumberland County. The second marathon in 2016 was also very successful. Over 600 people entered the marathon. Once again this happened with little publicity but we did form a committee to spread the workload and ensure that this community event continues for many years to come.

It continues to grow in popularity:

  1. 2015:  300 registrations
  2. 2016:  600 registrations
  3. 2017:   900 registrations.
  4. 2018:   1,500 registrations
  5. 2019:   1,800 registrations
  6. 2020:   2,000 registrations
  7. 2021:   2,300 registrations
  8. 2022:   2,600 registrations 
  9. 2023:  ??????? 3,000 regstrations perhaps

Make a tax deductible donation to Friends of the Trails for use on the hiking trails in Cumberland County. You can specify how or where your donation should be used. We will email you a receipt for tax purposes.

John Conrad and friends on the trail.

Hiking Marathon Committee

Tom Buckley
Shari Hahn
Cheryl Heckler
Michelle Bayless
Mary deWolf
Bob Obohoski
Levonn Hubbard
Ethan Medley
John Conrad
Carol Conrad
Tammie French
Mary Jo Paige