39 races you may have missed...

... and might love running, all around the world

A few days ago, I pulled this book off the shelf and thumbed through it. It’s been one of my go-to sources of inspiration when I want to find a race in an amazing place, and what I love about it is that it’s one of those books you don’t have to read from start to finish. You can pick it up, let the pages roll through your fingers, start anyplace inside and go somewhere amazing.

And, because we get a fair number of new subscribers every day and every week, I realized there are a lot of races I’ve written about that you may not have seen, especially if you signed up for The Half Marathoner only recently.

So, I thought I’d share some of the many (many!) races subscribers see in their inboxes each week that are still on the calendar for the remainder of 2023 (and even into 2024), and have spots open if you’re game.

In the meantime, have an amazing, amazing run out there and let me know how it goes! (Especially if you’re following our training plan — remember, you can join us in Richmond, Va., this November and run the Richmond Half Marathon with us! Details are here.)

Your friend,

— Terrell

P.S.: In Monday’s newsletter, I forgot to mention the inspiration for the interview that Henriette so graciously gave us — the idea came from

Sari Botton

’s amazing

Oldster Magazine

, which is so worth checking out.

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Runners on the course at Pennsylvania’s Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon, which runs in September.

🌲 Fabulous Fahnestock Trail Races. A gorgeous, scenic run through Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park, whose 14,000 acres in New York’s Hudson Valley feature trails where you’ll “climb up long hills, run past lakes and ponds, and along old dirt roads and abandoned rail beds, with an optimal amount of single track,” organizers say, adding that its “varied landscape includes hemlock gorges, bald ridge hilltops, second-growth hardwood forest, mountain laurel thickets, and numerous lakes, ponds and streams.” You can go as hard or as easy as you like, with distance options from 5 1/2 miles to 50 kilometers. Set for August 19, 2023.

🐋 Sunset Bay Trail Runs. A breathtaking run — in more ways than one! — along a stretch of Oregon’s stunningly scenic coastal trails, through Sunset Bay and Cape Arago state parks. As the organizers describe it, the race is “a very challenging course for the longer distances [like the half marathon] and the views will take what breath you have left away.  Seriously, this race has it all, killer hills through the woods, an amazing mostly flat cliff section where you’ll see sea lions, ocean rocks, the deep blue sea, and if you’re very lucky, a passing whale.” Set for September 2, 2023.

🐦 Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon. You’ll think you’re in another time and place when you run this race through Lancaster County, in the Amish country of southern Pennsylvania. The race unfolds along rolling country roads in and around this small village of roughly 300 residents whose history dates all the way back to the early 1730s, when it was founded by small communities of Quakers and Mennonites. Along the way, runners will get to see a glimpse of what the area’s Amish families are like, as many Amish who live here will be out at the aid stations to offer refreshments to the runners passing by. Set for September 9, 2023.

⛰️ Devil on the Divide. You’ll climb to an altitude of just over 13,000 feet along Colorado’s Continental Divide at this late-summer race, which organizers say is one of the state’s “most beautiful and challenging trail races” — which means they require 50K participants to have previous ultra race experience, and say it’s “highly recommended” for those running the 22K. Each features thousands of feet of elevation gain — more than 6,000 feet for the 50K and more than 3,000 for the 22K, portions of which are well-marked, but still are undefined trails. “It is not easy running,” they add, but “it is an absolutely amazing and breathtaking course.” Set for September 9, 2023.

🇩🇪 Halbmarathon Altötting. “The heart of Bavaria and one of the hearts of Europe” — that’s how Pope Benedict XVI once described this German town, which has been a site of Christian religious pilgrimage for more than a thousand years. Today, the half marathon that runs through it in the early fall each year takes place mostly on paved forest paths just outside the town, along a route that features a few zig-zagging turns followed by long, straight stretches through the woods — which probably contributes to it being among the fastest half marathons in Europe, with some past winners crossing the finish line in just over an hour. Set for September 17, 2023.