Marathon Details - Center of the Nation Marathon - Nebraska

North America Marathons > USA > NE > Chadron > Center of the Nation Marathon - Nebraska

Center of the Nation Marathon - Nebraska & 50K, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K

Chadron, NE USA

October 1, 2024

http://www.mainlymarathons.com/series-3/center-of-the-nation

Results:

2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013
Top 3 Finishers by Year

Contact

Name:	Clint Burleson
Address:	POB 152 Organ, NM 88052
Phone Number:	575-382-8869
Email:	Email the organizers



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Reviews

Course 5.0

Organization 5.0

Spectators 1.0

Write a review

Number of comments: 1

Ed Robins from Philadelphia, Paa (10/9/2013)

"Great, unique event!!" (about: 2013)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Center of the Nation Marathon - Nebraska
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1

This race is just one race that is part of a 5 day, 5 state event where runners can (if they chose to) run 5 marathons in 5 days in 5 states. I only ran 3 of the races and this was my final one (I ran South Dakota on Tuesday and Wyoming on Wednesday). There was also a half marathon option.

Because of the demanding nature of running up to 5 marathons in a week these races are set up differantly than most races. They have no time limit so participants can chose to walk the entire distance. Also the courses are short loops or out and backs that runners complete multiple times. Each time a runners completed a lap they recieved a rubber band.

This year the Nebraska race was a beautiful 2.2 mile loop course that ran through Chadron State Park. Now I was worried that the loop format would be boring. The other two races that I ran were out and back courses and there you got to see all the other runners on each lap. Everyone had their names on their bids so runners would greet other runners by name and after 12 laps we all began to feel as though we were friends. Also it allowed runners of all paces to interact. Usually in a race you only see runners of your speed but here we got to see everyone each lap. Well with a loop course I was nervous that this great sense of camarodery would be lost. Well the race director encouraged folks to change things up and run some loops one direction and other loops the other way. While there may have been folks this day that I missed I still felt as though I saw most of the firends I had made earlier in the week.

I've never felt this kind of camarodery in a race before. I am now facebook friends with so many folks who ran this event. This is a race without fan support but seeing all the other runners is a superior substitute to the usual fans.

Also you quickly learned the course so you knew when the water stops were coming and you could gage your effort better knowing exactly where the hills were. This was especially helpful for this race because the Nebraska race was the hilliest race of the three that I participated in. The aid stations had water and gatorade and lots of small sweet and salty treats.

Runners get one shirt for the entire event and the medal is handled in another unique way. Everyone gets a participation medal and extension medals for each race that you complete. These attach to the main participation medal. So runners who ran all 5 days by the end of the week had a chain of medals that hung down beneath their waists. Also runners who ran all 5 days got a special medal acknowledging their 5 day accomplishment. Very unique and fun!!

As I said I was signed up to run 3 marathons in 4 days and if I could do it again I'd participate in all 5 days just to be part of it all even if I only ran the half on some days to save my legs.

The basic templete for most races is the same. What is so great about this series is the templete is differant and it gives the race a breath of fresh air. Clint the race director is super attentive to runners' questions and concerns and it shows in this super fun series. If you want to try a differant kind of race try one of these!!

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Marathon Details - Center of the Nation Marathon - Nebraska