Buffalo Creek Half Marathon goes off Oct. 18
This year, the Butler Freeport Community Trail will hold its 20th annual Buffalo Creek Half Marathon, which begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18.
According to Chris Ziegler, president of the Butler Freeport Community Trail Council, 923 runners had already signed up for the race by Wednesday, Oct. 1, with over 1,000 expected to make the starting grid by the time registration ends.
The half-marathon is the largest annual fundraising event for the 21-mile rail-to-trail project.
“Over the 20 years, we have made about $700,000 that goes toward the trail,” Ziegler said, estimating that last year’s event raised around $40,000.
The route for the race will be slightly different this year. While it will start at the Cabot Methodist Church as usual, it will now conclude at the trail’s southern trail head at Butler Junction, near Freeport.
Medals will be awarded to the top three male and female runners in 14 different categories, including master’s, overall, and age groups between 19-and-under and 70-plus.
There is still enough time for interested runners to sign up for the half-marathon, with registration ending on event day. As of Wednesday, Oct. 8, 386 spots are left. The cost to sign up is $80 per person.
Ziegler said that this year’s event is also looking for volunteers.
“It takes about 150 volunteers, and they range from packet pickup to transporting belongings to water stations … placing medals on the runners,” Ziegler said. “There’s a whole gamut of different tasks that volunteers do.”
