This year some big city Marathons will cost
you more than $150 to enter. You probably have to fork over another
$200 to get a hotel room that is within 10 miles of the start at best.
By setting your alarm clock to 2:00 AM you get a
shot at a parking spot somewhat close to the start and you get to
“warm up” for another 3 hours until you finally get
out of line for the Porta John’s.
The ½ Sauer ½ Kraut offers a somewhat different
experience. You can park at the Cannstatter Volksfest Verein
German Club and hop onto a free bus shuttle. You will be running on a
mostly shaded & (mostly :-)) flat bike trail
alongside the Pennypack Creek. You will be supported by 15 aid stations
( 7 for the half), including Oktoberfest Aid
station. Heidi, the Bavarian waitress will hand out gels, and we will
invite you (yes, first beer is on us) to beer and
brats at the post race festivities, while “Hans”
will
entertain you with his accordion. Find out who else is crazy
enough to run a race like this in the summer and rehydrate properly at
the German club afterwards. You will
dramatically increase your chances of winning something by dressing in
Lederhosen or Dirndl (traditional bavarian
dress).
A portion of your entry fee will be used to support the park as well as
the HCM Foundation, a local charity
supporting families affected by cancer.
Race Charity:
Uberendurancesports is teaming up with
the
HCM Foundation to raise funds for this wonderful charity, helping local
cancer patients and their families. A portion of the proceed will go to
HCM, but we are also looking for runners raising funds for HCM.
Uberendurancesports will provide free entries to the half and full
marathon for every "Fund Racer". Please go to www.hcmfoundation.org/events/uberendurancesports
to find out more about the program.
Categories:
1/2 and full
marathon (13.1 & 26.2 Miles), yes we are serious!
Might become the hottest race in town, literarily
Need
options? Not sure if you want to/able to run the full marathon?
Sign up for the marathon (only $5 for
the
option), and decide during the race, if you are going to run the half
or full. If you decide before mile 13 that you had enough, simply cross
the finish line, get timed for the half (and officially compete for the
awards in the half) and receive a finisher medal.
Course:
Along the Pennypack Creek within the
limits of Pennypack park. Course utilizes the paved bike path along Pennypack Creek. No traffic at all.
You get to run miles and miles within the
city limits of Philadelphia without seeing a house or a car at all. The
midsection of the course features a bunch of short but steep rolling
hills along with a trail section (Mount cuckoo). Some have referred to
our course as an Achterbahn ("rollercoaster"). It's certainly not an
easy race, but do-able, a good challenge for the experienced
runner. Beautiful course along the Pennypack creek. No
traffic,
no cars, just trees, nature and views of the creek.
Is this
a Boston Qualifier? Hell no!!!!!
!!!This is a summer race, there is a good chance that high temps will
make this harder than you anticipate!!! I recommend running the
marathon only if you are an experienced runner, who can handle all
kinds of adversity. You have been warned :-). No whining on
race day.
Course Map
Mile 4 , one of the few short, but steep hills you will encounter
Mount
cuckoo
Not to make this any more difficult
than it already is, but around Mile 6 you will have to conquer MOUNT CUCKOO.
Mount cuckoo is a 1 mile trail section that might feature minor
roadblocks like rocks, dirt, possibly horse poop and some short rolling
hills. This section is relatively easy by trailrunner standarts, but
the surface is definetely different from what you usually discover
during a (half)marathon. This might just slow you down enough to miss
your PR even if the weather cooperates. Run it if you must or walk it for your safety. On the positive side, once you
conquered Mount cuckoo, you will be running downstream towards the
finish line and you get to see Heidi at the Oktoberfest aidstation for
a 2nd time.
Word
of Caution:
Once again, this race may become the
"hottest" race in town. Running a marathon in temperatures in the 70ies and 80ies
is exponentially harder than running one in November. We only recommend
the marathon to experienced runners, who have ran long distances in the
summer before and understand how to pace themselves in the heat, and
how to stay hydrated properly. We do not recommend the marathon for
first timers or PR seekers. This race is not about your finish time, it
will be about how to deal with the course and the temps. You may be
able to beat runners, who are usually faster than you, because you can
handle the temps better, or because you manage your water intake better.
We make you earn your beer, and we will make sure, that it will be cold
:-)
Start
Time:
7:30 AM
Start/Finish:
Entry to Pennypack Park at 3098 Rhawn
Street, Philadelphia,PA 19136. Limited parking, and no bib pickup!!!There are about 120 parking spots in the
Park, once filled up you need to find a parking spot in the surounding
neighbourhoods. If you pick your number up day of definetely park
at/around German Club and use shuttle bus.
View Larger
Map
Race
Package Pickup:
6/3/2016 4:00 PM-8:00 PM at the
Cannstatter Volkfestverein, 9130 Academy Road, Philadelphia, PA and on
raceday from 5:30-6:45 (we recommend picking up your number the day
before).
Our Mascot, as seen on all the swag.
2016
Fees:
$69 for the full, $65 for the half
till Feb 29th
$75 for the full and $69 for half till April 30th
$79 for the full and $75 for the half after April 30th.
Online registration closes May 31st midnight, you may still sign up in person Fri and Sat at the German Club, if not sold out.
Race is limited to 1000 runners, this
race reached capacity in 2013 & 2014, so don't prograstinate
Register online
Mile 5 , what goes up , has to come down
Till 5/10/2016:
Mail us a self-addressed envelope to receive a refund minus $10
UES
c/o 1/2 SauerRF
2137 Old Lancaster Pike
Reinholds, PA , 17569
after 5/10/2016:
no more refunds, no exceptions, however we do allow official bib
transfers, till 5 days before the race, email the RD at
stephanweiss@comcast.net
Awards:
Every half and full marathon finisher
will receive a finisher award.
In addition awards will be given to:
1st overall & Winner Masters (age 40+) male and
female
will receive a cuckoo clock sponsored by www.finecuckooclocks.com
2nd overall m & f will receive a Kuckulino desk clock
3rd overall m & f will receive a special German weatherhouse
Top 3 in 5 year age groups starting at 14
Agegroup awards are quite unique (pic shows 2011 award). These
awards come from the Black Forest of Germany. They
are german weather houses. They can predict future weather
pretty much as reliable as "Glen Hurrican Schwarz" . Here is
how they work:
There is a gut string inside which reacts to all
changes in air humidity. Depending on wether the air is dry or humid,
the gut string changes it's position and twists more or less, so that
the female turns outside when it is dry (predicting nice weather) and
the male, when it is humid.
Time
Limit:
6h 30 min for full
Not recommended for walkers. In order to make it in time, you have to
maintain
a 14:53 per mile pace. This can be accomplished with a jog/walk
strategie, but would require a very brisk walking pace if walking only.
Depending on the weather, conditions might get harder after
11AM. Higher temps can slow you down by a minute per mile and more.
Racedirector reserves the right to limit the race to a half marathon
based on the temperatures.
3:30 for half
Walkers welcome for the half. If you make it to the 9 Mile mark within
2:45 hours,
we will
not sweat it, if it takes you a little longer, since the last couple of
miles of the half and the full marathon are the same, and needs to be
staffed by volunteers anyways.
Mile 10, we also got some flat miles :-)
Temperatures:
Temperatures in June can reach in the high
80ies. Combine that with the possibility of high
humidity and you can get very unfavorable running conditions. We
recommend running the 1/2 marathon , if you are not trained for these
type of conditions, since conditions
will be much better early in the morning (before 10AM).
The course is mostly shaded,but please note, the
race director reserves the right to defer all the runners to the half
marathon.
Timing:
This year we will use a disposable
chip timing system.Milemarkers will be placed along the course.
Beautiful views of Pennypack Creek throughout the race.
The course runs through Pennypack
park.
There will be few spots that are easily accessible by spectators. You
might want to check the coursemap for access points to
the bike trail. We think the best spot is at Mile 6.5 Pennypack Park entry at 8500 Pine Road,
Philadelphia PA 19115
Fluid
Stations:
Most Fluid Stations are
within 1.5 Miles of each other and are staffed by local
runners.
Gatorade will be available at the Fluid
Stations. and Uberhans can be found at one giving you a little boost
Energy
Gels:
Gels will be available at Mile 8 and 21. We
recommend bringing your own (the one you are used to, and trained with) and use
ours as a backup.
Medical
Support:
EMT ambulance on location. Multiple support bikers on course.
Post
Race Party:
Starts around 10AM. Musical
entertainment by Don Bitterlich (aka Uber Hans).
Don is a very talented accordion player and former NFL football player.
Award ceremony will take place at the Cannstatter Volkfest Verein , a
German club in Philadelphia. Your entry fee includes a beer and meal
ticket, that you can use to redeem at the beergarden. Dress up for the
run and post race party, we always have extra awards for stuff like "
Fastest Lederhosen" , best looking bavarian ...
9:30AM: Cannstatter beergarden opens , enjoy your free beer and German
Bratswurst with Sauerkraut
10:00PM: Live music by Don Bitterlich, America's toughest accordion player
10:20PM: Performance of the Almrausch German Dancegroup
10:30PM: Award ceremony
10:45PM: Costume contest
10:55PM: Keep enjoying a cold beverage and Don Bitterlich
12:00PM: Repeat of previous schedule for the marathon finishers
3:00 PM: End of post race party
Lodging:
Click on link to view hotels nearby the
race.
There
is
a casino and an amusement park nearby, so these hotels fill up quickly,
therefore we recommend making reservation early.
