Six races across three days, from a Friday afternoon on the trails to Sunday’s half marathon finish on the Levitt Lawn. Here’s what each one is, when it goes off, and everything you need to know before the gun.
Our 3.8-mile trail run takes you through the beautiful and scenic trails of Walking Purchase Park, with a mix of challenge and enjoyment for trail runners of every level. Rocks, roots, and dirt — a proper trail race, not a road race on a path.
The course was designed by race host Bart Yasso together with Quadzilla race director Jerry Steward, and it is the opening leg of the Quadruple Play Marathon Challenge, in which runners cover a full 26.2 miles across the festival weekend.
The Kids Run takes over First Street in front of ArtsQuest on Friday evening, right outside the Expo. Runners 5 and under run a quarter mile, 6 to 8 year olds run a half mile, and 9 to 12 year olds run a full mile.
Every kid gets a custom festival bib and a medal of their own at the finish. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs — the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies — sponsor the third annual Kids Run, and an IronPigs mascot will be on hand to greet and cheer on every finisher. FeRROUS and FeFe have taken turns over the years, and some years both show up.
On Saturday morning, runners of every level take to the streets of Bethlehem on courses designed by the Mayor of Running himself, Bart Yasso. The 5K crosses the Fahy Bridge and passes City Hall; the 10K adds a full tour down Bethlehem’s historic Main Street. As you cross the Lehigh, the city’s history and its fall colors do a lot of the work for you.
The whole city turns out to cheer, and their noise carries you to the line. After you finish, the celebration moves to the Levitt Lawn, where a live DJ, food, and drinks keep the morning going.
At noon, runners and neighbors come back together for the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, supporting the festival’s charity partner — a day of fitness, fun, and giving back in one.
The 13.1-mile course, designed by Long Distance Running Hall of Famer Bart Yasso, winds through the streets of Bethlehem at the height of fall foliage season. You cross the Lehigh twice — out on the Fahy Bridge at mile 1, back on the Minsi Trail Bridge at mile 12 — and run the Moravian quarter, the Colonial Industrial Quarter, and the Monocacy greenway in between.
The entire city comes out to cheer, and the noise follows you through the neighborhoods. The race ends where it started, at the SteelStacks, where the Levitt Lawn turns into a finish line party with a live DJ, food, and drinks.
Same 13.1 miles, same start, split three ways: two five-mile legs and a 5K. It’s the friendliest way into the half marathon for a run club, an office, or three friends who’d each rather run part of it.
Teams that put a company name at the front of their team name are automatically scored for the B. Braun Half Marathon Relay Corporate Cup — the four-foot trophy that goes to the fastest company in the Lehigh Valley.
Run more than one race and the weekend becomes something bigger than a single result. The Double Play is the Saturday double — the 5K in the morning and the 10K right after, 9.3 miles and two medals before lunch. The Triple Play adds Sunday’s half marathon for 22.4 miles across the weekend.
The Quadruple Play is the whole thing: Friday’s trail run, Saturday’s 5K and 10K, and Sunday’s half marathon. Add it up and it comes to exactly 26.2 miles — a full marathon, run across three days and four start lines.
Triple and Quadruple Play finishers earn the exclusive multi-race medal hanger to hold the whole set.
