Harrisburg Half Marathon

Course highlights

Of course, it’s easy to see why the race has attracted such a following when you get a look at the route, which starts and finishes on Harrisburg’s City Island, which lies smack in the middle of the Susquehanna and is linked to the mainland by bridge.

After starting off and making a loop around the island, runners cross the Walnut Street bridge and then make a turn toward the right, where they head along the riverfront trails that parallel South Front Street.

There’s a long stretch of the race that winds several miles up along the riverbanks, through Harrisburg’s Riverfront Park, a linear park whose lovingly manicured gardens, brick plazas, gazebos and river overlooks have made it perhaps the city’s most popular outdoor park.

The course continues winding northward all the way up to the Estherton and Windsor Farms neighborhoods, where runners reach the turnaround and make a few turns through the city streets just south of Interstate 81.

After making the turn off North Front Street and onto Montrose, 6th Street and then 2nd Street, runners head back onto Front Street for the last few miles of the race, which take them back along the route they’ve just run toward the finish line back on City Island.