Adirondack Marathon Distance Festival returns

SCHROON | Perhaps no other 26.2-mile stretch of Adirondack roadway has come to symbolize community spirit quite like the perimeter around Schroon Lake. The rolling hills, foliage of gold and fire, and challenging nature of the course have drawn athletes to the area for decades. As the Adirondack Marathon Distance Festival (AMDF) prepares to return Sept. 26 and 27, the area is gearing up to once again welcome participants and share in the celebration of the benchmark achievement of 30 years. Like the hundreds of athletes that demonstrate resilience and stamina each year, the marathon has also endured, having become a patchwork of the fabric of the community. "People look forward to it every year," noted Joel Freidman, one of the original founders of the race. "Second homeowners look forward to it as well as local residents. If you look at it, it's the single most significant community building event in Schroon Lake where everyone is working shoulder to shoulder whether they are a lawyer in town, a nurse, a real estate agent, a teacher, or a stay-at-home parent." The weekend-long event has something for everyone and will showcase the natural beauty and small town charm of the area. On Saturday, Chestertown will host a 5K and 10K, and a Kids Fun Run will happen in Schroon Lake. On Sunday, the Marathon, Half Marathon, and 4-Person Relay will be run. Both races are starting one hour earlier than in previous years. The Marathon & 4-Person Relay Start at 8 a.m., and the Half Marathon starts at 9 a.m. Last year's marathon saw record-breaking participation of 1,002 participants, with another 466 individuals stepping up to volunteer. By the end of August, people from at least 26 states were already registered for this year's event and still going. "We have had runners from at least 35 countries, and I would imagine every state has been represented," Friedman said. "We have participants from Alaska and Hawaii." When considering the vast pool of enthusiastic racers AMDF attracts, it's almost surreal to think of its humble- yet intentional- beginnings. In 1995, a group called Community Partnership was created with the Chamber of Commerce and the support of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism, the goal to create new activities for Schroon Lake. Local resident Dan Perry, who had runners in his family, had just come home from an exhilarating trip to the Boston Marathon. Perry drove around the hometown Schroon Lake, and his odometer reported a happy coincidence. It read 26 miles, and a distance marathon needed 26.2. An extra 385 yards seemed easy enough to find, and Perry pitched the idea. From that seed, the idea of a local marathon soon morphed into actuality, with the inaugural race being held on Sept. 28, 1997 with 500 participants. "The theory is it would help the town on a slow weekend," Friedman explained. "It is just before the big color change and before leaf peeping really kicks off." Over the past three decades, that theory has been repeatedly proven to be true. The local economy sees a huge boost, with lodging at capacity, restaurants full, and shops enjoying a throng of patrons in and out the doors. "In 2013/2014, Kent State University contacted us," Friedman recalled. "There was an economics professor who studied the economic impact of the marathon on the community. We did that two years in a row- the overall impact was approximately $1 million of direct impact, with $400,000 to $500,000 injected into the community." During that first year of the Adirondack Marathon, the popular Montreal Marathon was also scheduled for the same weekend. However, the Montreal affair ended up being cancelled, leaving runners- many who had traveled great distances- stranded without an event to stretch their legs in. As a result, the Adirondack Marathon enjoyed that aforementioned 500 number, an influx of runners coming from Canada to take advantage of the opportunity to do what they loved. One of those athletes, Simone Stoeppler, had flown with her husband from Germany to run the Montreal Marathon. When the race was cancelled, the pair decided to head south to New York City. While on the Northway, they swung into Schroon Lake to top the gas tank off. Stoeppler saw posters for the Adirondack Marathon, and decided to run. That little twist of fate would see her not only win, but to this day her record of 3:04:08 remains undefeated. "To prove a point about people loving Schroon Lake, she (Stoeppler) came back about 10 or 12 years ago and ran the race again, bringing more family with her the second time," said Friedman. "You can imagine how many runners come and bring their families and come back not just for the race but come back in the summer time and the fall because they had such a good experience in town." Those good vibes and return on personal investment tie into the entire feeling of the AMDF. According to Friedman, if you ask a typical runner about the race, the first they will remark on is how the entire town unites and comes in support of the athletes, with cheers at the finish line able to be heard echoing across the lake. "If it's a halfway nice day, a lot of the runners after they finish will find their way to the town beach," Friedman added. "If it's a really hot day. You can see hundreds of runners standing in the water." This year, AMDF's internationally recognized keynote speaker at the Pre-Race Dinner at Paradox Brewery will be Carlos Hidalgo. Hidalgo will deliver "Embracing Adversity for the Win," which explores how life's biggest challenges can become defining moments and not defeats. "AMDF is about working together to put on a great event on a great day," Friedman reflected. "When it ends everyone goes 'That was incredible,' and then the race committee starts thinking about next year." To register for this year's marathon, please visit https://www.adirondackmarathon.org/.

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Adirondack Marathon Distance Festival returns

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