Mount Desert Island Marathon

The Mount Desert Island Marathon features a hilly, scenic route. We run past Maine's most beautiful ocean vistas, lakes, forests and quaint villages. Runners more than welcome the challenge, as well as the stunningly beautiful backdrop of Acadia National Park during peak fall foliage season. Our course is hilly and tough and an amazing experience, but it's still just a small-town marathon limited to 1200 runners/walkers.

Course Description

The certified 26.2-mile foot race begins in downtown Bar Harbor, where the first mile is slightly downhill, then hits a 150-foot climb from mile one to mile three. Route 3 gives back a downhill sweep from mile three to six where runners meet the sea, and those famous ragged cliffs and headlands at the southeast tip of the Island. There is a long, gradual downhill from mile seven to mile nine, then a series of rolling, curving vistas which overlook Seal Harbor, and Cranberry Isles. The halfway is near the mouth of the only true fjord on the Atlantic Coast, lined with pink granite. The low point will come at mile 16 along the eastern shore of Somes Sound. There's a slight rise to mile 17, then a sharp incline from 17 to 18. Mile 19 is a giveback downhill, and then the gradual ascent from mile 20 to 25 begins. Mile 25 will be the high point of the course and it will be all downhill from there.

Link to Course Map