Gorges Ithaca Half
Gorges Ithaca Half
The Gorges Ithaca Half is one of the most scenic half marathons in the country. It offers a point to point course from the quintessential small town of Trumansburg, passing gorges and cascades with a net descent elevation course profile, finishes in one of the most rad small towns in America. It’s a great excuse to make a long weekend in Ithaca running a Half PR or first finish.
Presented By
Date
Sunday, June 13, 2027
Location
Start: Trumansburg
Finish: Cass Park, Ithaca
Registration
Opens November 1st
No Raceday Registration
Whatchya Get?
Entrants will receive an event T, Specialized Purist custom sport bottle, finisher’s medal from Ragged Cuts in CT, post-race food from Fittnell Farms, bus to the start (for those who select it with registration), race.
Cost Tiers
10.31 - 12.31.26: $129.35 (= $120 + RSU Fees)
1.1 - 4.30.27: $140.03 (= $130 + RSU Fees)
5.1 - 6.10.27: $150.03 (= $150 + RSU Fees)
Details & Timeline
Staging Area / Finish Lines:
Starting Line: 2026's race will start on South St in Trumansburg, take a fairly immediate left on Main St, circle back through the eastern neighborhoods, wrap around Taughannock’s new Black Diamond Trail (BDT) construction on Jacksonville Rd, and access the BDT on Gorge Rd for the descent back into Ithaca. Once in it’ll tuck under the bridge to make a left on the waterfront trail, running north along the Inlet to a finish in Cass Park.
Finish Line: The event will finish in Cass Park along the Inlet and base of Cayuga Lake.
Packet Pickup:
*It's okay for friends / family to pickup your BIB/shirt for you.
*All Race-Day Check-In’s will pickup shirt at the Finish after the race (so as not to race carry them for those shuttling).
Thursday, June 10th- 12:00 - 7:00
Finger Lakes Running Company - Syracuse
(720 Van Rensselaer St, Syracuse)
Friday, June 11th – 4:00 to 8:00
Garrett’s Brewing Company (Beer Release)
(1 W Main St, Trumansburg, NY)
Saturday, June 12th - 12:00 - 6:00
Finger Lakes Running Company - Ithaca
(700 Cascadilla St – next to Purity
Raceday Timeline:
Sunday, June 13, 2026
05:30 - 06:30 - Race morning finish area parking in assigned zones (entrants parking at finish will get email with assigned zone) in Cass / Alan Treman Park.
6:00 - 6:45 - Finish area shuttle bus loading and departures for the start.
06:00 – 07:15 – Raceday Check-In, Start-Line parking, and drop offs at Charles O. Dickerson High School.
07:30 - Mass Start on South St in Trumansburg
08:40 - First finisher anticipated to reach finish line
09:30 - Shuttle Buses begin transporting finishers back to Trumansburg High School / Start
11:30 - Last finisher anticipated to reach finish line and course closed
11:45 - Last shuttle bus leaves for Start Parking return
12:00 – Catering closed and Park Cleared of Event Staging
Parking
See detailed information below
Maps & Instructions
Start Area: Trumansburg
The Start line will be on South St, between Whig and Main. Access to both long-term (raceday) parking, and drop-off will be via Whig Street entrance to the Charles O Dickerson HS.
Instructions for runners driving to / parking at the Start:
We will be using Charles O. Dickerson HS / MS for Start parking and drop-off. You may park and drop-off here between 05:45 and 13:00 on race-day. We will have shuttle buses returning runners from the finish back to the start area parking between 09:30 and 11:45 on race day.
Long Term Parking will use two lots, noted on the image above:
Non-NYS Residents will use the first lot to the left (Lot A above)
NYS Residents will use the lot straight in (careful, busses dropping off overlapping) Lot B above
Return Shuttle
For those parking at the Start and taking a return shuttle, the shuttles will pick finishers up from Cass Park north of the Ice Rink / Pool. To get there, walk back out / north from the finish, with the loading zone across the field to your left. They’ll run intermittently between 9:30 and 11:45.
Start Drop - Off and Long Term Overflow:
Transient Vehicles / Dropping Runners off will use Lot C in the Start Staging area image above and which is fairly straight in. This is intended for drop-off only. No long term parking or hanging around too long otherwise it won’t work. Drop-off vehicles may use circular entry drive for pure momentary drop off, or pulling in to lot proper but only staying literally a minute or two to get stuff out of the car.
If Lots A and B max out Long Term parkers may park in Lot C.
Finish Area - Ithaca
The address of the finish staging area is roughly 701 Taughannock Boulevard, Ithaca, NY. Please see the maps and info below, as well as interactional course map on Plotaroute for more detail on designated parking areas.
Shuttle Buses / Loading Areas
Instructions for runners driving to / parking at the Finish
We will be using several lots surrounding Cass Park and Alan Treman Marine Park for finish-area parking. We’ve divided up the entrants list by place of origin and assigned each to a specific lot.
Parking Lot A - Alan Treman / Dog Park (NYS Runners w/ Zip codes of 148xx & 149xx - relative “locals”)
Getting To: Plug 801 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca into your Mapping app and it’ll take you to the entrance to both the Hangar Theater, and Alan Treman / Cass.
Getting to Shuttle Bus: After parking, walk back south to the parking strip running north from the Rink. Buses should load in that area.
Getting to Parking Post Race: You can walk directly out from the finish line north to get back to that lot.
Distances: ~ 0.2 mile walk
Parking Lot B - Cass Park (northeast of Pool) - Volunteer / Vendor Parking
Parking Lot C - Cass Park Rink - All Non-NYS Entrants
Address is 701 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca
Buses load just north of the Rink building and the finish is around the back.
Distances: ~ 0.2 mile walk
Parking Lot D - Union Fields (Runners from NYS but not from zip codes of 148xx or 149xx)
Getting To: You can plug 678 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, or this link into mapping. You’ll enter / exit via Rt. 89 to the northeast of the ballfields with a bathroom building straight ahead at entry. That lot is a crescent shape with most of it to the right / north of the entrance.
Getting to Shuttle Bus: Walk north along paved waterfront trail, cross Rt. 89 by the Rink. Buses load just north of the Ice Rink building.
Getting to Park Post Race: Walk past tennis courts, take a left on the west side of the Ice Rink building on the Waterfront Trail, cross 89, parking ahead.
Distances: ~ 0.5 mile walk
Buses to the start will load just north of the Cass Park Ice Rink / Pool complex and run between 06:00 and 06:45. The shuttle to the start is approximately 15 - 20 minutes. There will be a handful of portajohns near the bus loading area as well as 15 or so at the start drop off area.
Those finishers who park at the Start can catch buses back to the finish between 09:30 and 11:45 which will leave from the same spot.
The Route
We'll start stage from the grounds of Charles O’Dickerson High School in Trumansburg, utilizing it for parking, check-in, and portajohns. Entrants will make their way north about .25 miles to the start on South St. Runners will take a quick left onto Main St before splitting off in the Southeast direction to wind back around the Village. They’ll have a decent Cemetery Hill Climb into mile 2 before starting the descent back towards Ithaca. They'll pass by the upper tip of Taughannock Falls State Park before reaching the head of the Black Diamond Rail Trail across from a beautiful BDT new trailhead. From there it'll be a steady descent along the hard packed gravel surface to arrive back in Ithaca. Once you emerge it'll be just under a mile, running north along the Cayuga Lake Inlet to finish in the ball fields parking lot of Cass Park. Be sure to give props to Cayuga Medical / Island Health as you round the turn at 12.4 before sending the finish stretch.
