Waldoboro is a town built on hills. The Waldoboro Day 5K is generally considered one of the hardest 5Ks in the state of Maine. But that doesn't have any of the hard hills. To truly run Waldoboro, you have to run the big hills. Thus begat the Waldoboro Half Marathon: the hardest road half marathon in New England (and, we would argue, the Eastern United States). We think it's one of the hardest in the country and probably has the hardest finish.

We fit as many hills as we could in 13.1 miles without having to cross Route 1.

We've crammed roughly 1,400 feet of elevation into 13.1 miles (and ~550 in the final 3.5 miles) to take you to your limit. There are 7(!) hills with a gradient of at least 10%, including 2 in the final mile. 45% of the course is uphill. It's the perfect tune-up for your fall goal race. We always say that if you can do well in Waldoboro, everywhere else is easy.

If you finish, you get a beer from Odd Alewives Farm Brewery. If you win the whole thing, you get a gift card from Moody's Diner.

Following the lead of our friends at the Millinocket Marathon, we're embracing a DIY ethos for this half. Hence our motto: "No Frills. Just Hills." There's no bands on the course. There's no expo. There may or may not be volunteers along the course. There aren't even any water stations.

Let's repeat that:

09-23-2023, 10:00 am - 04:00 pm