Course
Course Description:
The starting line is on E. Colvin Street, near the third utility pole east of the Coyne Stadium entrance. Runners head east from the starting line through the Colvin/Skytop and Colvin/Lancaster intersections to Buckingham Avenue. Runners turn left onto Buckingham and cover the one long block between E. Colvin and Meadowbrook Drive. They bend right onto Meadowbrook Drive and follow Meadowbrook Drive (eastbound) along Barry Park, across Broad Street, past its intersection with Nottingham Road, and to its intersection with Euclid Avenue. The Euclid Avenue intersection is the turnaround, with runners making a 180-degree turn to their left and proceeding back toward Manley on the westbound side of Meadowbrook. It's Meadowbrook Drive to Buckingham Avenue; bend left on Buckingham to E. Colvin; turn right on E. Colvin to the Colvin/Skytop intersection; and then bend right into the Manley south parking and follow the Manley bus lane (parallel to Colvin St.) straight ahead (about 300m) to the finish line.
3k Courses:
The 3K Fun & Fitness Run and the Community Walk cover the first and last 1.5 kilometers of the 5K course (turning around roughly opposite the basketball courts at Barry Park).
Getting Here:
The Lampe Athletic Complex surrounds Manley Field House at the intersection of Comstock Avenue and East Colvin Street in Syracuse.
PARKING IS FREE IN THE MANLEY FIELD HOUSE LOTS, and NO PARKING IS ALLOWED ON THE RACE COURSES.
ANYONE WITH SPECIAL PARKING NEEDS--INCLUDING SCHOOL GROUPS WITH BUSES--SHOULD CALL DAVE OJA (446-6285) PRIOR TO SEPT. 25!
Those of you arriving prior to 8:15 a.m. should park in the south parking area of Manley Field House (enter from Colvin Street at Skytop Road). Those of you arriving later than 8:15 a.m. should plan to avoid Lancaster Avenue and East Colvin Street, and enter the Manley parking areas via Comstock Avenue. Car pooling is always advisable and encouraged!
Other Info:
Having hosted scores of performances that have either equaled or surpassed an American 5K single-age best, a national 5K record, or a 5K world best, tthe SFoR 5K course is widely regarded as one of the world's fastest record-eligible 5K road race courses. Our record-breakers have ranged in age from 15 through 93.
In 2002, the Men's 5K at the Syracuse Festival of Races hosted four of the world's ten fastest 5K road performances of that year.
Since 2009, the SFoR 5K fields have averaged an amazing twenty-plus world-class performances (age-graded above 90.0%) per year!
Last fall, the SFoR once again made national news, hosting four 5K age-group American records and another two dozen world-class performances on a single morning.
Of course, that's great news for runners of every pace, because it's not just the super-fast athletes who enjoy their best performances of the year at the Festival. EVERYONE in the Festival 5K races benefits from our fast, USATF-certified and verified, record-quality course. Whether you're looking for your fastest 5K of the year, of your current age group, or of your life, you've got a great record-quality course waiting for you on Meadowbrook Drive in Syracuse on the Sunday prior to Columbus Day weekend.
To explore the hundreds of outstanding performers and performances that our course has hosted, please visit our History page, where you can browse past results from any year as well as a variety of "All-Time" performance lists for the SFoR course.
Our 5K course (NY12118JG) was most recently re-certified and verified by USATF Regional Certifier and IAAF-certified measurer, Jim Gilmer, in 2012. Water is available in both directions on the out-and-back layout, and split times are called at the mile mark and at each kilometer. There's a digital display clock at the halfway point, and we record everyone's 2.5K splits and publish them in the official results. Thanks to great support from the Syracuse Police Department and our wonderful volunteers, the entire course is closed to traffic. For a look at a course map, click here.
