I ran this marathon in August 2003. There are no results on their website for 2024. However, their registration page invites runners to the 48th running on August 9, 2025. The URL to their site is https://www.craterlikerimruns.com/. In addition to the marathon, they have a half-marathon and a 6.7-mile run.
This race is on National Park Service land, and permitting may be complicated. They have not received their permits for2025 and will not open registration until they receive them. They are hoping to open registration on April 1. There is a 500-person limit on the event, and they usually don’t reach their limit.
Crater Lake formed around 7700 years ago with the collapse of a volcano forming a deep caldera. Because of the significant annual snowfall in the Cascades, the caldera filled with water with a depth of over 1900 feet. The lake has no inlets or outlets.
The average annual snowfall in the area is 463 inches, the highest recorded in 1950 being 889 inches. When I was there in August 2003, snow was still on the ground in areas of northern exposure. The average August temperature is 55 degrees, which can make for a good summer marathon.
The elevation of the lake rim varies between 7000 and 8000 feet. The park road outside the rim varies in elevation between 5980 and 7850 feet.
I flew into Medford, Oregon, about a two-hour drive to Crater Lake. There are no direct flights from Washington, DC to Medford,
There are many lodging options near Crater Lake. You can stay at the main lodge or camp in the park. I stayed in a nearby cabin resort off-property that had kitchen facilities. Racemorning was an easy drive to the parking lot.
Since this is a National Park, there is an access fee, not one for parking. The races had a 9 am start time, so getting there was not an issue.
After registration, my bib and race shirt were mailed to me. Bib numbers were assigned in the order of registration date.
None of the races started or finished at the park lodge. We were required to take a bus to the start. The bus’s round trip time between the lodge and the start line was about 20 minutes. They had one bus that needed to take three loads. The lowest bib numbers were allowed to take the last bus, a perk for registering early.
The lake is not an exact circle. It is six miles across at the widest and five miles at other points. A 5.5-mile diameter would create a 17.27-mile circumference. The road circling the lake,winding around the reetrants and spurs, is more than 26 miles long. The road is paved with little shade.
Being that the park does not want to impact tourists, the race started west of the lodge and finished east of the lodge. Those two convenient points are only 22 miles apart on the road. To make up the needed four extra miles, we ran past the finish line and were directed to a dirt road, running a 1000-foot climb over two miles. The good news is the last two miles came back down that hill.
About 2500 feet of climbing are in the loop, and most of the race is above 7000 feet. As usual, in the first mile, I thought I was going to die from lack of oxygen. However, bodies get used to conditions and figure out how to quickly adapt.
The shorter races started at the appropriate locations on the rim road and finished without the final two–mile uphill.
This race is an excellent choice if you are looking for an August marathon without crowds in a good scenic climate.
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Vic Culp is a co-founder of the Fredericksburg Area Running Club in 1994. He has managed a few races and ran a few more.
You can follow his blog at slowoldrunner.com and subscribe to receive notification emails from that site.
Check out his book “Go for 25” on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094YFRJ7G.
