Buzz Sawyer Western Maryland Marathon

This rail-trail marathon has run for more than a decade out of Hancock, a small C&O Canal trail town, and now carries the name of Buzz Sawyer, the Washington County runner who founded the JFK 50 Mile. New owners 2Lowe Run Company kept the course and the low-key character when they took over the race.

The entire race runs on the paved Western Maryland Rail Trail, an out-and-back from Hancock with almost no elevation change. The surface is smooth, the turns are few, and tree cover lines much of the corridor, which keeps the running honest but visually quiet.

Mid-October in western Maryland usually means cool starts in the 40s and comfortable finishes in the 50s or low 60s. Fall color is near peak and heat is rarely a factor, though a wet front can turn the day raw.