The Based Triathlete Coach (@ironpete)

With the Staten Island Half Marathon coming up this Sunday, I was asked about how the course was. The quick answer was "slightly rolling in the beginning, flat in the middle near the beaches, some hills at the 15k mark, then slightly rolling at the end. It seems like every year, the course tends to change slightly, whether because of construction, road closures, or other things. The course this year seems to now go a bit into Ft. Wadsworth, so I wasn't sure whether there was one hill to worry about or more than one. So I went out to Ft. Wadsworth on one of my training runs to take a look. There are two hills to worry about. I'll keep it brief with pictures. In the map of the course provided by NYRR, I've highlighted both of the hills to address with yellow circles. The first one is at Lily Pond Ave before going into Ft. Wadsworth (2nd photo). That's the biggest hill on the entire marathon course and it happens right after the mile 8 marker. Just be wary that once you hit that marker, you'll be suffering for 1-2 minutes before you get to the top. The second one is after you complete a short circle in Ft. Wadsworth (third photo). There's a brief 30 second downhill beforehand, and then you'll be hoofing up a short but steep hill going under the V-N Bridge. This is after the mile 9 marker. At about the 15K marker (9.3 miles), you'll reach the top and will then hit a nice little downhill towards the north exit of Ft. Wadsworth to make it back to the ferry and stadium area to the finish. Anyway, those are the hills of the Staten Island Half in a nutshell. Plan your race accordingly. See you out there this Sunday! #nyrr #sihalfmarathon #sihalf #running #statenisland