Bob Mann: 2025 Steamtown Marathon

Sun Oct 12, 2025

On Sun Oct 12 2025, I ran the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It had been more than 6 months since my last marathon, which is unusual for me. I had just been too busy. Over these last 6 months, I "retired" from engineering and switched careers to become a high school Technology Teacher. That involved a heck of a lot of work (including classwork), which is still ongoing as of this writing. I also moved my mother out of her house in Connecticut to an assisted living facility near me in New Jersey. Meanwhile, my daughter graduated from high school in New Jersey and went off to college in Connecticut. So yes, it's funny that my mother and daughter swapped states in this time frame.

I chose Steamtown for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, it was nearby (only an hour and a half drive from home), which meant I could easily do this marathon without having to take any days off work from my new job. Also, I had heard it was a really nice marathon, which meant it was the next one I wanted to do in Pennsylvania. I had the weekend free, so off to Scranton I went.

Another plus is that this marathon is renowned to be fast. I haven't cared about my speed in many years, so I wasn't interested just in the sake of shaving some time off my run. But I was interested in an "easier" race. This course has a somewhat large net downhill - something close to 1000 overall feet. And at this point in my running career, I'll happily take all the help I can get.

I drove to Scranton the day before the race. I arrived at packet pickup rather late; they were starting to dismantle the expo. But I was able to grab my stuff. Then I took a quick warmup run around downtown. Then I grabbed a quick bite for dinner, checked into my cheap motel for the night, and went to bed early.

I was up nice and early on race morning and checked out of my room. I typically stay two nights for a marathon, but with this one so close to home, I figured I didn't need to. I drove to the finish line area, where there were busses available to drive us out to the start line.

The start was out in Forest City, PA. We waited around at Forest City High School for the race to begin. Ironically, I guess, even when I get a weekend out of town, I still can't completely avoid high schools.

Anyway, the race began at 8:00am under cloudy skies and temps in the upper 40s. Very nearly ideal running weather. I got off to a nice start, running each of the first 8 miles in under 10 minutes each. My fastest mile was Mile 5, which I covered in 9:16. That's probably one of the fastest miles I've done in a marathon in quite a while. All the downhills in the early part of the race certainly helped. Mile 9 was just over 10 minutes, and I was over 10 minutes for every mile thereafter. I stayed in the 10:10 range through the halfway point, which I'm pleased with.

Starting around Mile 16, I began my run/walk phase of the race, as per usual. I was getting tired, as per usual. My pace kept dropping as the race progressed, as per usual. In other words, the race really went just about as expected. I might even say it was as well as I could have hoped.

They did thrown in a couple of brief uphills near the end. There was one at Mile 23, another at Mile 24, and another at Mile 25. None of them were too brutal, but anything uphill can feel brutal that late in a race. Luckily for me, I don't mind slowing to walk to go up those hills. Heck, I take walk breaks anyway late in a marathon, so I figure it makes sense to walk up the hills. They weren't terribly long, so it worked out fine.

I felt fine throughout, despite not having much distance training over the Summer. My slowest mile was the last one, which I covered in 12:18. I'll gladly take that as my slowest mile. I crossed the finish line in 4:37:30, which is pretty good for me these days.

Most importantly, I felt pretty good. Certainly the weather and downhill course helped. I'd say I chose a good race for this Fall. So I am very pleased with the outcome.

The course itself was nice. Nothing spectacular, but nice for a small-ish race. The spectators were enthusiastic, which is always nice to see. The course was fairly scenic, albeit somewhat repetitive until we got to downtown Scranton at the end.

After the race, I grabbed a bite to eat and a few bottles of water. Then I hobbled to my car, and began the drive home. Since I typically stay overnight after a marathon, I was a little worried about being too tired to drive an hour and a half immediately after the race. I did in fact start to get drowsy about halfway home. I pulled over at a rest area and just sat in my car resting my eyes for a spell. I might have had my eyes closed for 15 minutes or so. I suppose I had fallen asleep and that this was considered a nap. After the 15 minutes, I snapped awake and felt much better. I was renewed, and then proceeded to make it back home with no problems.

So I would call the weekend a success. The Steamtown Marathon was a nice addition to my collection, and I am happy to check off state #13 for the second time. I have no idea what the next one will be, and it might be a few months before I even really think about it. But I'm sure something will come up sooner or later.

And now the photos. Click any image to enlarge.