Berwick Run for The Diamonds is a nine-mile foot race starting and ending on Market Street in downtown Berwick, Pennsylvania. It has been held every year on Thanksgiving Day since 1908.Run for the Diamonds 9 Mile

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

(2011-11-28). Retrieved 2011-12-18. The first race had only 13 participants. The course has remained essentially unchanged since 1908, running up a very challenging hill and through the countryside of

Summerhill Summerhill or Summer Hill may refer to the following places: Australia * Summer Hill, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney *Summerhill, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston * Summerhill (Mount Duneed), a prefabricated iron cottage in Victoria Canada * ...

. No women competed officially until 1972 when two women ran. The one hundredth running of the annual event was held in 2009. It was canceled twice due to World War I in 1918 and 1919, but despite World War II & the COVID-19 pandemic, the race went on. The race was called the "Berwick Marathon" until the 1970s and 1980s. But since the race is too short to qualify as a

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

, and winners receive diamonds as part of their prize, the name was changed to "Run for the Diamonds". The number of participants has grown dramatically, from about 100 runners in 1973 to 1,985 runners in 2009. The course record of was set in 1980 by Pete Pfitzinger.

Course

The race starts on Market Street in Berwick and goes north along that street for about a mile before turning onto Summerhill Road, which becomes Foundryville Road as it goes through the municipality of Foundryville. After passing through Foundryville around mile 2, it goes up a very long and steep hill known as "The Hill". After cresting the hill around mile 3.5, it heads mostly downhill to the halfway point where it turns onto Kachinka Hollow Road and continues descending to Martzville Road at mile 7. The course follows Martzville Road back to Market Street, and then after a mile on Market Street. However, from 1946 to 1954, the race finished at

Crispin Field Saints Crispin and Crispinian are the Christian patron saints of cobblers, curriers, tanners, and leather workers. They were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October 285 or 286. History Born ...

in Berwick.

References

---- * Road running * List of marathon races in North America

External links

* {{coord, 41.06103, -76.23893, type:event_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Long-distance running competitions Road running competitions in the United States Sports competitions in Pennsylvania Columbia County, Pennsylvania 1908 establishments in Pennsylvania Recurring sporting events established in 1908 November events