Your plan in four answers
Set for February 20, 2027, about 17 weeks out.
- Distances
- Half marathon, 5 miles
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Field
- Capped at 215 runners across both distances
- Taper starts
- February 8, 2027
Course
The Iron Furnace course
Both races start and finish at the Lake Hope State Park beach lot, where the start moved from the lodge in 2025. The 13.1-mile race measures about 13.5 miles and heads into the remote Zaleski State Forest past deep gorges, overlooks and rocky outcrops, with about 12.1 miles of single-track and 1.4 miles of pavement.
Read the full course notes
It climbs about 2,185 feet in total, which is why the organisers call it one of Ohio's toughest half marathons. Aid sits at miles 2.9 and 8.1, and you need to reach mile 8.1 within 3 hours; the course closes at 1:30 p.m. after the 9:00 a.m. start. The 5-mile race starts at 9:15 a.m. on about 4 miles of single-track partly along the lake, with roughly 587 feet of gain and one aid station at mile 3.1.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- Half marathon, 5 miles
- Field
- Capped at 215 runners across both distances
- Weather on race day
- Mid-February in southeast Ohio usually means a start between 20 and 35 °F, with highs around 40 °F. Snow, ice or thawing mud are all possible on the trails, so plan shoes with real grip, gloves and a layer you can tie around your waist once you warm up on the first climb.
What to train for
Treat this as a climbing race: averaging about 160 feet of gain per mile means power hiking and steady descending matter as much as fitness.
Run your long runs on hilly trails and build to 11–13 miles with 1,800–2,200 feet of climbing, practising a brisk hike on the steepest pitches.
Add a weekly hill session of 8–10 x 2 minutes uphill at strong effort, jogging down relaxed to train your quads for the descents. Winter trails are slow, so pace the first 8 miles to make the 3-hour cutoff comfortably and carry your own fluids between the two aid stations.
Sample week
A sample Iron Furnace training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Hill repeats: 8 × 90 s up a steady grade, jog back down
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 5–6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 7 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 10–12 mi on hilly ground, steady effort on the climbs
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Iron Furnace
Start the taper ten to fourteen days before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on February 20, 2027, your taper starts around February 8, 2027.
Also in Claude
Ask Claude for this plan
Add AthleteSpace to Claude once, then paste this prompt and put in your own numbers.
Build me a training plan for the Iron Furnace Trail Runs (Half marathon) on February 20, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Iron Furnace training questions
How long should I train for the Iron Furnace?
Most runners give a half marathon twelve to sixteen weeks of focused training on top of an existing base. The plan above counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Iron Furnace course hilly?
Hilly. Both races start and finish at the Lake Hope State Park beach lot, where the start moved from the lodge in 2025.
What is the weather usually like at the Iron Furnace?
Mid-February in southeast Ohio usually means a start between 20 and 35 °F, with highs around 40 °F. Snow, ice or thawing mud are all possible on the trails, so plan shoes with real grip, gloves and a layer you can tie around your waist once you warm up on the first climb.
When should I start tapering for the Iron Furnace?
Start the taper ten to fourteen days before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on February 20, 2027, your taper starts around February 8, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Iron Furnace training plan?
No. The plan above builds in your browser with no account, no email, and no card. Make a free account only if you want to keep it, log your runs against it, and have the coach keep adapting it as your training goes.