Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run with medals

INAUGURAL RUNNING OF CADILLAC TO KATAHDIN VIRTUAL RUN HAS BEGUN. You can sign up any time between now and June 30, 2018, backdate miles to Aug. 15, 2017, and you have until 11:59 PM EST on June 30 to complete logging your miles. Even if you don’t complete the 200-mile virtual route in time, you’ll still get your Cadillac to Katahdin Medallion upon the race’s end.

Announce your participation in the first-ever Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run by sharing this social-media friendly graphic. (Image by racery.com)

Read the first blog post about this virtual run with medals, to learn about the event; our co-sponsors Mount Desert Island Marathon & Half and Millinocket Marathon & Half; the charities it benefits; and the Cadillac to Katahdin Medallion you earn. Special pricing for participants and volunteers in the real-life MDI and Millinocket Marathon and Half Marathons!, and members of Crow Athletics who are in the 2018 Streak-100!

Below are links to other blog posts about the Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run as they’re published, in chronological order:

“New Cadillac to Katahdin virtual race aids Acadia, Millinocket” – 7/30/2017
“Acadia, Millinocket fans join forces for virtual race 2017” – 8/15/2017
“Cadillac to Katahdin virtual national park race boosts charity” – 9/5/2017
“Maine virtual race with medals connects long-lost friends” – 10/6/2017
“Real and virtual races with medals converge on MDI” – 10/22/2017

More than 130 racers from around the country are lined up along the virtual route from Cadillac to Katahdin (Image courtesy of racery.com)

Here’s an online guide to the race route, in 5-mile increments. Go to this link to expand the Garmin Connect map, pictured below, that we used to custom design the racery.com route. Follow the instructions in the caption below to show mileage increments and elevation.

We used Garmin Connect to custom design a 200-mile route for the Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run with medals that’s being hosted on Racery.com. To see mileage increments and elevation, click on this link, check the “Mile Markers” box, zoom in on the map with the + sign, and select “Terrain” from the dropdown menu below the icon that looks like a stack of papers.

Click on mile markers below, to go to a Google Maps photo link for that general location, where available. If we have time, maybe we’ll add more of our own photos or videos to this guide, especially if this becomes an ongoing series of virtual runs with medals.

We’ll invite local businesses and organizations to share what mile marker on the virtual route they’re near, either in comments below, or on a Facebook group we’ve created for the event. That would truly make this a virtual community, whether you’re a runner or not, and whether you live in the Acadia or Millinocket regions or not.

This could also serve as an informal visitor’s guide to those who are thinking of visiting Acadia, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, and Baxter State Park, and looking for places to stay or dine, and other activities in the regions.

Dec. 9, 2017, is the running of the Millinocket Marathon & Half, and also marks the end of the Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run. (Image by Crow Athletics)

May this virtual race be another way to deepen the connections between the Acadia and Katahdin regions, the people and the places, the businesses and the organizations, the visitors and the year-round residents.

Zoom into this Garmin Connect map to find the below mileage markers superimposed on the route for the Cadillac to Katahdin virtual run with medals. Where Google Maps photos are available near mileage markers, you can see them below by clicking on the links.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the capability to allow you add photos to this blog, although you can make comments below. But you can add photos at the Facebook group page we’ve set up, and indicate which mile it represents, whether in virtual reality, or actual reality, or when you’re logging that day’s mileage onto the virtual race route.

For example, if you have a photo of a Cadillac sunrise you want to share, you could upload the photo to the Facebook group page and indicate that as being at the Start, or Mile 0 marker. Or if you have a photo of yourself summiting Katahdin, you could upload that and indicate that as being at the Finish, or Mile 200 marker.

Racery.com, the technology that powers the virtual race, lets you upload photos when you log your day’s mileage, so you get to see both where you were in real-life, at the same time your race avatar moves along on the virtual map.

The Cadillac to Katahdin Medallion goes to all who sign up for the virtual race to help benefit Friends of Acadia, Our Katahdin and Millinocket Memorial Library.

CAUTION: Don’t necessarily follow the virtual route on any of your real-life exploration of the Cadillac or Katahdin regions, or elsewhere in Maine. The route was drawn for the convenience of coming up with exactly 200 miles, It could be that some of the virtual route doesn’t follow any official trail, or goes up the hardest way, rather than the recommended way, up a particular mountain, or along less-than-scenic roads. We’d recommend getting a good topo map and hiking guide, before setting out on the trails. We’re fond of our own Acadia guides, of course (see sidebar), but you can search Amazon.com for other books or maps, or try a free app like Chimani.

Mileage guide to Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run with medals

Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run – Miles 0 to 40, starting on Cadillac, down to the starting line of the real-life Mount Desert Island Marathon, following the MDI Marathon & Half routes, before heading off island.

Mile 0 – Cadillac sunrise

Sunrise on Cadillac, a perfect way to start the Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run (NPS photo)

Mile 5 – Eagle Lake Road

Mile 10 – Otter Creek Road, along the real-life MDI Marathon route

Mile 15 – Seal Harbor

Mile 20 – Northeast Harbor, where the real-life MDI Half Marathon starts

Mile 25 – on the way to Somesville

Miles 30 and 35 – Echo Lake, virtually retracing steps to head off island after crossing the real-life finish line for the MDI Marathon & Half in Southwest Harbor

Mile 40 – on the way to Trenton

Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run – Miles 45 to 50, heading from Trenton to Ellsworth.

Mile 45 – passing the Hancock County – Bar Harbor Airport

Mile 50 – on the way to Ellsworth

Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run – Miles 55 to 60, through Ellsworth and on the way to Bangor.

Mile 55 – going through Ellsworth

Mile 60 – heading out of Ellsworth

Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run – Miles 65 to 70, through Holden and on the way to Bangor.

Mile 65 – Dedham

Mile 70 – on the way to East Holden

Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run – Miles 75 to 85, through Brewer, Bangor and Veazie.

Mile 75 – Holden

Mile 80 – passing Brewer, crossing the Penobscot into Bangor and heading northeast, away from the I-95

Mile 85 – through Veazie and into Orono, heading toward University of Maine

Cadillac to Katahdin Virtual Run – Miles 90 to 95, past University of Maine at Orono and the site of the Black Bear Marathon, through Old Town and Milford.

Mile 90 – through Orono, near the real-life route of UMaine’s Black Bear Marathon and Half Marathon, and into Old Town

Mile 95 – cross the Penobscot and into Milford