Background

Rumspringa is a Pennsylvania German term meaning “running around” and generally refers to a period of adolescence for some members of the Amish that begins at the age of 16 and ends either with the youth choosing baptism within the Amish church or instead leaving the community. During this time a minority of young Amish might experiment with dressing “English”, driving motor vehicles and consuming alcohol.

The Rumspringa  ½ marathon starts and finishes in Adamstown, PA which is located in Northern Lancaster County  just on the edge of Amish country and the midsection of the course will lead you through some Amish farmland. Obviously while running you will be on your best behavior, however the race finishes in front of an award winning micro-brewery, so you will be able to do a little “Rumspringa”  after you were “running around” for 13.1 Miles.

As all UES events, we do cater to a certain type of runner, one who does not need a glitzy expo, a shiny medal (our finisher award this year is a cuckoo whistle ? ) , rock bands or a celebrity telling them how awesome they are. Instead we focus on a course that is fun and well supported, but also more challenging than the average pancake flat big city race (translation, yes there will be hills). We have awesome German themed Aid stations and the best post race food that you will ever find at a race. To top it off, every runner will receive a free Stoudts beer to rehydrate at the post race party were you will be entertained by live German music. We will raffle of a German cuckoo clock and give out imported handmade German weather houses as agegroup awards.  If you think you are not fast enough to win of these awesome awards, dress up in German or Amish attire and you have a shot of winning one of these weather-houses for best dressed runners.