Doan Creek Trail Race

50 Miles, 50K, 25K - October 3, 2020

Doan Creek Trail Race was the first ever ultra TRAIL racing event in the City of Cleveland which was first held in 2015. The course is nestled between suburban and city streets in an inspiring gorge that contains much natural beauty

DCTR is arguably the HARDEST 50 Miler, 50K, or 25K in all of Ohio

This event fills quickly!

Scroll for important registration information. Those interested in the WAIT LIST must register through this website.

Once an event distance fills you will only have the option of transfer into that distance category's WAIT LIST.

This is a Free Race

HOWEVER...

There are strings attached. The event will provide a first rate running experience for its participants but they MUST give back to our community in need by doing two of the following.

1) DOANate to The Steve Pierce Memorial Scholarship (via RFGB ...see below)

2) DOANate time and effort to our Environmental Clean Up Program

Links for DOANations will open once permits go through. Participants will be notified by email when that occurs.

BE GENEROUS !!!!

This event is about the community first and you second!!

RFGB is encouraging you to DOANate more than you would for a typical race entrance fee. Our friendly Co RD will visit anyone who completely stiffs the event.

Hardship situations will be considered on an individual basis. Contact us below in advance of registration.

Also be aware that if the trails are not fit on the day of the event due to weather conditions we may cancel

Race Director

Richard Schlenk

About Doan Creek Trail Race

Hidden Trail Gem

This is a very special and unique urban trail running experience in a forgotten and mysterious area known to very few NE Ohio residents. There are no known published maps of this trail system. It starts around the Lower Shaker Lake and once it crosses west past Coventry Road descends into the gorge of Doan Creek (Brook). The course undulates in a narrow corridor between several busy suburban streets but once within the gorge you will be overwhelmed with a sense of being transported to a remote location. Urban ruins mixed with the natural raw beauty of the Doan Creek set this apart from other local trail events. The geological history of the gorge traces back thousands of years. This is where the some of the earliest Cleveland settlers dwelt in the 1800s.

Course Features

Mostly single track and gnarly punishing trail
Several road crossings
Rolling hills
1600 ft of elevation change per loop:

3200 for 25k, 6400 for 50k, 9600 for 50M
Immense natural sandstone walls
Narrow ledges and steep drop offs
Cascading waterfalls
Car wreckage
Flood retention concrete graffiti dam
Post apocalyptic ruins
Urban art work

Abundant wild life

ROCKS, ROCKS, More ROCKS

Scary Clowns !!!!!!!!!

Choose Your Distance Carefully

Semi-Accurate Descriptors:
50 Miler (Self Deprocating. Diabolitically Vexatious. Utterly FUGLY. Catagorically Moronic)

50K (Crushing. Menacing. Bruising. Hardcore)
25K (Formidable. Arduous. Painful. Respectable)
Fun Loop (Sensible. Intelligent. Injured. Old)

2020 Charity - The Steve Pierce Memorial Scholarship

...in honor of our friend Steve

About the Scholarship

The Steve Pierce Memorial Scholarship was created by the Stow Schools Foundation in honor of Steve Pierce who passed away in March 2019. He was a graduate of Stow schools and an elementary art teacher at the beginning of his career in Stow. Later, he became the photography teacher at the High School. Steve had many hobbies but his two lifetime passions were running and photography. Often he would combine the two and shoot race day photos at many of the local trail and road races. Steve believed in and practiced kindness, leadership, determination and integrity. Two scholarships will be awarded, one to an art/photography student and one to a cross country runner, both of whom must be representative of these ideals above all.

Click to donate

2019 Charity 12K

Edwins Butcher Shop

EDWINS gives formerly incarcerated adults a foundation in the hospitality industry while providing a support network necessary their long-term success. EDWINS' mission three-fold: is to teach a skilled and in-demand trade in the culinary arts, empower willing minds through passion for the hospitality industry, and prepare students for a successful transition home.

Men and women going through the restaurant training program will cycle through the shop so they have a hyper focus on butchering. They will learn meat cutting from breaking down whole sides to the finer art of making chops, as well as smoking meats, charcuterie, and other skills valuable to restaurants.

“EDWINS Butcher Shop is the next step in an overall plan to solve the problem of re-entry through food. It is also part of our broader vision. For far too long, an entire system within U.S. society, from banks to prisons to city courts, has benefited from exploiting the poverty and powerlessness of inner-city residents, including people exiting prison.”

“Unfair pricing, lack of healthy food options and economic oppression have gone unchecked in our poorest neighborhoods for decades, the butcher shop is another piece in our overall plan to combat these issues.”

2018 Charity - 7K

Girls with Sole

Girls With Sole is the only local organization providing free fitness and wellness programs, running shoes and fitness journals to girls ages 9-18 who have experienced abuse of any kind, or who are at-risk. Your support enables GWS to directly impact the lives of girls in our community who need our programs in order to gain empowerment, self-esteem and a sense of belonging, as well as, fitness and fun!

Doan Brook Watershed Partnership

Doan Brook (Creek) is a very important local ecological watershed. The Doan Brook runs through Shaker Hts from Horseshoe Lake receiving tributaries from Southerly Park to meet the Lower Lake. From there it decends through the gorge then dives underground for over a mile until it emerges once again in Rockefeller Park and finally enters Lake Erie.
DBWP focuses on restoring ecosystem services within the Doan Brook watershed to further local sustainability goals.

2017 Charity $7K

EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute

EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant was founded in 2007 with the belief that every human being, regardless of their past, has a right to a fair and equal future. In 2011, EDWINS started teaching in Grafton Correctional Institution. Shortly thereafter, EDWINS opened the restaurant on Nov. 1, 2013.

Students are not only equipped with basic culinary skills, but are also assisted with finding employment, and have the opportunity to utilize free housing, legal services, basic medical care, clothing, job coaching, literacy programs and more.

In 2016, the EDWINS Second Chance Life Skills Center opened, a 20,000 square foot campus for living, working and recreational enrichment.

Today, between its prison program and restaurant and institute at Shaker Square, EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute graduates nearly 100 students a year. After finishing the program or after release from prison, EDWINS graduates have gained employment in Cleveland’s finest restaurants.

EDWINS results have been astounding: at least 95% employment after graduation and 1.4% recidivism for our graduates.