One marathon down, one to go.Area runners have a few more days to recover from the Akron Marathon before Summit County’s second biggest running event: the annual Towpath Marathon.In addition to the 26.2 race, there is a half marathon and a 10k, all set to kick off at 8 a.m. Sunday in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.With some 1,900 participants registered, the Towpath hosts a fraction of the 15,000-runner Akron Marathon. But this treasured tradition is the urban event’s senior, celebrating 20 years with loyal fans attracted to its dappled wooded trail sparkling with fall foliage.Runner’s World magazine called the Towpath “one of the most beautiful race courses in America.”The trail features a flat, crushed limestone surface that “is easy on the joints and the recovery time is phenomenally quick,” said Tim Donovan, director of the nonprofit Ohio Canal Corridor, which organizes the event.The course also tends to breed a special camaraderie among runners because there are few spectator points, “so the runners really have to support each other,” he said.A handful of runners will come from other states and countries — last year, one runner made the trip from New Zealand to add the Towpath Marathon to his list — but most are recreational runners from throughout Ohio.Roy Heber of Montville Township said he signed up for his first Towpath Marathon when it debuted in 1992 because it promised to be a “quirky, fun trail race and I had never done that before.”He registered the next year, and the year after that, and soon he had a streak of participation he didn’t want to break.“There’s another race the same day that is more up my alley, but I can’t pass on the Towpath,” the 57-year-old Medina County resident said. “I’m trapped.”Like Heber, Paul Layne of Mentor will be running his 20th Towpath race. The event is the day after his 50th birthday.The course holds Layne’s personal-best time and his slowest time.Regardless, he said he always enjoys the scenery and quipped that his humble goal “is to finish the marathon before they stop the clock.”“I have done several marathons but now I do one a year,” Layne said, “and the Towpath is the one.”The Towpath Marathon is among only a handful in the country that takes place in a national park. It was launched to spotlight the trail between Akron and Cleveland when it was a new attraction.Now the event raises money for the Ohio Canal Corridor’s work preserving and educating residents about the waterway and trails as well as extending the towpath.Parking is available for the event at Boston Mills Ski Resort parking lot, 7100 Riverview Road in Peninsula.The course uses a “bowtie” design.Runners take Riverview Road south to Boston Mills Road, then head east to the Towpath Trail. They continue south.After runners pass Ira Road, they will turn around and return north, continuing past the staging area and up to Station Road Bridge in Brecksville.Once there, runners turn again and return south on the trail, completing the bowtie and finishing at Boston Store.Donovan said fans love the finish line, which is surrounded by lots of activities for friends and families who are waiting for loved ones to finish the race.“We’ve created a village,” Donovan said of the finish line. “There are two hot tubs, a beer garden, music, a clown that does face painting, an inflatable slide and food.”The one thing the marathon can use more of this year is volunteers. Anyone interested in staffing a water station and passing out fluids and power bars to runners can get details at www.towpathtrilogy.net.Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.