Stinson Beach Half Marathon & 7-Mile

Saturday, May 11, 2024 • Stinson Beach, CA • Course Map

Challenging hills, paired with stunning views of both the Stinson Beach coastline and the immense, dramatic trees and landscapes of Muir Woods National Monument await runners at the Stinson Beach Half Marathon and 7-Mile run, which is limited to 300 entrants for all three races.

(The Stinson Beach Marathon & Half Marathon course is identical to the route for the Muir Woods Half Marathon, which takes place in April each year.)

Run by Enviro-Sports, a Stinson Beach, Calif.-based race management company that stages events just like this one all around the San Francisco Bay Area and around Northern California, the Stinson Beach race saw just over 250 runners cross the finish line at the 2014 race, with 129 finishers in the half marathon alone.

Once they leave the starting line in Stinson Beach Park just off Marine Way and Highway 1, runners will follow an out-and-back course that starts by making their way along roads for the first stretch, and then onto the trails that lead into Muir Woods National Monument, along the Dipsea Trail and the Ravine Canyon Trail, as they make their way into the place where scenes from 1983’s Return of the Jedi were filmed.

Be ready to run big hills. Organizers say that “from the word ‘Go,’ you’ll be heading up” — and they’re right. The course rises more than 1,100 feet in the first three miles, as runners climb through the old-growth redwood forests of Muir Woods, march up both rock and wooden staircases and even climb a wooden ladder from one trail to the next.

Waterfalls, creeks and streams abound inside the park along the trails, and runners will have plenty of scenery to take their minds off the difficulty of the race as they’re heading up and down the trails.

And down the trails go between miles 3 and 5, giving back those 1,100 feet of elevation by the time runners reach the mid-way point of the race. That stretch turns into a much longer and more gradual uphill in the second half, as runners are heading along the Ben Johnson, Camp Eastwood and finally the Dipsea Trail on the way back into the starting line for the race finish.

Runners will have 3 hours to complete the race. Orange ribbons will be placed on the trails to keep runners on the race course, and no audio devices will be allowed on race day.

Race Weather & Climate

Nestled along the Northern California shoreline of Bolinas Bay, about 15 miles from Sausalito and roughly 24 miles northwest of downtown San Francisco, Stinson Beach typically sees its wettest weather of the year in May, which has brought record temperatures here as low as 26°F (in 1954) and as high as 87°F (in 1955).

On race day (May 11), the average low is 48ºF and the average high is 70ºF.

Past Results

Course Map

See the race route map for the Stinson Beach Half Marathon here.

Starting Time

7:00 AM

Fees

  • $50 – $70 for the half marathon
  • $65 – $85 for the full marathon
  • $40 – $60 for the 7-mile

Registration

To reserve your spot in the 2024 running of the Stinson Beach 13.1-mile or 7-mile race, register online at RaceRoster.com here.

Official Race Website

raceroster.com

Comments

Ever run in the Stinson Beach Half Marathon? Share your impressions here, or post your review in the Comments below.

See more races in: May, California

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