13.1 Stunning Spring Half Marathons for 2019

“That’s the thing about running: your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is.” — Kara Goucher

1) Golden Gate Headlands Half Marathon • Sausalito, CA

Run along a backdrop of gorgeous natural vistas with views of San Francisco’s urban skyline in the distance, this race features some dramatic changes in elevation, with a course that climbs and descends roughly 800 feet overall in elevation.

Saturday, March 30, 2019 • Race info & signup »

2) Ann Arbor Half Marathon • Ann Arbor, MI

If you’re a college football fan, this race’s starting line is likely to be quite familiar — it’s near the northwest corner of the University of Michigan Wolverines football stadium on Main Street, also known as the “Big House.”

Sunday, March 24, 2019 • Race info & signup »

3) Dismal Swamp Stomp Half Marathon • Chesapeake, VA

It’s one of the country’s most unique race courses, a run through the Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge, a 112,000-acre park that’s home to more than 200 species of birds and waterfowl, as well as deer, red and grey foxes, and the occasional black bear.

Saturday, April 6, 2019 • Race info & signup »

4) Great Bay Half Marathon • Newmarket, NH

This race has become an annual rite of spring here off the coast of New Hampshire, along a course that unfolds through the Great Bay Estuary and National Wildlife Refuge, a 1,000-acre park filled with marshes, beaver ponds and pine and oak forests.

Sunday, April 7, 2019 • Race info & signup »

5) The Hapalua – Hawaii’s Half Marathon • Honolulu, HI

This race begins in Waikiki Beach and goes through the streets of Honolulu, where you’ll run past iconic buildings like the Ionali Palace – the only royal palace in the U.S. The course later ends in Kapiolani Park, where you can cool down with a dip in the ocean.

Sunday, April 14, 2019 • Race info & signup »

6) Blue Ridge Half Marathon • Roanoke, VA

At this, one of the nation’s toughest halfs, runners will make their way just north of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the nearly 470-mile highway that unfolds along the Blue Ridge Mountains and through some of the most scenic parts of Virginia and North Carolina.

Saturday, April 13, 2019 • Race info & signup »

7) Race to Robie Creek Half Marathon • Boise, ID

Not “your normal half marathon,” organizers say, this race lives up to its reputation with a steadily climbing rise in elevation from the first mile all the way to the 8.5-mile point in the race, by which point runners should feel completely exhausted.

Saturday, April 20, 2019 • Race info & signup »

8) Shape Women’s Half Marathon • New York, NY

Open only to women, this race takes runners on a gorgeous looping run entirely within Central Park, and has drawn TV stars like NBC’s Natalie Morales, Hoda Kotb and Mika Brzezinski in recent years.

Sunday, April 14, 2019 • Race info & signup »

9) La Jolla Half Marathon • La Jolla, CA

Gorgeous, hilly and challenging, the La Jolla Half Marathon welcomes more than 5,000 runners each year for a race that unfolds along one of Southern California’s most scenic stretches of coastline, as well as on city streets and through parks like Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

Sunday, April 28, 2019 • Race info & signup »

10) Middlebury Maple Run ‘Sweetest Half’ • Middlebury, VT

The rolling green hills, quaint downtown streets and college town atmosphere of this small city in central Vermont are just a few of the charms of this annual springtime race, nicknamed “The Sweetest Half.”

Sunday, May 5, 2019 • Race info & signup »

11) Twin Lights Half Marathon • Gloucester, MA

The sounds of seagulls calling in the wind and the waves rushing in along the shoreline will be familiar sounds by the time you reach the finish line at this race along Massachusetts’ North Shore, in the place known as “America’s oldest seaport.”

Saturday, April 27, 2019 • Race info & signup »

12) Muir Woods Half Marathon • Stinson Beach, CA

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 this race, which runs where scenes from 1983’s Return of the Jedi were filmed.

Saturday, May 11, 2019 • Race info & signup »

13) St. Michaels Running Festival • St. Michaels, MD

Known for its rolling green farm fields, gorgeous homes on the water and a rich, colorful history that dates all the way back before the founding of the nation, this small coastal town in Maryland’s Eastern Shore, which takes runners near, along and over water at several points during the race.

Saturday, May 18, 2019 • Race info & signup »

13.1) The O.C. Half Marathon • Newport Beach, CA

A gorgeous, scenic course that unfolds through the Southern California coastal communities of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa awaits at this race, which is open to walkers, organizers point out, adding “as long as you can walk a 15-minute mile, you can walk the half marathon.”

Sunday, May 5, 2019 • Race info & signup »

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