The Anchorage RunFest half marathon is the largest of the weekend’s races and starts on 6th Avenue in downtown Anchorage, alongside Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse. Runners head west on 6th, north on H Street, then out Christensen Drive to 2nd Avenue, where the course drops onto the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail above Cook Inlet. At Westchester Lagoon the route bears east onto the Chester Creek Trail and follows the creek through the city into East Chester Park and Goose Lake Park, where the tree-lined trail reaches the turnaround at the roundabout east of the bridge to East High School.
The return retraces the Chester Creek Trail to the lagoon and picks up the Coastal Trail north toward downtown. The hilliest stretch comes around the midpoint and turnaround, where the trail climbs alongside the creek, and there’s a short pull up to the finish. Total gain is modest for Alaska — roughly 450 feet — but this is not a flat course, and the closing mile goes uphill.
The field is limited to the first 1,500 entrants and the course closes at 3:30 PM. The half marathon course is USATF certified. Anchorage RunFest is the Anchorage Running Club’s largest annual fundraiser, and completing eligible races in three of the club’s four yearly events qualifies a runner for the Sleeping Lady Challenge medal. Moose sightings on the trail are common enough that organizers mention them.
