Run entirely along a 6.55-mile stretch of Highway 190 through the flat, desolate desert terrain of California’s Death Valley National Park, the Death Valley Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K offers one of the country’s most unique courses for running a road race of any kind.
Out-and-back and surrounded by the sandy hills and mountains for which the park is known, the race is also relatively flat, featuring no more than 500 feet of elevation change over the entire route. From the starting line at the aptly named Furnace Creek Ranch on Highway 190, the race follows a simple, out-and-back route northward and southward along the road, and is run entirely on paved surfaces.
Famous for its elevation below sea level (and, at 282 feet below sea level, as the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere), the race features views of nearby mountain ranges including the Cottonwoods, the Blacks, the Grapevines and the Panamints.
