The newest course layout, which debuted in 2018, starts downtown in Southwest University Park, at the corner of Durango and West Franklin, just a couple of blocks down from the El Paso Convention Center.
From there, the half marathon — officially titled the TFCU Half Marathon — takes runners mostly northeast through the city, starting off with stretches along East San Antonio Avenue and Myrtle Avenue. After runners make a right turn onto Campbell Street, they follow Campbell north to Wyoming Street, where they turn right and begin a long, straightaway stretch that takes them through El Paso’s Five Points neighborhoods.
Through this stretch, both the half marathoners and those running the full marathon follow the same route, as the stretch along Wyoming leads to San Marciel Drive briefly before turning right onto Pershing Drive, following Pershing northeast toward Pennsylvania Circle Park. Just past the park, those running the half marathon turn around and head back to the start, while those running the full continue on northward along Timberwolf to the rest of the full marathon course.
The rest of the half marathon course is basically a retracing of the steps runners have already made, in reverse back to Southwest University Park for the race finish. The terrain for the race is entirely paved surfaces, as it is run on city streets, with a combination of some challenging hills in the middle section of the race and even, flat terrain in both the first few and last few miles.
The elevation in El Paso is about 3,800 feet above sea level, and all three races start at 7:00 AM — and the half marathon features a 4-hour time limit.
