Madison Mini Marathon & 5k

The race takes runners on an out-and-back course that starts and finishes at Madison’s Memorial Union Terrace along the shore of Lake Mendota, and follows what is basically a clockwise loop route through the city. Several of the city’s most well-known sights can be seen along the race course, including the Wisconsin State Capitol building, the Kohl Center (the home of the University of Wisconsin’s Badgers basketball team), the campus of the University of Wisconsin and a long looping stretch around the southern end of Lake Wingra just south of downtown. Runners leave the starting line near the Wisconsin Historical Society and follow the route first northeast along Langdon Street and Wisconsin Avenue, where runners turn right and head toward the state capitol building. Runners follow Pinckney, Main Street and Carroll Street around the corners of the capitol building, and then turn onto State Street, where they head west until they reach the intersection with Lake Street. At Lake, runners turn left and head south toward the Kohl Center — which if you’re a basketball fan, will hold a special significance — and then turn right along Dayton and head toward the commuter path, which they follow until meeting up with Randall Avenue. Runners then head south along Randall Avenue, which brings them southward toward the waters of Lake Wingra and the nearby University of Wisconsin Arboretum, whose more than 1,200 acres of wooded trails and meadows are open to the public. The course then makes a loop all the way around the southern end of the lake through the arboretum, along the paved Arboretum Drive. Runners exit the park onto Vilas Park Drive, where they then make a loop around Henry Vilas Park, home of Madison’s Henry Vilas Zoo. The last few miles of the race bring the field into the expansive University of Wisconsin campus, all the way to the finish line on Park Street.