After selling out all 4,000 spots at its inaugural running in the fall of 2010, Alexandria’s Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon returns in 2015 with space for 5,000 runners, for a point-to-point race that starts at Mount Vernon and unfolds along the Potomac River all the way to the bridge from which the race gets its name.
In 2013, the race got an extra-special honor from Runner’s World magazine, which named the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half one of the 27 best half marathons in the United States, out of more than 1,500 halfs nationwide.
Runners start the race at the Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, where George Washington’s majestic home overlooks the Potomac from its rolling green lawns and hills, across the river over into Maryland.
From there, runners will make their way east and north along the George Washington Memorial Parkway, following the parkway as it winds north all the way up to Belle Haven Country Club and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, part of the Capitol Beltway/Interstate 495.
Once they reach the bridge, runners then follow the route up onto and across the bridge, making their way from Virginia over into Maryland, where they’ll finish the race with the final two miles through National Harbor, the live, work and play shopping and entertainment district that overlooks the river from the Maryland side.
The route takes runners along the edges of National Harbor to South Pointe Park, where they’ll turn and run along the water to the finish line in the parking lot looking out onto the harbor.
While most of the course is flat — in fact, much of it unfolds at an elevation just above sea level along the Potomac — there are a few hills runners can expect: between mile markers 4 and 5, as runners are making their way past the Collingwood Library along the George Washington Parkway.
Organizers note that they expect the race to sell out and that runners are expected to be able to finish the race within 3 hours and 16 minutes, which means they’ll need to keep a pace of 15 minutes per mile or better.
Race Weather & Climate
Located along the Potomac River in northern Virginia, just a few miles south of Washington, D.C., Alexandria typically sees mild to moderately warm weather in October, which has brought record temperatures here as low as 26°F (in 1917) and as high as 96°F (in 1941).
On race day (Oct. 4), the average low is 54ºF and the average high is 73ºF.
Past Results
- 2014 Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon Results
- 2013 Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon Result
- 2012 Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon Results
- 2011 Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon Results
Course Map
See the race route map for the Woodrow Wilson Half Marathon here.
