Naples Half Marathon

Following an out-and-back course that starts and finishes in Naples’ Cambier Park, runners leave the starting line and begin heading first west and then southward along Gordon Drive, which they follow for the next three and a half miles all the way down to the turnaround point at the lands’ end spot at the end of the road. There, they turn around and head back along the course they’ve just run until they hit Kings Town Drive, where they turn and head into the Champrey Bay and Galleons Cove neighborhoods. Thanks to the race’s multiple turnaround points, at the end of Gordon Drive and inside the neighborhoods, runners get a chance to view the elite competitors in the race multiple times and see any friends who are running either ahead or behind them at several points during the race, past participants say. After the stretch of the race along Galleon Drive and the turnaround, runners then head back out of the neighborhood and onto Gordon Drive once again for the reverse route back toward Cambier Park and the finish line festivities. One of the race’s really interesting and unique traditions takes place along the stretch on Galleon Drive, where a clergyman at Trinity-by-the-Cove Episcopal Church blesses the runners passing by (all runners pass by the church twice during the race) with holy water, which has become a landmark many runners look forward to in the race each year.