Though running events have been commonplace in nearby San Francisco for years, Oakland hosted its first marathon in more than two decades with the inaugural running of the Oakland Running Festival in 2010, at a race that now features the 26.2-mile marathon, a 13.1-mile half marathon, 10K and 5K.
Now set for its 14th annual running, the race takes runners along some of the city’s most notable sights through a combination of downtown areas and residential neighborhoods, and nearly all the way around the waters of Lake Merritt just east of downtown, past the campus of Laney College and through Lake Merritt Channel Park. Those running the half marathon share the same starting line as those running the full marathon, in Snow Park, just a few feet from Lake Merritt.
From there, those running the half follow an out-and-back loop course that follows a roughly clockwise direction around the city, first clockwise around Lake Merritt, then south and west through Chinatown and the old Oakland Historic District. The course then heads west on a loop around West Oakland before heading north up Broadway.
