Known as the “gateway to the Plains,” the city of Sioux Falls offers a fast and flat point-to-point course for its annual Sioux Falls Marathon, Half Marathon & Miracle 5K, which begins at Howard Wood Field and takes runners on an tour of this southwestern South Dakota city’s downtown areas and greenway trails along the banks of the Big Sioux River.
The full and half marathon races begin along Western Avenue near the Howard Wood Field’s athletic complex, starting a course that takes runners through Sioux Falls’ downtown districts and neighborhoods for the first few miles of the race.
On the way through downtown, runners see sights such as Covell Lake, St. Joseph’s Cathedral and the Old Courthouse & Warehouse Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
After the 4-mile marker, the race takes runners from paved city streets onto paved pathways along the 14-mile Greenway Trail, which carves its way through downtown and the outlying areas via parks like Beadle, Cherry Rock and Riverdale Park.
The race also runs through the city’s best-known Falls Park, which is built around the waterfalls for which the city gets its name on the Big Sioux River.
The race continues along the shaded tree-lined trail, a popular local destination for bicyclists, joggers and walkers, turning southward and then eastward as it makes its way to Sertoma Park, the finish line for all three races. The race also heads through Veterans Memorial Park, past the Cathedral of St. Joseph and along the Sioux Falls River Greenway, before heading back in downtown Sioux Falls.
The course will then take you back to Terrace Park and around Covell Lake before runners cross the finish line on the track at Howard Wood Field.
More than 2,000 runners and walkers cross the finish line in all races combined each year, including more than 1,000 finishers in the half marathon alone.
