Sunday, October 4, 2020 • Lawton, OK • Course Map
Note: The 2020 race has been cancelled.
A race that takes runners through some of the most unique landscapes anywhere in America, the Spirit of Survival Half Marathon is part of a day filled with running events that also includes a quarter marathon, a 5K and a “Super Kids Marathon,” in which children up to age 12 run the final 1.2 miles of the half marathon to the finish line.
Runners start in Lawton’s Elmer Thomas Park, which overlooks Lake Helen along Ferris Avenue just north of the city’s downtown. The out-and-back course for the race offers peaceful, serene natural surroundings throughout, including sightings of majestic Mount Scott and Elmer Thomas Lake just outside the town.
From the park, the half marathon course takes runners south along Southwest 2nd Street and then east along East Gore Boulevard toward East Cache Creek, which runners will cross over after passing over Interstate 44.
The route then turns onto Northeast 45th Street and again onto Northeast Cache Road, which runners will follow for the next couple of miles until they reach the turn onto Southeast 45th.
The stretch along Northeast Cache Road brings a gradual uphill that lasts for about two miles until runners make the turn right onto Southeast 45th, which takes them down to the half-way turnaround point in Eastside Park, near MacArthur High School.
Once runners make the turnaround there, they retrace their steps in reverse all the way back to Elmer Thomas Park, where they’ll cross the finish line.
The course for the race is USATF (USA Track & Field) certified, so organizers will present age group awards to the top 3 male and female finishers in each of the 5-year age divisions, starting with age 5 and going all the way up to age 75 and above.
In addition to the competitive running events, the race will also host a one-mile walk called the Leah M. Fitch Spirit Walk, which is dedicated to those living with cancer and their families and friends, and to honor the memory of those who have been lost to cancer.
While you’re in the area for the race, either before or after the event you’ll want to pay a visit to Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, a nearly 60,000-acre pristine wilderness established by the Fish & Wildlife Service in 1901 to protect rare species of grasslands, American bison, Rocky Mountain elk and white-tailed deer.
Inside the park, also worth a visit is the famed Holy City of the Wichitas, the site of a world-renowned Easter passion play.
Race Weather & Climate
Located a few miles east of the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in southern Oklahoma, about 35 miles north of the Oklahoma-Texas border and roughly 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City, Lawton typically sees mild to moderately warm weather in October, which has brought record temperatures as low as 20°F (in 1993) and as high as 104°F (in 1977).
On race day (Oct. 4), the average low is 58°F and the average high is 81°F.
Past Results
- 2019 Spirit of Survival Half Marathon Results
- 2018 Spirit of Survival Half Marathon Results
- 2017 Spirit of Survival Half Marathon Results
- 2016 Spirit of Survival Half Marathon Results
- 2015 Spirit of Survival Half Marathon Results
- 2014 Spirit of Survival Half Marathon Results
Course Map
See the race route map for the Spirit of Survival Half Marathon here.
Starting Time
See race website
Fees
See race website
Registration
To reserve your spot in the 2020 running of Lawton’s Spirit of Survival Half Marathon, Relay, 5K or Kids’ races, register online at EnMotive.com here.
Official Race Website
Facebook Conversations
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