From the starting line in Tallahassee’s city center along Monroe Street, the 13.1-mile race heads north along Monroe and later east on Glenview Drive, taking runners through the city’s Midtown and Old Town neighborhoods, following a course of rolling hills (including the Lafayette Street hill) for the first half of the race.
The hills become even more moderate for the second half of the races, as runners run across FAMU Way while passing through Florida A&M University and toward the Doak Campbell and Dick Howser Stadiums at Florida State University, by way of the pedestrian tunnel on Stadium Drive. After leaving the university, you’re almost done–the course then heads back through downtown toward the finish line near the Florida Supreme Court building, state capitol building and city hall.
Runners in the full marathon – a Boston Marathon qualifying race – will have 6 hours to finish their 26.2 miles, and entrants will need to be at least 14 years old for the half marathon and 16 years old for the full marathon.
Organized by the local running group the Gulf Winds Track Club, the 2024 running of the race will mark the event’s 50th anniversary — the 26.2-mile marathon was run for the first time in 1975, while the 13.1-mile half-marathon was added later, in the mid-1980s — and the event is open to wheelchair competitors as well as runners.
