Marathon Relay
RACE START: 7:30 AM - There will be NO early start times. All racers must start within 15 minutes of the posted start time (7:30 - 7:45)
RACE START LOCATION: ConocoPhillips Soccer Stadium at Kincaid Park - 9400 Raspberry Rd, Anchorage, AK 99502
RACE FINISH: Delaney Park Strip in downtown Anchorage. West end of Park Strip between 9th & 10th Avenues
COURSE CLOSE: 3:00 PM - All participants must finish the race by 3:00 PM
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This four-member team event will cover the same course as the individual marathon (with much less individual effort!). Each runner may only participate in one leg of the event. Team members should keep an eye out for each other in the areas marked Relay Exchange on the course maps below. At each Relay Exchange, team members will tag or ‘high five” to end and start the next leg on this world-renowned course.
The marathon takes racers on a scenic journey throughout Anchorage. The first leg begins along with the full marathoners in Kincaid Park at the ConocoPhillips Soccer Stadium. The first mile meanders downhill through a cottonwood forest to the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, after which the course follows along Cook Inlet with breathtaking views of the Alaska Range. If you are lucky, you may see beluga whales bobbing in the water.
View Point Park, mile 6.3, is where Team Member 1 will exchange with Team Member 2. After continuing along Cook Inlet to mile 9, the course heads east—towards the Chugach Mountains—and the Coastal Trail meets the Chester Creek Trail. As you pass Westchester Lagoon, watch for birds such as trumpeter swans, mallards, and arctic terns.
Goose Lake Park, mile 13, is where Team Member 2 will exchange with Team Member 3. This leg is adventurous, following forested trails through the beautiful University of Alaska Anchorage campus and winding through the expansive Alaska Native Medical Center. Runners then travel over Tudor Road and enter Far North Bicentennial Park, which is over 4,000 acres and home to moose, bears, salmon streams, and other wildlife. The course transitions to a soft surface with uneven terrain until it reaches Campbell Airstrip Road, where it returns to pavement. After about three miles, the course loops around University Lake Park and returns to the Chester Creek Trail.
East Northern Lights, mile 22.3, is where Team Member 3 will exchange with Team Member 4 for the final leg. The course travels along Chester Creek through several neighborhoods, parks, and roadway tunnels. Returning to Westchester Lagoon, runners hit the home stretch and head north on N Street through Anchorage's oldest neighborhood. The race finishes at Delaney Park Strip in downtown.
MILEAGE PER TEAM MEMBER:
- Team member 1 - 6.3 miles
- Team member 2 - 6.7 miles
- Team member 3 - 9.3 miles
- Team member 4 - 4.4 miles
EXCHANGE ZONES:
- Zone 1 - START - ConocoPhillips Soccer Stadium at Kincaid Park - 9400 Raspberry Road. Parking available on site.
- Zone 2 - Mile 6.3 - View Point Park - 5775 Point Woronzof Road. Parking available on site.
- Zone 3 - Mile 13 - Goose Lake Park - 2811 UAA Drive. Parking available on site.
- Zone 4 - Mile 22.3 - East Northern Lights - E. Northern Lights Blvd, about 500 feet east of Arca Drive. Park at Whaley Elementary School or ARC of Anchorage.
Relay participants are responsible for their own transportation to the exchange points.
TEAM DIVISIONS:
- Open Men
- Open Women
- Open Combined
