Here Are the Most Iconic American Races to Add to Your Calendar

Where: New Orleans, Louisiana
Register: runsignup.com

Why Run It: Billed as the oldest running race in the southeast, this 111-year-old event takes runners on a 9K (5.6-mile) jaunt through New Orleans, winding through Crescent City and finishing at historic Jackson Square in the French Quarter. In tribute to the route’s historic roots—it follows the same path that Pirate Jean Lafitte and his henchmen took to rescue Andrew Jackson before the Battle of New Orleans in 1815—reenactors dressed as soldiers from the 1800s start the race each year. The postrace bash at Natchez Dock overlooks both the Mississippi River and the city and features unlimited draft beer plus unique local eats, such as jambalaya, king cakes, and baked cheese curls.

Where: Orlando, Florida
Register: rundisney.com

Why Run It: “The Disney Marathon was really the first marathon to focus on the race as an experience,” says race director Jon Hughes. Years later, Walt Disney has that experience dialed. Before 20,000 runners pass through all four Walt Disney World parks, entertainers of all kinds—costumed characters, live bands, acrobats, comedians—post up at each half-mile. There’s no need to tote your smartphone: Every character station has a pro photographer assigned to it, but lines may form for midrace pics with the most popular personalities. Luckily, the course has a seven-hour time limit. (Each runner must maintain a 16:00 mile pace throughout the race.) Runners must be in their corrals a half hour before the 5:30 a.m. start time, so prepare for an early morning, and handle your bathroom needs beforehand—there are no porta-potties in the corrals.

Where: Tampa, Florida
Register: rungasparilla.com

Why Run It: Pick your distance—15K, half, 8K, or 5K—for this spirited nonprofit series that benefits charitable youth organizations and running programs in the Tampa Bay area. The 5K—the most popular distance with more than 12,000 participants—is an out-and-back course along Bayshore Boulevard that borders the Tampa Bay and skirts alongside some of the neighborhood’s most beautiful homes. At the halfway turnaround point, runners are greeted by the Tampa Rough Riders, a crew of costumed cavalrymen in a decked out train trolley who dole out beads and a limited supply of donuts. After pivoting, runners will receive another treat: a view of the downtown Tampa skyline that lasts all the way to the finish line.

Where: New York City
Register: nyrr.org

Why Run It: Led by a talent-packed roster of American and international elites, this televised event takes runners on a sightseeing tour of Brooklyn and Manhattan hotspots, with a stint through Times Square. Approximately 1,000 pint-sized athletes from schools across New York City partake in the festivities too, with the NYRR Times Square Youth Run, which is exactly as it sounds: a 1,500-meter sans-traffic jaunt through the Big Apple’s megawatt epicenter.

Where: Carlsbad, California
Register: carlsbad5000.com

Why Run It: Sixteen world records—the most for any road race on the planet—have been set on this multiple loop seaside course that, fittingly, bills itself as the “World’s Fastest 5K.” The route kicks off in Carlsbad Village and brings runners south along the Carlsbad State Beach before doubling back north for a second mini loop past Magee Park. A staggered age-based start system puts elite runners last, which allows the everyday athlete a chance to watch history happen while basking in the Pacific Ocean breeze and sipping suds at the finish line beer garden. World record breakers are honored with a new brew specially crafted and named for them.

Where: Washington, D.C.
Register: cherryblossom.org

Why Run It: The most iconic part of this 10-miler around the National Mall and the Monument Core? “It’s a tie between the cherry blossoms themselves when they’re out and the major national monuments,” says race director Phil Stewart.

Runners start at 15th Street alongside the Washington Monument where they’ll see the Lincoln Memorial to their right and the Capitol dome on their left. Cherry blossom trees dot the course throughout but are at their highest concentration around mile five as runners pass the Jefferson Memorial and then loop around Hains Point underneath a canopy of color (the race is always held in early April to coincide with peak cherry blossom season but of course the blooms aren’t guaranteed ). An out-and-back course means that back-of-the-pack runners can observe the elites, who in the past have included Olympic medalists like Meb Keflezighi and Joan Benoit Samuelson.

Where: Austin, Texas
Register: cap10K.com

Why Run It: This looped 6.2-miler through downtown Austin is the largest 10K in Texas, and the seventh-largest in the U.S., but race director Jeff Simecek likes to keep the vibe close to home. “As Austin grows and changes, I work hard to make sure we keep the local flavor a big part of the event,” he says.

Case-in-point: a costume contest with six different categories, including “Spirit of Texas,” “The Armadillo,” and “Super & Everyday Heroes,” as well as live, local music at more than seven spots along the course, which begins on Congress Avenue Bridge and finishes in Vic Mathias Shores, an urban park overlooking downtown Austin. The Finish Line Festival features more live tunes, local food trucks, a beer and Bloody Mary garden, a dronie station (selfies, but taken with a drone), a massage tent, and photo booths.

Where: New Orleans
Register: ccc10k.com

Why Run It: This 10K takes over New Orleans on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The fast, point-to-point course starts in front of the Superdome, home of the Saints. Between miles 1 and 2, runners pass the historical Jackson Square then make their way through the French Quarter and up Esplanade Avenue to the stunning City Park. The postrace festival features local cuisine, drinks, and live music from some of the city’s most prominent bands.

Where: Monterey, California
Register: bsim.org

When you think bucket list races, Big Sur should be near the top of the list. This point-to-point course closes down Highway 1 in California. You will start among the giant Redwoods in Big Sur and work your way onto one of the most scenic marathon routes in the country. At the halfway point, you go over the iconic Bixby Bridge, where a piano player serenades you at the top of the giant uphill.

Where: Indianapolis, Indiana
Register: indymini.com

Why Run It: More than 80 entertainment groups and spirit squads line the course of this fairly flat half marathon that ranks within the top 20 largest road races in the U.S. The route includes a full 2.5-mile lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, beginning right before mile six, where many runners follow the Indy 500 tradition of smooching the bricks at the speedway’s start and finish line.

Another highlight: “Victory Mile,” the final leg of the race. It starts as runners cross the White River at mile 12 and begin to spot the telltale black-and-white checkered flags and hear the roar of the crowds. Festivities continue at the postrace party in Military Park, which is open to runners and spectators and includes live tunes, a live video feed of the race, and food from local restaurants.

Where: Spokane, Washington
Register: bloomsdayrun.org

Why Run It: This historic 12K was born during the running boom in 1977 when local runner and 1976 Olympian Don Kardong suggested the city should have a downtown run of its own; 1,000 runners finished in the inaugural event. It’s since grown into the nation’s fourth-largest road race, attracting more than 42,000 runners. The hilly course features two tough inclines. While some consider Cemetery Hill between mile 2 and 3 the most challenging part of the course, most give that honor to Doomsday Hill, located between miles 4 and 5. To get you through those tough spots, there are over 25 bands playing tunes from almost every genre of music along the way.

Where: Philadelphia
Register: broadstreetrun.com

Why Run It: This fast, slightly downhill 10-mile point-to-point course charts through Philly’s varied neighborhoods via Broad Street, beginning in North Philly’s Logan neighborhood row homes, passing through Temple University's campus, and then Center City, City Hall, and the Avenue of the Arts. Runners will also breeze by sports stadiums for the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and the Sixers before finishing on the Marine Parade Grounds in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where ships and cheering crowds await. Support is provided along the route as well in the form of music groups, high school bands, cheerleading squads, church choirs, and drill teams.

Where: San Francisco, California
Register: baytobreakers.com

Why Run It: “Purely San Francisco.” That’s how Chris Holmes, the General Manager of Bay to Breakers, describes the vibe of this 106-year-old 12K race, which bills itself as one of the oldest consecutively run annual footraces in the world. The hilly course (beware of Hayes Street Hill, a 0.69-mile, 5.5-percent grade stretch beginning at mile two) weaves west through the city and passes through nine different neighborhoods to finish at the Great Highway along the Pacific Coast’s Ocean Beach.

Approximately 200,000 spectators cheer on the field and take in the uber-creative, downright weird, and larger-than-life costumes that runners are known to wear.

Where: Chicago
Register: soldierfield10.com

Why Run It: This Memorial Day weekend race kicks off in the shadows of Soldier Field’s famed colonnades before taking runners on a vehicle-free jaunt down Lake Shore Drive. The turnaround at mile five provides a sweeping view of the city’s skyline and pivots runners back towards Chicago’s Museum Campus for the 50-yard-line stadium finish, complete with uniformed members of the U.S. Armed Forces hanging medals around each participant’s neck. Postrace tailgating on the nearby Stadium Green features food, beer, two hours of live music, and clear views of Lake Michigan.

Where: Boulder, Colorado
Register: bolderboulder.com

Why Run It: As one of the largest road races in the U.S., everything about this event is big—from the lineup of 35-plus on-course entertainment groups to the roaring finish inside the University of Colorado’s Folsom Field in front of 70,000 spectators to the postrace Memorial Day tribute featuring an F-16 flyover and skydivers carrying flags for each branch of the military.

The course itself is a moderately hilly high-altitude journey starting alongside Boulder’s outdoor Twenty Ninth Street mall and weaving through tree-lined neighborhoods, where spectators are known for their enthusiastic (and often eccentric) cheering. Highlights include Elvis at mile two, belly dancers on Casey Hill at mile four, and “Ms. Tutu,” a cheerleader who has been a mainstay alongside the course since 1979. Runners can enjoy even more fresh-air Boulder festivities at the annual Creek Festival, a three-day extravaganza of local food, drink, vendors, carnival rides, and live music hosted that weekend.

Where: Seward, Alaska
Register: mmr.seward.com

Why Run It: This 104-year-old race—one of the oldest footraces in the U.S.—is an approximately three-mile climb and descent on Mount Marathon, complete with cliffs, scree fields, and waterfalls. Rookies beware: the steepness, measured from the base to the lip of the mountain just before the turnaround rock, averages 34 degrees, and runners are encouraged to wear gloves for the descent (described as more dangerous than the uphill), so that they can use their hands and feet to “crab walk” facing forward.

Because these conditions are not for the average 5Ker, first-timers must complete the entire course prior to race day. But the treacherous trail is countered by stunning scenery along the route and at the peak. Think: vibrant green and snow-capped mountains, glacial cirques, and sparkling blue waters in the Gulf of Alaska.

Where: Atlanta, Georgia
Register: atlantatrackclub.org/peachtree

Why Run It: Upwards of 150,000 spectators plus four radio broadcasts along the course rally runners as they wind their way through Buckhead into midtown Atlanta in this 49-year-old Independence Day race, the largest 10K in the world. A recurring cheerleader is Dean Sam Candler, who sprinkles runners with “holy water” outside the Cathedral of St. Philip around mile two. The support is especially needed about half a mile later as runners tackle Cardiac Hill, which rises more than 120 feet in approximately 0.75 miles.

While conquering Cardiac, participants are cheered by patients at the Shepherd Center, which specializes in spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation. The race then wraps in Piedmont Park, Atlanta’s largest park and the site of the postrace party, where both finishers and spectators enjoy a DJ, awards show, and local food.

Where: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Register: libertymile.org

Why Run It: The fastest race in Pittsburgh kicks off at 7 p.m., making it the city’s only nighttime downtown road race. With a variety of one-mile races for participants to choose from, such as the Youth One for Fun Mile and the Youth Pup Trot Mile, there is something for the entire family. The certified, looped course starts on Penn Avenue in the heart of the Cultural District. Racers then make a turn onto 11th Street, and another quick turn onto Liberty Street for the final stretch. The start and finish lines are only a block apart, so spectators can catch both the beginning and the end—if they move quickly. After the masses finish, runners and spectators can watch the pro athletes battle it out for a hefty purse.

Where: Davenport, Iowa
Register: bix7.com

Why Run It: This out-and-back race through downtown Davenport is rife with seriously steep hills. “It’s only seven miles long, but feels more like you’re doing a marathon,” says Ed Froehlich, race director.

The challenge begins immediately with Brady Street Hill, the most severe and longest incline—a seven to nine percent grade for approximately a third of a mile—that’s stationed just after the starting line. Another doozy, McClellan Boulevard hill, arrives at the turnaround point. The event celebrates its 46th year in 2020, and owes much of its success—and popularity with elites—to distance runner Bill Rodgers who joined the race in 1980 in lieu of the boycotted Moscow Olympics. Since then, the race regularly draws top talent from around the globe, including Joan Benoit Samuelson and Meb Keflezighi, who compete yearly alongside Rodgers.

Where: Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Register: beach2beacon.org

Why Run It: This fast, point-to-point seaside 10K—founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the first-ever women’s marathon in the 1984 Olympics—kicks off near Crescent Beach State Park in Cape Elizabeth. The winding route takes runners along tree-lined roads with panoramic Atlantic Ocean vistas. A fire truck aerial ladder arch displaying the American flag marks the midway point, and a hairpin turn around mile six leads runners up a steep path before wrapping around into a homestretch that includes views of Casco Bay and the Portland Head Light, the nation’s first commissioned lighthouse and also the most photographed lighthouse in America. Samuelson herself greets runners at the finish line.