Known around the world for its famed Soap Box Derby world championship races every summer, the Ohio city of Akron hosts the 23rd annual running of its Akron Marathon, Half Marathon & Team Relay races, of which the 13.1-mile race is the youngest, having been added to this annual early autumn race event for the first time in 2007, sponsored by FirstEnergy.
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Akron Marathon Half Marathon & Relay
Sep 28, 2024
Akron
Road
Ready to sign up?
1,000-10,000
Fast & Flat
Small Town
High: 72°
/ Low: 54°
The race itself is run primarily on paved streets through Akron’s downtown areas and tree-lined residential neighborhoods, and past local landmarks like the stadium for the Akron Aeros, the double-A minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians baseball team.
Both the half and the full marathon share the same starting line and time and follow the same route for most of the first half of the full marathon, which starts at Merriman Hills’s historic Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens on North Portage Path and heads south toward Memorial Parkway for the first mile of the race.
After the first mile, runners head back north along Merriman Road and into Northwest Akron, where they experience a foot tour of the tree-lined residential neighborhood, passing the Fairlawn Country Club just before the midpoint of the race.
The race continues through Northwest Akron, returning to North Portage Path and running south again, this time toward Highland Square.
A few long stretches down Market Street and Main Street await half marathoners before a final stretch toward the finish line at the Canal Park Stadium, the home of the Akron RubberDucks, Akron’s minor league baseball team.
Overview
Known around the world for its famed Soap Box Derby world championship races every summer, the Ohio city of Akron hosts the 23rd annual running of its Akron Marathon, Half Marathon & Team Relay races, of which the 13.1-mile race is the youngest, having been added to this annual early autumn race event for the first time in 2007, sponsored by FirstEnergy.
Course Description
The race itself is run primarily on paved streets through Akron’s downtown areas and tree-lined residential neighborhoods, and past local landmarks like the stadium for the Akron Aeros, the double-A minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians baseball team.
Both the half and the full marathon share the same starting line and time and follow the same route for most of the first half of the full marathon, which starts at Merriman Hills’s historic Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens on North Portage Path and heads south toward Memorial Parkway for the first mile of the race.
After the first mile, runners head back north along Merriman Road and into Northwest Akron, where they experience a foot tour of the tree-lined residential neighborhood, passing the Fairlawn Country Club just before the midpoint of the race.
The race continues through Northwest Akron, returning to North Portage Path and running south again, this time toward Highland Square.
A few long stretches down Market Street and Main Street await half marathoners before a final stretch toward the finish line at the Canal Park Stadium, the home of the Akron RubberDucks, Akron’s minor league baseball team.
