IU Health 500 Festival Mini-Marathon

As for the course itself, it takes participants through some of Indianapolis’s most scenic streets, starting on the eastern side of the White River and running westward along first Washington Street and then Michigan Street, before turning north at Olin Park on its way toward the motor speedway. Runners take a lap around the oval at the speedway (which has got to be one of the most original features of any road race anywhere) and then head back along Holt Road and West 10th Street toward the White River. Once they reach the White River Parkway/Bloomington Street, runners turn south and then east across the New York Street bridge, and through the campus of Indiana University, before winding up at the finish line at Military Park. Like pretty much everything else for the weekend, everything about the race is big — all told, nearly 90,000 runners, spectators and volunteers enjoy the festivities at the finish line celebration each year, taking in the food, music and the Miller Lite Beer Garden.