Half-Marathon
REGISTER
Registration for the Blue Ridge Half-Marathon is handled by Setup Events. You will be directed to the Setup website to complete the registration process.
Course Description
The Blue Ridge Half Marathon course is not quite as difficult nor as long as the full marathon, but it is still a challenging run. The course begins and ends in downtown Roanoke. In between, runners will enter the Blue Ridge Parkway, where they will make two significant climbs and descents.
Runners will start in the heart of the city in front of the magnificent Taubman Museum of Art. The course begins easily with one mile of rolling hills, before taking its first turn upward as runners begin the two-mile climb up Mill Mountain. At the top of the day’s initial climb, the race enters the Blue Ridge Parkway. While marathoners will continue on to the brutal but beautiful climb up Roanoke Mountain, half marathoners will stop short of the Roanoke Mountain Campground and begin the long return to downtown.
Half Marathoners will re-trace their steps and ascend Mill Mountain (the part not covered on the first pass) to the famous Mill Mountain Star, overlooking the beautiful Roanoke Valley and — much of the course still to be run!
From the Star, runners will encounter another major 2-mile decent down Prospect Avenue – also known as the “old road” to Mill Mountain. Back on the valley floor the final six miles is rolling with several challenging hills, but no additional significant climbs.
The terrain flattens out for the next 3 miles as you emerge from the neighborhood and make your way along the Roanoke River on a portion of Roanoke’s greenway system. Beware of a very short but steep hill just before mile 11. The final two miles return you to downtown where the course takes you past the Virginia Museum of Transportation, The O Winston Link Museum, over the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge to the finish one block from the start at the Historic Hotel Roanoke.
- Total Elevation Gain = 1399 ft.
- Total Elevation Gain/Loss = 2779 ft.
- 7 hour cut-off time
- Walkers are permitted
- View USATF course map and elevation profile
REGISTER
Registration for the Blue Ridge Half-Marathon is handled by Setup Events. You will be directed to the Setup website to complete the registration process.
