The rolling Richmond Marathon course The marathon starts at 1st and Broad Street and finishes on a downhill slope at 5th and Tredegar Street at Brown's Island and the Canal Walk on Richmond's downtown riverfront. In between the route travels through scenic and historic sections of Richmond and also along and across the James River.
The majority of the rolling terrain is in the first half of the course and it is mostly flat (with a few changes in elevation) the second half to the downhill finish.
The Richmond Marathon was the 16th largest marathon in the U.S. last year and was the 16th largest in 2022.
Last year 12.7% of finishers qualified for the Boston Marathon and 6.2% of runners qualified for Boston in 2022.
This gives the Richmond Marathon the 132nd highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in the U.S. last year and the 281st highest percentage in 2022.
Its Course Score of 99.08 ranks it as the 183rd fastest marathon course in the U.S. and the 5th fastest course in Virginia.
The typical race time temperature and humidity levels are within the ideal range for optimal marathon performance. This, coupled with the Course Score, gives the Richmond Marathon a PR Score of 99.08. This PR Score ranks it as the 133rd fastest marathon in the U.S. and the 5th fastest in Virginia.
Learn more about PR Scores and Course Scores on the FAQ page.
Richmond Marathon Elevation Chart
Max Elevation: 272 feet (82m) Min Elevation: 85 feet (25m)
This race is a blast. The course is a good mix of urban, residential, urban again, with two scenic bridge crossings of the James River and some nice parks. The pace group (3:00) was right on schedule and ran nice and even. Fluid (water and Nuun endurance) every 2mi and every 1 mile after 20. The crowd support was excellent. That was probably my favorite part. The last 10K you run alongside Half marathoners who started 15min after you, but you each have your own lane, so you feel like you are flying if you can hold your pace on screaming legs. This was the third, the largest, and the most enjoyable marathon so far for me. The crowd will carry your spirit the final 10K if you let them.
Race Tips
Be mindful of the water tables if you're in a pace group. The congestion is serious and you may miss out on water if the runners in front of you have cleared the volunteers' hands. Consider mini surges to be just in front of the pace group at the aid stations, and then let the group swallow you again. In the pace group congestion, pot holes, manholes, cups, etc. can sneak up on you so watch your step! Don't be stupid and run the bridges solo. Tuck in with a group to shelter from the wind (if any). As segments, miles 1-5, 9-12, and 15-18 should be slower than your average pace due to climbing. If you train at all on hills, you shouldn't add more than 1% to your overall average pace compared to a pancake flat course.
Plan to be on broad street around 60min before gun time and you won't feel rushed. Bag check (3rd and Broad) was 2 blocks away from start line (1st and Broad). Portajohn lines are terrible 30min before start, so get your business done before that. For dining options: the west side of south Richmond has some good spots if you don't want to fight downtown.
MM's review of 2024 Richmond Marathon.
4 /
5 Stars
Review
I enjoyed the course. Miles 4 - 10 were great; cool neighborhoods, nice downhill to the river & running back along the banks was easy running. The hill on the bridge M15 - 18 caught my eye on elevation chart, but the tougher one was at M10 - 12. Coming back into the city was great, around M24 crowd support was really strong. The last 1.2M was exciting and fun. Awesome downhill finish! Enjoyed most everything about the day, except the water stations. They were not prepared at all. Many stations simply didn't have water and I was in top 20% or so of the pack. Finish area I didn't see a single race photo person - bummer.
I stayed at the Hampton Inn on 7th street. Great location for start and finish walks. Dinner the night before I went to the Chef's Kitchen for pasta, nice spot. After the race many restaurants were not open. The downtown area was like a ghost town except for marathoners. Do not ever go to the Capitol Ale House - the absolute worst service I've ever had in my life. Sat in booth, ignored by staff and nearly 2 hours later we never got our food. HORRIBLE place. For a good bite and a beer after the race go to Secret Sandwich Society -great food, drink and the service was ideal.
David's review of 2023 Richmond Marathon.
5 /
5 Stars
Review
This is a great event. The size is big enough to attract good crowds and allow for good course support, but you won't be lost in an overwhelming crowd. The course is fairly flat, with hills that are either not too long or not too steep. I like that it goes through natural settings by the river and also downtown Richmond several times during the course. The post-race party area is lively and fun. Overall, I think this is the perfect race!
Race Tips
Use the pace groups, they're very helpful. My strategy is to start 1 group behind your target pace, run with them for the first 1-2 miles, and then slowly make your way to your target pace group by around mile 13-19.
The long hill around mile 17 isn't as bad as I had feared. It's not steep, just try not to look too far ahead and focus on one step ahead of the next.
I think I could have enjoyed this race if it weren't so hot, humid, and sunny out. It was real killer. There are quite a few parts where you're just running on a blocked off road, and if it's an unseasonably hot day, then the sun will be beating down on you. The downhill after the 10k mark is lovely and that whole stretch until mile 10 or 11 when it starts going up again. There's an evil small hill at like mile 20 too. The downhill at the end is great though! And random huge cheering crowd at like mile 24, which was such a nice pick-up!
Race Tips
The half starts before the full and then they run on other side of the median on a road and you split off from them fairly early on. So you're never mixed in with those running the half. The course support was fantastic! The volunteers handing out water did a great job. There were people cheering almost along the entire course, even if it was just one or two people. I was very impressed. It was also easy for my parents and sister to get around cheer for me (around miles 5, 16, 24, 26)
Stay anywhere downtown, and it will be super easy to walk to the start. Bag check was easy, no long line. There definitely needs to be more porta potties at the start. The expo was at the race track, and if you don't have a car, expect to wait a long time for a Lyft/Uber to pick up and be sure to tell them where to exactly go. Otherwise, bib and shirt pick-up is easy.
TC's review of 2022 Richmond Marathon.
5 /
5 Stars
Review
This would typically be a great race to run a fast time. There are enough runners that you are always running with others but not so many that you are boxed in for most of the race. The course has a few rolling hills but nothing terrible. There is good crowd support. This year was very hot and there is almost no shade on the course so I had to adjust my finish time goal but that obviously wasn't the races fault. The day before there were tornado warnings so the clear day was welcomed. The expo was nothing special and actually disappointing. I would return and run again.
Race Tips
You can use whatever strategy you want at this race. The course is pretty flat with a few hills but none are very long and where I live there are zero hills to train on and they didn't bother me.
