Air Force Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K

The mostly flat and fast terrain of Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is the setting for the 18th annual United States Air Force Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K & 5K, first run in 1997 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Air Force branch of the service.
Ever since its inaugural running, the race has grown in popularity and now attracts more than 5,000 runners, walkers and wheelchair athletes each year in the half marathon alone. Each year’s race also highlights an aircraft in use by the air force today, which will be commemorated on each race finisher’s medal.
The race is definitely an event for aviation enthusiasts, as the course takes runners past some of the most important historical sights in U.S. aviation history — including Huffman Prairie Flying Field, where Wilbur and Orville Wright practiced their flying skills starting in 1904 in preparation for their famous flight at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina.
After that, runners make their way to the base flight line, which was once the location of Wilbur Wright Field back in 1917. Participants will also run past a number of the base’s static aircraft displays near Wright-Patterson’s base operations facilities.
Runners start the half-marathon course in the part of the base known as “Area B,” near the corner of Loop Road and Spaatz Street. From there, the 13.1-mile course follows the Loop Road around the southern part of the base to Marl Road and Hebble Creek Road, turning left across State Route 444.
The field runs along Hebble Creek and Skeel Avenue for the next couple of miles as it nears the golf course and the base medical center, taking runners into the base’s “Area A.”
Once inside the “Area A,” runners, walkers and wheelchair racers travel up Skeel Road to the half-way turnaround point near the Twin Base Golf Course and Wright-Patterson Golf Club, where they then begin the race back to the finish line along the course they’ve just run.
Water stations are planned to be distributed at each mile along the course, organizers add, and runners and walkers in the half marathon will have 6 hours to complete the course.