Course & Elevation
The Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon is a road marathon through Columbus, Ohio, held on the third Sunday in October, with a half marathon, 5K, 1 mile and kids' run over the same weekend. The first Columbus Marathon was run on 16 November 1980 with about 2,600 runners. It moved to October in 1984, back to November in 1986 and to October again in 2000, and a half marathon was added in 2006. Nationwide Children's Hospital has been the race's charity partner since 2012, and the 2025 race raised a record $1.4 million for the hospital. The marathon and half marathon start at 7:30 a.m. at North Bank Park in downtown Columbus, and the marathon finishes there. Past courses have taken in Bexley, German Village, the Short North, the Ohio State University campus and Victorian Village, and the 2026 course was revised to be safer and to highlight changes along Parsons Avenue. The course limit for the marathon is 6 hours 30 minutes. More than 15,000 runners took part in 2026, when Nick Doud won in 2:15:08 and Ashton Swinford in 2:38:04. The men's course record of 2:11:02 was set by Tommy Persson of Sweden in 1980.
Course Facts
Weather
Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record
13°C
Temperature
69%
Humidity
32%
Rain Chance
In mid-October Columbus averages a daytime high of about 19°C and a low of about 7°C, with measurable precipitation on roughly ten days of the month; the race starts at 7:30 a.m.
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