DC Half Marathon

Course & Elevation

The DC Half is a September half marathon in Washington, DC, presented by the running store Pacers Running. It debuted in 2020 and is held on a Sunday as part of a two-day weekend: a 5K on the Saturday, the half marathon on the Sunday, and a District Challenge for runners who do both. The half marathon starts at 07:00 at West Potomac Park on Ohio Drive, and the finish festival is in the same place. The organisers describe a course that runs past the monuments from the first mile. Course information for spectators places the route on Ohio Drive and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway between miles 5 and 11, with mile 10 at the intersection of the parkway and K Street NW; the course also includes Hains Point. Six aid stations are set up on the route, each with water, and pace teams run from 1:30 to 3:15. Course cut-offs are based on a 15-minute-per-mile pace, which gives a 3:30:00 limit for the half marathon. The race has grown about 30 percent a year since its debut, and nearly 8,000 runners were expected in 2024.