Denver Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Colfax Marathon, also called the Denver Colfax Marathon, is Denver's marathon, run on a Sunday in mid-May as part of a two-day race weekend that also includes a half marathon, an Urban 10 Miler, a five-person marathon relay and a 5K. The marathon starts at 6:00am on the east side of Ferril Lake in City Park and finishes in the park as well. The organisers describe it as an urban tour of Denver: the course runs through Empower Field at Mile High twice, goes through Denver Fire Station No. 1 and crosses downtown, follows Colfax Avenue, and heads west into Lakewood. About seven miles of it run along rivers, lakes and bridges, including Sloan's Lake and the Cherry Creek bike path. The marathon has a six-hour time limit and is a Boston Marathon qualifier. The event was first held in 2006 with about 4,000 runners. It was cancelled in May 2020 and moved from May to October in 2021, before returning to its spring date in 2022. The race weekend drew close to 25,000 runners in 2024. The event records are 2:21:08 for men (Tyler McCandless, 2022) and 2:50:54 for women (Laurel Kruger, 2024).