Lake Tahoe Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Lake Tahoe Marathon is a point-to-point road race along the western and southern shore of Lake Tahoe, run on the Sunday of a three-day festival in mid-October. The organisation Run Tahoe, led by race director Les Wright, runs the weekend, which also includes marathons on Friday and Saturday, three half marathons, a 10K, 5Ks, a 72-mile relay and ultra around the lake, and multi-day challenges such as the Tahoe Triple (three marathons in three days). The Sunday marathon starts at 8:00am on Highway 89 at Meadow Road, just south of Homewood, California; runners are bused to the start and run back to the finish at Lakeside Beach in South Lake Tahoe, about six blocks from the casinos. An optional 7:00am early start is offered for walkers. The organisers describe a small hill between miles 2 and 3, a first look at Emerald Bay at mile 11 and a pass by the Eagle Falls trailhead at mile 11.5. The main climb is the Hill from Hell, starting at mile 8, which gains about 520 feet over 1.9 miles with bagpipes at the top at mile 9.5, followed by a 200-foot gain after Inspiration Point, and from there to the finish the course is downhill or flat. The current event dates from 1996, and the 31st edition was held in 2026.