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Jun 6, 2027
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The Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon is the original race of the Rock 'n' Roll Running Series, first held in 1998 and run on a Sunday in late May or early June with a half marathon that starts at the same time. The marathon starts at 6:15 am on Sixth Avenue at Quince Street beside Balboa Park and finishes at Ash and Union Streets in downtown San Diego, with a finish line festival at Waterfront Park. The organisers say the course passes through up to eight neighbourhoods, and bands play along the route. In 2025 the marathon went through Hillcrest, Normal Heights and North Park, then Mission Hills, Old Town and Ocean Beach toward SeaWorld, before turning back through Bay Park and Linda Vista to Balboa Park and downtown. The course has been changed several times: it first started at 6th Avenue and Palm and finished on Broadway, and later finishes included SeaWorld in 2010 and Petco Park from 2013. The time limit is seven hours, and there is one cut-off at mile 8.3 (University Avenue and Grim Avenue); runners who miss it are diverted onto the half marathon course and recorded as did-not-finish. A 5K is run on the Saturday.
Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record
Late May and early June in San Diego are mild and dry: average highs are around 21–22°C and lows about 16–17°C, and rain is rare, with about one day of measurable rain in June.
The Race
San Diego
The Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon was first run in 1998 and became the first race of the Rock 'n' Roll Running Series. Philip Tarus of Kenya won the men's race in 2:10:42 and Nadezhda Ilyina of Russia won the women's race in 2:34:17. By 2006 the marathon had 21,159 participants.
In 2015 Harriette Thompson of Charlotte, North Carolina, completed the San Diego marathon at the age of 92 years and 65 days, becoming the oldest woman to complete a marathon. In 2017 she became the oldest woman to finish the half marathon at the same event, at age 94.
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