City of Oaks Marathon

The City of Oaks Marathon offers a demanding, hilly course that treats runners to a tour of Raleigh and it's northern suburbs. As a USATF-certified and sanctioned event, it serves as an official Boston Marathon Qualifier. The course is characterized by its hilly and persistently rolling profile, accumulating over 1,100 feet of total elevation gain and loss that tests an runner’s strength and hill training.

Starting in downtown Raleigh at Glenwood Avenue, the course runs along wide city roads and prominent thoroughfares, including historic Hillsborough Street, before routing onto the paved paths of the Capital Area Greenway. Marathoners navigate portions of the Reedy Creek Trail, House Creek Trail, and Mine Creek Trail, charting an out-and-back stretch to a turnaround point near Shelley Lake Park before tracing the path back toward the downtown finish line.

The route combines urban roads with natural trail pathways. The first eight miles share roads with the half marathon field, passing iconic landmarks such as the North Carolina State Capitol Building, the North Carolina State University Memorial Belltower, and Pullen Park. Runners face a continuous series of uphill and downhill sections with very few sustained flat stretches.

A smart pacing strategy hinges on early discipline and good race management over the rolling hills, as overextending on the early urban climbs can easily ruin a runner's race before navigating the back half of the race.