Marathon & Half Marathon

USATF-Certified - Boston Qualifier

Please visit General Information for details on start times, packet pickup and much more!

Marathon Course

Start downtown at the College Football Hall of Fame. Run through South Bend and Mishawaka parks and neighborhoods along the St. Joseph River. The course is flat compared to most marathons, with a few short steep hills and one half-mile incline. The course follows a shallow river bottom, which results in the hills. The course is not as flat as the Chicago Marathon. It is significantly flatter than Portland, Nashville, Marine Corps, Dallas and Amarillo. It is similar to Cleveland and Detroit.

Traffic-free city streets

USATF certified (#IN03003MW)

Boston Qualifier Event

CARA Certified Race

This race has applied for and received the Chicago Area Runners Association designation as a CARA CERTIFIED RACE. This race has agreed to adhere to and uphold CARA’s Best Practices Guidelines. These Guidelines embody the highest standards for quality, safety and comfort for participants in a road race. To view the Guidelines and to learn more about CARA, visit www.cararuns.org.

The Chicago Area Runners Association (CARA) is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding, motivating, supporting and celebrating the running community of Chicagoland. CARA connects runners to resources that enable them to run - farther, faster, better, for life.

No strollers, baby joggers, or rollerblades in running events.

Per new USAT&F Rules, the use of IPOD and headphone devices is allowed, but we ask that you please be careful and pay close attention to instructions from the police and volunteers.

Anticipated field: 950 runners

Walkers: The marathon course is open for an official time of 6.5 hours, until 12:15 p.m. EDT. Waterstops will close and streets will reopen according to the slowest allowable pace of a 14-minute mile. We strongly encourage you to choose the half marathon instead.

Click here for a 2011 map of the course

Half Marathon

Runners will follow the same route of the full marathon, then turn at approximately Mile 3 past Keller Park and back onto the Marathon course. At the end of the bike path, half-marathoners will run Niles Avenue and on to the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

Anticipated field: 2,000 runners

No strollers, baby joggers, or rollerblades in running events.

Per new USAT&F rules, the use of IPODS and headphones devices is allowed but we ask that you please be careful and pay close attention to instructions from the police and volunteers.

Click here for a 2011 map of the course

Elevation Table

2 mile - 200 meter hill - approximately 3% grade
7 mile - 200 meter hill - approximately 3% grade
9 mile - 200 meter hill - approximately 4% grade
24 mile - 300 meter hill - approximately 4% grade
There will be a fourth hill - eastbound at mile 6.5. Details to follow.

Timing

All Sunburst events will utilize Chronotrack D-Tag system - No need to return chips anymore
Digital mats at start and and finish.

Runner Support

Marathon: 23 water stations (see waterstop chart)
Half Marathon: 12 water stations (see waterstop chart)
Fluid replacement is Gatorade
GU Energy Gel available on the course
Bananas at the Boathouse and at Beutter Park

Porta-potties at start line, inside College Football Hall of Fame,
all parks and the finish line

Medical Support

Medical team directed by Mark Lavallee, M.D., co-director of the Sports Medicine Institute. Staff support provided by the EMTs and RNs of Memorial Hospital, South Bend. Emergency course support and communications provided by RACES and Red Cross of St. Joseph County. First aid at all waterstops. Full medical at the finish.

Massage therapy provided at the finish line by Cindy Pavel & the Davenport University Massage Therapy Students

Registration

Online registration through signmeup.com
No race day registration.
For more information see the Registration page

Event Changes

All event changes may be made at the Sunburst Packet Pick-up and Expo on Friday, June 3 at the College Football Hall of Fame

Premiums

Special Sunburst Marathon and Half Marathon T-shirts
Finisher medal for both events
Print-your-own finisher certificates
Posters (while supplies last)
Cold, wet towel and massage at the finish
Great finish line food - Thanks to Meijer for the great job they do!
Finisher photos available for purchase through brightroom.com
No guarantee of T-shirt for late registration on June 3, 2011
No race day registration

Medal Donation

Don’t need another medal to throw in a box not to be seen for years? Want to help brighten a child’s day? If you answered yes to either of these questions then you should consider donating your medals to Memorial Children’s Hospital. There will be two sites to donate medals. If you have medals at home that you would like to donate, bring them to registration and inside the info. tent there will be a site to donate medals. If you would like to donate your Sunburst 2011 finisher medal there will be a site inside the stadium for you to do so. Help make a child’s day brighter and support Memorial Children’s Hospital by donating any hard-earned medals.