Scenic. Cultural. Unforgettable.
Experience one of the most scenic and culturally rich half marathon courses in the Southwest — breathtaking high-desert landscapes meet Santa Fe's historic charm.
Breathtaking desert scenery unique to the Southwest, with high-altitude vistas that provide both challenge and inspiration every step of the way.
Race day is part of a full race weekend (Sept 17–19, 2027) with the Race Weekend Expo at Reunity Resources Farm, drumming performances, storytelling, and adaptive sports programming.
Five aid stations put water at miles 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12 — seven service points, with restrooms at every station. Medical teams at key points, and ALS medical at the mile-9 turnaround.
After the finish line, join a lively festival with food, live entertainment, a hoop dancer performance celebrating local tradition, and community festivities.
The course is not a neutral backdrop. It runs through a historic village, along the river the city is named for, at an altitude that shapes every mile.
7,000 ft altitude challenge
This is not a sea-level race. Santa Fe sits at 7,000 feet, the course reaches 6,883 feet at the mile-9 turnaround, and it gains 651 feet along the way. The air is thin and it is honest. We do not hide the altitude — we build the race around it.
The Santa Fe River corridor
The route runs the historic village of Agua Fría and the Santa Fe River trail corridor, framed by open high-desert horizon. No stadium laps and no highway shoulder — just ground that belongs to this place, and the river that gives the race its line: Run the Santa Fe River.
Powered by community, not corporations
This race belongs to Santa Fe. The start line sits in the historic village of Agua Fría, finishers are met at Reunity Resources Farm with post-race food and Jirani Kahawa coffee, and the medallions are handmade by Maasai artisans. Unpolished, local, and real.
Experience the unique challenge of Santa Fe's high-altitude course. The route opens with a single-pass loop through Agua Fría Village, then runs out the Santa Fe River corridor to a turnaround at 6,883 ft — the high point of the day — and back down the same road to the finish at Reunity Resources Farm. 651 feet of climb, and every foot of it given back.
Cheer on your runners at these prime viewing locations along the course
Experience the electric atmosphere as thousands of runners begin their journey. Arrive early for the best viewing spots!
Adobe walls, acequias and neighbours out on their driveways. Runners pass through once, early — be in place before 8:00 AM.
Runners enter the corridor here at mile 5 and come back past at about mile 13, minutes from the end. It is also a four-minute walk from the finish — so you can watch twice and still beat your runner to Reunity Resources.
The best place on the course to watch: runners come through at mile 6 on the way out and again at mile 12 on the way home, and the aid station here serves both. Shade, space to stand, and two chances to see your runner.
The high point of the day, with aid and ALS medical on site. Runners turn here and head for home.
The ultimate celebration zone! Post-race food, Jirani Kahawa coffee and the most energetic crowd on the course, cheering runners across the finish line.
A village named for cold water
Agua Fría — cold water — takes its name from the springs that rise here. Spanish settlers established the village in the early eighteenth century, but they were not the first: archaeologists have found pit houses and the remains of Pindi Pueblo on this floodplain. People farmed here for centuries before Spain arrived, for the same reason the Spanish came. The water was reliable.
Agua Fría Street traces part of El Camino Real, the road that carried traders between Mexico City and Santa Fe for generations. Later the Santa Fe Trail brought wagons through from Missouri. This has been a corridor of movement for a very long time. On September 19, 2027 it carries runners again.
The stretch you run in the middle of the race is the Santa Fe River Trail, the path the restoration built. It carries you straight through San Isidro River Park — the reach where the gravel mine was displaced and the first erosion structures went in — and through Agua Fría Park at mile 6 — the park is on the course, so it is one of the easiest places on the route to stand and watch. The village is a designated historic district — and not a museum piece. It is a working community of homes, acequias, churches and small farms. Which is why we ask you to treat these roads as somebody’s front yard. They are.
Look for the cottonwoods. The big ones along the channel are the point. Every one was planted by somebody who wouldn’t live to see it full-grown.
Mind the acequias. The irrigation ditches threading the village are centuries-old shared infrastructure, still maintained by the families who depend on them. Don’t step in them.
Say good morning. The people watching from their driveways are the reason we can close these roads. Many of their families have been here longer than the state of New Mexico.
Carry your trash to an aid station. We are running through a watershed that took twenty-five years to bring back. Let’s not leave gel wrappers in it.
Five aid stations cover the 13.1 miles. Two sit on the opening village loop, at miles 2 and 4. Two are dual-sided tables on the river corridor — miles 6 & 12 and miles 8 & 10 — serving you outbound and again on the return. The fifth is at the mile-9 turnaround with ALS medical on site. In all, you meet water at miles 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12, with restrooms at every station.
Experience the vibrant energy and cultural richness of Santa Fe as you run. Live entertainment keeps you motivated throughout the course!
Feel the powerful rhythms of traditional African drums propelling you forward! Our talented drumming ensemble creates an electrifying atmosphere with authentic djembe, dunun, and talking drum performances. The infectious beats and high-energy performance will energize your stride and lift your spirits.
Located at Miles 6 & 12 — the dual-sided aid station serves both directions, so you hear them twice.
Breathtaking views, cultural richness, and a finish line worth running for.
