Set for its 13th annual running this spring, Roanoke’s Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K takes runners on an out-and-back loop course that starts and finishes in downtown Roanoke and features towering (and oh-so-challenging) hills through the city’s Mill Mountain Park.

Runners will make their way just north of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the nearly 470-mile highway that unfolds along the Blue Ridge Mountains and through some of the most scenic parts of Virginia and North Carolina.

Filled with some challenging uphill and downhill stretches, especially in its first six miles, the half marathon (like the full marathon) starts in downtown Roanoke next to Elmwood Park. From there, runners follow the route west along Salem Avenue and then southward along Jefferson Street, toward Mill Mountain Park.

After roughly the first mile, runners turn left from Jefferson onto Walnut Avenue, and begin making their way around Mill Mountain Park.

04-22-2023, 07:35 am - 03:35 pm