Roughly 1,500 to 2,000 runners cross the finish line in both races combined each year at Scottsdale’s Runner’s Den Half Marathon & 5K Run/Walk (known as Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon & 5K Run/Walk until 2017), including more than 1,000 finishers in the race’s half marathon alone.

Set for its 35th annual running in 2022, the race takes runners on a point-to-point loop course through this tourist-friendly city in what is known as the Salt River Valley, or Arizona’s “Valley of the Sun.”

The half marathon starts on Scottsdale’s 75th Street, just south of East Camelback Road, and from there takes runners on a winding loop for the first few miles northward up along Scottsdale Road, along which runners will experience the steepest uphill stretch of the race between the starting line and the mile 2 marker.

After that, the course flattens out a bit between miles 2 and 4, as the route takes runners past local parks like McCormick Park and the Camelback Golf Course.

Runners will experience another, less steep rise as they make their way past the 5th mile and around the course’s northern end, where they turn on Doubletree Ranch Road and begin the stretch that takes them back southward.

The next several miles unfold along Hayden Road and wind along past more local parks and golf courses, through the Indian School Park ponds, and then back into Scottsdale for the finish near the Scottsdale Stadium and One Civic Plaza.

12-04-2022, 06:00 am - 12:00 pm