You start at 7:30 in the morning at the Kincaid Park soccer stadium, with the sun already hours old because this is the Saturday nearest the solstice and Anchorage barely gets dark. The first nine miles follow the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, a paved path along the inlet, before the course turns inland onto the Chester Creek Trail past Westchester Lagoon, the university and the forested paths of Far North Bicentennial Park. Nearly the whole way is pedestrian pathway and trail, not road, so expect a few soft stretches and the real possibility of a moose. You have until 3:00 PM to finish on the Delaney Park Strip downtown, about seven and a half hours. The course is a certified Boston qualifier, but choose it for the daylight and the setting, not the clock. The half starts an hour later if you bring a companion.
Point-to-point from the ConocoPhillips Soccer Stadium at Kincaid Park along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail (miles 1-9), Chester Creek Trail, Westchester Lagoon, UAA and Far North Bicentennial Park, 'primarily on pedestrian pathways and forested trails', finishing at the Delaney Park Strip downtown. Course map ↗
2027 registration not yet open as of verification. For reference, 2026 registration opened Oct 31, 2025 (RunSignUp event data) and online registration closed at noon on Friday, June 19, 2026, with in-person registration at bib pickup until 3 PM Friday and no race-day registration. Fees vary by event and increase on a published timeline. Register ↗
- 'The Marathon course is certified by USA Track and Field as a Boston Marathon qualifier.' ↗
- The race is a partnership between the Municipality of Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department and the University of Alaska Anchorage Athletic Department, presented by ConocoPhillips Alaska; it was formerly the Midnight Sun Mayor's Marathon, run in the evening. ↗
- Held on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice, when Anchorage has 'roughly 22 hours of functional daylight'; organizer calls it a tradition of 'over 50 years'. ↗
- Course records: men 2:22:26 (Michael Wisneiwski, 2009), women 2:39:19 (Chris Clark, 2000). ↗
- Official 2026 marathon results list 816 placed finishers and 3 DNFs (counted from the RunSignUp results set); 2025 had 672 finishers. 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19. ↗
Checked 2026-10-13. Always confirm on the official site before booking travel.