You start at 7:00 am beside the false-front saloons of Old Abilene Town, and the first sound you hear after the gun is the wind in the cottonwoods. This is a tiny race, under a hundred marathoners, run on quiet paved roads outside the small town where Dwight Eisenhower grew up. You run the half-marathon loop twice, through Brown's Park four times, and the terrain is as flat as the Flint Hills get, with a gentle rise that always seems to come with a headwind and a matching downhill that sends you home. Spring smells of turned fields and cattle. There are no crowds, just volunteers who know your name by the second lap. If you want a small-town Boston qualifier with no logistics, this is it.
All-paved, USATF-certified double out-and-back in which marathoners run the half course twice, passing through Brown's Park four times on mostly flat prairie roads that follow the old Chisholm Trail cattle routes; elevation ranges only between about 1,136 and 1,215 ft.
Registration is handled through RaceEntry. 2027 fees not published. Youth eligibility restrictions apply; no strollers. Register ↗
- The course follows the same territory cattlemen used to drive herds to Abilene on the Chisholm Trail in the 1800s. ↗
- Marathoners run the half-marathon course twice and pass through Brown's Park four times. ↗
- The race starts at 7:00 am at Old Abilene Town, 201 SE 5th St. ↗
- Between 67 and 111 runners have finished the marathon each year from 2021 to 2026. ↗
- The course is USATF-certified and a Boston Marathon qualifier. ↗
Checked 2026-10-13. Always confirm on the official site before booking travel.