You line up downtown at 8 a.m. on a late-November Sunday, breath showing under the Art Deco towers, with the half-marathoners sharing your corral. The course rolls rather than climbs: about 820 feet of gain spread across neighborhoods and the University of Tulsa campus, enough to keep you honest without wrecking a steady pace. Around 800 to 1,100 people finish the full, so you will never be alone, but you will not be jostled either. The real reason you came is the detour. A volunteer waves you off course for an extra 0.3 mile to the Center of the Universe, where someone presses a heavy, color-inlaid coin into your palm and hands you a beer. You have just finished the world's shortest ultra. Mind the 6.5-hour cutoff, and book the expo for Friday if you want a quiet packet pickup.
A mostly-loop, rolling road course that starts downtown amid Tulsa's Art Deco district and winds through residential neighborhoods and the University of Tulsa campus before returning downtown. Course map ↗
Registration is open as of 2026-10-14. Marathon $160, rising to $175 on November 4, 2026 (half $150 to $165; relay $380 to $390). No refunds for any reason; deferrals ($50 marathon) must be requested by October 15; transfers to another runner allowed with a $30 recipient fee. 5K listed as near capacity. Register ↗
- The free, optional Center of the Universe Detour adds 0.3 mile for full-marathon runners only, letting you 'complete the World's Shortest Ultramarathon'; those who take it get a color-inlaid coin at the Center of the Universe landmark plus a beer. ↗
- All Sunday races are USATF certified and the marathon is a Boston qualifier; 7.1% of 2025 marathon finishers hit a BQ standard (3.1% in 2024). ↗
- The race has been run since 2006, is organized by volunteers, with proceeds benefiting the Tulsa Area United Way. ↗
- On November 22, 2009, Zac Freudenburg set a Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon pushing a stroller here, 2:32:10. ↗
- The 2026 edition coincides with the 100th anniversary of Route 66, and the medal collection is being designed around the Mother Road's centennial. ↗
Checked 2026-10-14. Always confirm on the official site before booking travel.