Want a Race You’ll Never Forget? Try One of These Epic Events.
These days, everyone has a bucket list. For runners, that list often includes running a famous race. These races are ones that runners have told us were “the best.”
Of course, “best” can refer to a number of qualities, but these races all have location, location, location in common. Even without the race, they are destinations worthy of a plane ticket and hotel room—not to mention great dining and photo ops.
Disney Marathon
Date: January 9, 2027 (Sunday)
Location: Orlando, Florida
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With a little bit of pixie dust, you, too, can experience just how magical it is to run through all four Orlando Disney parks: the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and EPCOT. Characters line the course, fireworks go off at your start, and many runners are in costumes. If you sign up for the Dopey Challenge, you’ll run a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and full marathon on consecutive days and go home with six shiny new medals. Bring a cheering squad because spectators line Main Street USA before the park opens. Of course, the corrals open at 4 a.m. so getting to the races in the dark is also part of the experience. Don’t worry, usually a princess or two is there to greet you.
Avenue of the Giants
Date: May 2, 2027 (Sunday)
Location: Weott, California
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A race that truly puts its money where its mouth is because in honoring the trees (like the Lorax), this race has no corporate sponsors. The course is on a paved road that follows a creek in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This is a quiet and cool marathon (other distances are available), but don’t bother to start your watch. The 300-foot-tall trees sometimes block out GPS signals. Talk about peace.
Broad Street Run
Date: May 2, 2027 (Sunday)
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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A wildly popular raucous 10-miler, the Broad Street is a fast, point-to-point course. With more than 40,000 runners, the race features live music and plenty of cheering spectators. If you live in the area, there are 5K group training runs throughout the spring to get ready. Those runs include warmup workouts and snacks—you don’t even have to be registered for the race to take part. This is another fast and flat course many runners use as proof of time for marathons.
Bay to Breakers
Date: May 16, 2027 (Sunday)
Location: San Francisco, California
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The theme of this race, Run Wild, could not be more appropriate. This San Francisco 12K (you can extend to a 15K) features athletes in high-tech gear, but also naked runners and costumed runners. It is, as they say, a scene. The running for many participants is a little bit of an afterthought. The race is part of a very serious race series, the Golden State Challenge, in which athletes earn a medal by completing four events of 5K or greater, across the state in one year.
Dipsea Race
Date: June 13, 2027
Location: Mill Valley, California
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There are few races as historic and unique as the Dipsea. First run in 1905, the trail run is a 7.4-mile-long race from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach that has you sprinting through forests, up staircases, and over a mountain. With a cap at 1,500 entrants (to protect the environment), it’s difficult to get into, and requires a complicated application system (involving snail mail). The race is handicapped so that older runners and children start first, with the faster demographics released in waves, culminating in young men at the back. The race is not scored on time but on who can get to the finish first, so there’s a lot of passing going on in the woods between the start and the finish. It’s a real race!
The Big Five Marathon
Date: June 19, 2027
Location: Entabeni, South Africa
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Sure, you’ve run a marathon with people in costumes and runners who juggle, but have you ever run a marathon with an elephant? Probably not. South Africa’s safari marathon promises the opportunity to scout some incredible wild animals while you’re trekking 26.2 miles. The “Big Five” animals to see on an African safari are the lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and African buffalo. If you’re lucky, you will see all five on the course. Running near a hungry lion at mile 25 may spur you to a new PR.
Jungfrau Marathon
Date: September 11, 2027
Location: Jungfrau, Switzerland
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Oh, you love hills? How about mountains? This marathon is not for the faint of heart because you’re basically running up the side of a Swiss Alp from start to finish. If that doesn’t seem hard enough, the asphalt roads and less challenging inclines are at the beginning with the steepest part saved for the end when you’re trekking along a mountain path. This is a bucket list race for those runners who love a challenge and aren’t afraid of a little pain. You’ll need to do plenty of hill workouts and some altitude training if you don’t want to crash and burn. The good news is that you likely won’t overheat that far up in the mountains.
Loch Ness Marathon
Date: September 26, 2027 (Sunday)
Location: Inverness, Scotland
Will you see a monster? Likely not. But will you be in Scotland? Yes, and is there anything better? Again, likely not. This event-filled weekend includes 5K, 10K, and marathon options with very friendly start times (9:30 to 10:30 in the morning) and relatively inexpensive entry fees (in pounds, not euros). There’s a big expo with music, but the star of the show is your path around the net downhill, but still rolling, point-to-point marathon. It does have one big ascent, which some runners have compared to Boston. You’ll run around the loch (lake) that contains more water than all the English and Welsh lakes, rivers, and reservoirs combined, and is considered one of the most beautiful in the highlands. It’s quiet, too, so you can enjoy the wildlife.
Wineglass Marathon
Date: October 4, 2026 (Sunday)
Location: Corning, New York
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Calling all wine lovers! We have the race for you! If you’re a runner and a wine snob, you’ll want to sign up for this autumnal marathon in upstate New York. Not only will you get to see some East Coast gorgeous fall foliage, but you’ll also get to taste wine from a number of local wineries. While we don’t recommend you drink wine before or during the race (that’s a whole new kind of hydration challenge), you’ll have plenty of opportunities to test out the local vino at the afterparty. Toast to completing 26.2 and perhaps snag a few extra bottles for when you get home.
Venice Marathon
Date: October 25, 2026 (Sunday)
Location: Venice, Italy
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Visiting Venice, Italy, should be on everyone’s bucket list regardless of their run goals. The race, which starts on the mainland then heads over the bridge to the historic floating city, will give you a grand tour of the ancient town. What makes the race so unique, though, is its volatility. With the tides changing, runners are forced to trek through water some years, and no matter the occasion, a floating pontoon bridge is built for runners as they cross the Grand Canal. It can be a challenging course given how old the city is, but it’s a running experience unlike any other.
Athens Marathon
Date: November 8, 2026 (Sunday)
Location: Athens, Greece
The original marathon. The Athens Marathon weekend features races of various distances, including a night run for university students and events for kids and Special Olympics participants. Not only was Athens where Pheidippides ran all those miles to announce, right before dying, that the Greeks overcame the Persians in the Marathon Battle (490 B.C.E.), but also in 1896 Spyros Louis, a Greek athlete, ran from Marathon to Athens in the first modern Olympic Games. He won gold.
Route 66 Marathon
Date: November 21, 2026 (Sunday)
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Want to impress your friends with an ultramarathon without really doing that much extra work? Enter the “World’s Shortest Ultramarathon”—a whopping 26.5 miles long. Tulsa’s Route 66 Marathon, which runs along the famed Route 66 for a portion of the course, gives runners the option to extend their race by .3 miles. The Center of the Universe detour toward the end of the race lets runners hit up the Tulsa attraction where speakers standing in a certain spot will hear an echo while no one else does. Those who go the extra (.3) mile will earn a special commemorative coin and can also cross running an ultra off their bucket list.
Donna Raskin has had a long career as a health and fitness writer and editor of books and magazine articles. A certified run coach who has practiced yoga for many years, she also loves to lift weights, dance, and go for long walks with her hound dog, Dolly.