Overview The Big Sur International Marathon runs point to point up a closed Highway 1, from south of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to Carmel, climbing to Hurricane Point and crossing Bixby Bridge at halfway, where a grand piano plays on the roadside as runners go by. Race weekend offers six distances: the marathon, a marathon relay, a 21-miler, an 11-miler, a 12K and a 5K. The course is USATF certified and a Boston qualifier, and the road reopens to traffic at 1 p.m., which sets the six-hour limit. The nonprofit Big Sur Marathon Foundation, founded in 1986, runs it along with the Monterey Bay Half Marathon in November. On site The course drops from 356 feet at the start to 10 at the finish but gains more than 2,000 feet on the way, including the climb to the 560-foot summit of Hurricane Point between miles 10 and 12. Taiko drummers play halfway up that climb. At Bixby Bridge the piano waits; in 2026 it was played by Michael Martinez of Pacific Grove. Eleven aid stations run the route, with a strawberry station at mile 23.2, and in 2026 samba dancers worked the roadside too. The race runs as a zero-waste event. Audience It is a destination race: the 2026 field came from all 50 states, Washington, D.C. and 36 countries. More than 200 runners in 2026 ran Boston on April 20 and Big Sur six days later under the Boston 2 Big Sur challenge, and six Grizzled Vets have run every edition since 1986. The race had 23 official charity partners in 2026, and one 2026 charity runner raised $43,000 for the National Brain Tumor Society. Track record The 39th race, in April 2026, sold out, and Simon Ricci won the marathon for the third straight year in 2:23:46; Elle Meyer won the women's race in 2:51:45. Landslides forced out-and-back courses from Carmel in 1998, 2011 and 2024, and the 2020 and 2021 races were canceled for COVID-19. By 2026 the foundation said it had given $6.7 million to the community since 1986, more than $300,000 a year, and more than 2,000 volunteers worked that race day. Brand presence HOKA was presenting sponsor for the second year in 2026 and ran a shakeout run and a Fly Zone out on the course. Partners exhibit at the race expo. The finish area is not sold to sponsors, but a brand can put its bar into every runner's finisher food box.