Overview The Novant Health Charlotte Marathon is the Queen City's marathon, a Boston-qualifying loop that leaves Uptown and runs through Myers Park, Dilworth, Plaza Midwood, NoDa and South End before finishing on Fourth Street behind Truist Field. Race day carries a full marathon, a half marathon with its own rucking division, and the Chick-fil-A 5K. It began in 2005 as the Thunder Road Marathon, a NASCAR nod, took the Novant Health name in 2016, and was bought in January 2026 by the Charlotte Sports Foundation, the organization that stages the Duke's Mayo Bowl and the ACC Football Championship in the city. On site The half and full marathon go off together at 7:20 a.m., with the 5K ten minutes ahead of them. The marathon course stays open six hours and the half three. Race weekend includes the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon Health and Wellness Expo, presented by Fleet Feet. In 2025 roads closed across Uptown and the neighborhoods on the course and reopened by Saturday evening. Audience The half marathon is the biggest race of the day, and the rucking division puts people carrying weighted packs on the same 13.1 miles. Runners can also enter as Team Hemby fundraisers for Novant Health Hemby Children's Hospital, the race's beneficiary. Track record The field has grown fast: about 9,600 runners in 2024 and a record 11,500-plus in 2025, the 21st running, with every event full for the second year in a row. By early 2026 the race had given more than $750,000 to Hemby Children's Hospital. Course records: Adam Jones, 2:23:50 in 2021, and Megan Hepp, 2:45:04 in 2007. Brand presence Novant Health took the title in 2016, and in 2026 Chick-fil-A named the 5K and Fleet Feet presented the expo. When it bought the race, the Charlotte Sports Foundation kept Novant Health as title sponsor and said it planned to promote the marathon through its other events, which draw tens of thousands. The race sells a title and presenting position and a second level below it.