Overview The Modesto Marathon is a flat spring road race from downtown Modesto out into the Central Valley orchards, and its proceeds pay for Teens Run Modesto, a training program for local students, many of them at-risk, to run the marathon itself. The weekend offers a full marathon, a half, a 10K and a 5K on a USATF-certified course, and the full is a Boston and New York qualifier. The ShadowChase Running Club of Modesto runs it with the marathon committee and adds an adult training program. On site The marathon leaves downtown through tree-lined college neighborhoods, passes Modesto Junior College's west campus and heads into open country with views of the Diablo Range and the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge before turning back to town. The half turns among the orchards. The 5K passes Graceada Park and the house in the middle of the road, then takes the Virginia Corridor back to the downtown finish. The full has 12 aid stations and a seven-hour limit, medical volunteers wear red, and a recovery tent sits at the finish. Packet pickup runs with an expo, and a Finish Line Festival closes the day. Audience Part of the field is local teenagers finishing the program. Each Teens Run Modesto runner gets new running shoes, a training shirt, rides to weekend long runs, gels and a bottle, entries into local races and the marathon, and a celebration dinner after it. Seniors who complete the program can apply for the Run for College scholarship. The 2023 sponsor form also counted a large walking group among the adult trainees. Brand presence Sutter Health Memorial Medical Center presented the 2023 race. That year's form sold the race in pieces, all benefiting Teens Run Modesto: the finishers' feed boxes, swag bags, the expo title, cowbells handed to spectators at the finish, the finisher's towel, free race photos, pace team shirts, volunteer shirts, a charging station, motivational signs along the course, mile markers and the program's movie night fundraiser.