Overview The Charlottesville Marathon is a spring road race out of Market Street Park in downtown Charlottesville, run on hilly roads and bike paths along the Rivanna River with the Blue Ridge Mountains and Monticello in view. A marathon, a half marathon and an 8K all start together at 7 a.m. on a Saturday in early April. The race calls itself a boutique event, not a large marathon, and billed its April 2026 edition as the 25th anniversary. Bad to the Bone Sports produces it. On site The course runs about 65 percent on roads and 35 percent on paved bike paths, past the river, historic churches and old houses. The marathon and half are hilly and the 8K rolls. Roads stay open to traffic, spectators are limited on course, and mile markers go up only every five miles. Water stops carry water, electrolytes and gels, and the marathon closes at six hours, the half at three and a half. Marathon and half finishers get a medal themed on Charlottesville, and the finish and post-race festivities sit back in Market Street Park and packet pickup runs on Friday. Audience It is a local race first. The race's own breakdown put 82 percent of runners from Charlottesville and the surrounding area and 87 percent from Virginia, with the rest from 35 states and five countries. Some come in groups: one returning runner wrote that she brought more than 20 people down from Northern Virginia. Spectators are limited on the course itself; the race counted about 1,100 of them and 200 volunteers around the 2026 edition. Track record Runner's World named it one of the ten best new marathons in the United States, The New York Times one of the country's top five destination marathons, and Running Times the most scenic race on the East Coast. The course is USATF certified. Brand presence Sponsor levels take Virginia presidents' names, Monroe, Madison and Jefferson, below official, presenting and title sponsors. The lower levels put a booth at the finish line on race day, with sampling and product at the water stops. From Jefferson up, a sponsor brands chosen water stops and a section of the course, marked on the course map, and goes on the race shirts for all three events. Official sponsors hold their category and brand the finish line; the presenting sponsor goes on the medals and bibs, the awards ceremony and packet pickup, and a title sponsor's name sits above the race logo.