Overview The Napa Valley Marathon runs point to point down the Silverado Trail from Calistoga to Napa, a Boston qualifier with 303 feet of net drop, and its top finishers go home with etched magnums of wine. A half marathon starts at Conn Creek on the same road, and a 5K, put on by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Napa, runs out and back from the finish; all three are USATF certified and end at Vintage High School in Napa. The race is a nonprofit whose half marathon and 5K proceeds fund college scholarships for Napa County high school seniors, and it calls itself the largest sporting event in Napa Valley. On site For 2027, race weekend opens with a two-day health and fitness expo in the South Yard of the Napa Valley Marriott, where Friday's happy hour comes with a souvenir wine glass and a free pour. Saturday adds a three-mile shakeout run from Veterans Park, speaker sessions on how to run the course and a pasta dinner with wine and beer from race partners. On Sunday buses carry runners to the start, because neither start line has parking, and the marathon goes off at 7:30 a.m. past vineyards, mustard and wildflowers, with 12 aid stations and 16 pace groups from 2:55 to 5:50. The cutoff is a strict six hours. Everyone finishes in the quad at Vintage High School, with medals, hot soup and bread, physical therapists and the partner booths every runner and supporter walks through on the way out. Audience Runners travel for it: the race counts entrants from all 50 states and 22 countries. Many of them come back. A legacy program tracks every finish back to 2012, gives five-time runners a personalized bib, their own bib pickup and a lounge, and invites ten-time runners and a guest to a Friday reception with wine, beer and appetizers. Track record The race started in 1979, and a virtual edition in 2021 counts toward legacy totals. Runner's World has recommended it, Race Raves named it a best bet for a Boston qualifying time, and the race lists itself among the top 50 Boston qualifiers. Brand presence Napa's wineries are the most visible partners: Chandon, Robert Mondavi, The Prisoner Wine Co., Cliff Family and Naked Wines were on the race-weekend partner list for 2027 alongside Kaiser Permanente, and partners pour at the pasta dinner. BOCO Gear made the 2027 finisher backpack. Partners get race entries, their logo on the homepage, in pre-race emails, press releases and the expo, and branding at the start and finish. A 10-by-10 booth can go in the expo, in the finish-line quad or both, and a digital offer can ride in the virtual race bag sent to every registrant before the race, where it stays live for ten days after.