The Ellerbe Marathon & Half Marathon

About the Event

The Ellerbe Marathon first ran in 1992. Its origin dates to the fall of 1991 as Mark Long and Doug Dawkins were returning from the Greensboro Marathon. At that time there were but a few marathons in North Carolina. By the time the pair had reached Richmond County on Highway 220 they had mostly agreed on the idea of working together to create a local marathon. That first race was held April 12, 1992 with 41 entrants and 39 finishers. There was no online entry. No website. All those interested had to request a paper entry form be mailed to them and return it with a check to enter. Aid stations had no food, just water and Gatorade. Runners had to finish the race to get a t-shirt. There were no medals. All “Old School.” There was a period in the 1990s when The Ellerbe Marathon and The Grandfather Mountain Marathon were the only two marathons in North Carolina.

The Ellerbe Marathon has survived many challenges and changes since that first year. We have survived changes in hosts, locations, and race directors. We survived Covid. But the Ellerbe Marathon has not missed a year since that first event in 1992, and we are now the oldest continuously held marathon in North Carolina. We followed the trend and now present t-shirts before the race. We have nice pottery wine cups for all who finish. And we have a nice custom medal. We have snacks at the aid stations and a post-race meal just like all the others. We have no sponsors we have to oblige. The only ones we have to please are our runners. We still have that “Old School” feel and hope to keep it. We don't have hundreds of entrants. But we have a good crowd every year, and we all have fun.

Event Schedule:

7:50am Pre-race briefing at the start line

8:00am Marathon and Half Marathon start together

10:00am Post-race meal at the Ellerbe Rescue Squad building

5:00pm Course closes

​Course And Timing

The Ellerbe Rescue Squad building at 106 Sunset Avenue is race day headquarters, and the finish line will be on Sunset Avenue nearby. The start is just a short walk away on Page Street near BB&T. The course is a 13.1-mile loop. Marathoners do the loop twice. Both the marathon and half marathon courses are USATF certified. Timing will be RFID chip timing with live results and managed by Clockwork Race Timing. The course is all paved country roads and open to traffic. Some people call it rolling. Some call it hilly. All agree it's not flat. Links to marathon and half marathon race maps including the certification details are below. The course closes in 9 hours. Anyone unable to finish the marathon in 9 hours is encouraged to sign up for the half marathon.

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