RACE RIO GRANDE
Join us on August 10, 2025 for the Rio Grande Half Marathon, New Mexico's USATF Championship Half Marathon. This race starts and finishes at The Event Center at Balloon Fiesta Park. Along the way you’ll have views of the Rio Grande, beautiful Albuquerque Bosque cottonwood forest, mighty Sandia Mountains, and expansive New Mexico skies. Whether you're in search of a PR, looking for a fall marathon tune-up race, or just want to have fun, this is the perfect race for you! If a half marathon isn't your thing, you can always participate in the 5k Run/Walk!
We are proud to announce that One Medal is available to every participant for this year’s race. One Medal is a program that promotes the gift of encouragement and empowerment for people who are going through what appears to be insurmountable adversity. Every athlete has one race and One Medal to give for someone. Click here to learn more.
Our best-in-class technical finisher shirts and medals have a distinctly New Mexico flair that you will not find elsewhere. Post-race fun takes place at the Finish Line Fiesta where you’ll enjoy awesome live music, refreshing watermelon, local craft beer from Canteen Brewhouse, Dilly ice cream bars from Dairy Queen, and New Mexico breakfast burritos from Golden Pride.
Don’t miss out on the action and register today!
The Ultimate Race Experience
The Rio Grande Half Marathon and 5k take you through some beautiful parts of Albuquerque and showcase the city’s iconic Balloon Fiesta Park. In collaboration with our race partners, we aim to provide you with the best race experience possible. Kick-start your race with a pre-race stretch guided by local fitness experts to warm up your muscles and prepare your body for the starting line. As you run, draw inspiration from the energy and excitement of our course Cheer Zones and the other runners around you. Upon crossing the finish line, our Finish Line Fiesta will recharge you. Don’t miss out on New Mexico’s premier race experience - Register today!
Race Details
The Lovelace Rio Grande Half Marathon and 5k take pride in providing runners with the best race experience possible and we have broken down the race details for you in our easy to use guide below. Please contact us if you need additional information or have any questions.
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Both the Half Marathon and One Medal 5k courses are relatively flat and fast. Throughout the race, we encourage and advise runners to stay hydrated to prevent dehydration. Water stations are located approximately every 1.5 miles and never more than 2.5 miles apart along the course. Each water station will provide water, Gatorade, and ice.
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Sunday, August 10th
5:30am — Race Day Packet Pick Up
6:30am — Lovelace Half Marathon Start
7:00am — 5K Run/Walk Start
8:30am — Awards
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Sport Systems
6915 Montgomery Blvd. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109Friday, August 9, 2024
12:00pm - 6:00pmSaturday, August 10, 2024
12:00pm - 6:00pm -
Parking is plentiful and can be accessed off of Alameda Boulevard via San Mateo Boulevard and then turn left on Balloon Fiesta Parkway. If you are traveling from north of Albuquerque, you can take the I-25 frontage road from Tramway Road and turn right on Balloon Fiesta Parkway.
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Your friends can stay updated on your progress and receive live status updates from the course. You can also enter your Facebook information if you want your splits and final time to be posted there.
All registered runners will be issued a bib with a B-Tag timing chip. You must wear your bib so that it’s clearly visible on the front of your torso.
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Runners for both the Half Marathon and 5k will receive the following:
-High quality technical short sleeve or singlet (your choice)
-Custom New Mexico Zia medal
-Finish Line Fiesta food and drink ticket: Dairy Queen Dilly Bars, Watermelon, Golden Pride Breakfast Burritos, Canteen Brewing Beer, Live Music
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Come to the Finish Line Fiesta for brunch! The Finish Line Fiesta will feature refreshments from Canteen Brewhouse, Golden Pride breakfast burritos, and live music from The Hit Squad.
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The top three Half Marathon and One Medal 5K finishers in each of the following categories will receive awards: 11 & under, 12-15, 16-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79,80-84, 85+
One Medal Honorees – One Medal Participants presented medals for their honorees (all age groups)
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Bag Drop will be south of the finish line under The Bosque Running Company tents.
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We need your help! Email us if you and your friends want to help us out on race morning. We promise a fun time plus you’ll get a super cool tee shirt and access to the Finish Line Fiesta where you will enjoy food, music, beer, and friends!
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One Medal is an affinity endurance program that celebrates the successes of those who participate in a race or endurance event in memory of or as an encouragement for someone’s recovery, a celebration of life or other special occasion.
One Medal provides athletes an opportunity to change the world by providing a united platform to train “on purpose and for a purpose”, honoring someone or something “larger” than themselves. One Medal participants inspire, empower& encourage people going through adversity, in honor of someone who faces a seeming insurmountable challenge and/or fighting a disease. One Medal athletes also participate in memory of a someone’s life, representing an important cause or to simply celebrate a loved one’s special occasion. One Medal participants receive their recognition through humility, determination and self-sacrifice for someone, or something, larger than themselves. To learn more click here: One Medal
Free Race Photos
The 2023 race photos taken by Travis and Amanda from Lobo Photo NM were awesome and we are super excited to announce they will be on the 2024 race course snapping your memorable race moments! Lobo Photo NM specializes in taking amazing race photos and is New Mexico’s best outdoor action photography shop. Best of all you will be able to access your race photos for free soon after the race!
Our Partners
The Rio Grande Half Marathon and 5k is proud to partner with numerous local businesses and organizations that have been very generous in supporting our mission to bring high quality racing to the Land of Enchantment.
Benefitting
100 Friends For 100 Miles
100 Friends For 100 Miles has a $50,000 fundraising goal for Special Olympics New Mexico. Special Olympics empoweris children and adults with intellectual disabilities through sports training and competitions, and witness the inspiring determination of our Special Olympics athletes.
Results
\All results are posted live on the day of the race. You can also see past results here.