Canyonlands Half Marathon Returns to Moab for 51st Year in 2026
Moab's Canyonlands Half Marathon hits its 51st year on March 21 with a 5,000-runner cap and no race-day registration — register now or miss it.
One of the Colorado Plateau's longest-running road races reaches a milestone this Saturday, March 21, when the Canyonlands Half Marathon and 5-Mile Run lines up in Moab for its 51st year. The USATF-certified half marathon follows the Colorado River corridor south of town before finishing at Lions Park, winding through the red rock landscape that has made this race a fixture on the Four Corners running calendar since the mid-1970s.
The half marathon goes off at 8:15 a.m., with the 5-Mile option starting shortly after. The field is capped at 5,000 entries, and with no race-day registration available, anyone still on the fence needs to act before the bib supply runs out. Packet pickup is Friday only, meaning race-morning logistics are simplified but there's no margin for procrastinating on that either. Registration is $115 and up through madmooseevents.com or UltraSignUp.
Mad Moose Events, the Moab-based trail and road running company run by Justin and Denise Ricks, organizes the event. The race draws thousands of runners to a course that runs parallel to Arches National Park and the Colorado River, making it one of the more scenic road halfs in the region regardless of how your legs feel by mile eleven.
Beyond the race itself, the event carries meaningful weight for the local community. Last year the Canyonlands Half Marathon raised $25,000 for local nonprofits including Grand County Track and Field, Girls on the Run, Community Rebuilds, and Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation. That kind of fundraising output, built into the infrastructure of a road race rather than bolted on as an afterthought, is part of what gives this event staying power well past its 50th anniversary.
For runners looking to extend their spring race season after Canyonlands wraps, the Amasa Trail Race follows on April 11 in Moab with distances ranging from 10k to 50k, and the Canyonlands Ultra returns October 24 in San Juan County for anyone who wants another shot at this landscape on trail.
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