Tobacco Road Marathon Brings 4,000 Runners to Cary, Supports Local Nonprofits

More than 4,000 runners laced up at Thomas Brooks Park in Cary on Sunday for the 16th annual Tobacco Road Marathon and Half Marathon, a race that has quietly become one of the Triangle's most consequential charitable sporting events since its 2010 debut.

About 2,800 participants completed the half marathon while roughly 1,200 finished the full 26.2-mile course. Race organizers say the event has raised more than $2 million for charities since its inception and expects to donate about $150,000 to local groups from this year's race alone. The entire event weekend is run by an all-volunteer staff, and 100 percent of proceeds go to charity. Past beneficiaries have included the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the American Red Cross, Hope For The Warriors, Wake County Parks and Recreation, Triangle Rails To Trails, and the YMCA.

The race also draws serious competitors. Both the full marathon and half marathon courses are USA Track & Field certified, and the event serves as a Boston Marathon qualifier, pulling athletes from across the region chasing the times needed to earn a spot in Hopkinton.

The course itself is built around a stretch of local history. Over 20 miles of the marathon route run along the American Tobacco Trail, a nearly 23-mile recreational rail-trail constructed on an abandoned Norfolk Southern Railroad corridor. The original railroad, built in 1906, carried tobacco leaf from farming communities in Wake, Chatham, and Durham counties to the American Tobacco Company in Durham. Wake County opened its first 3.5-mile section of the trail in 2003; by 2006, the county's full 6.5-mile portion was complete. The rest of the marathon course is flat and fast, finishing with a downhill stretch back to Thomas Brooks Park.

After crossing the finish line, runners gathered to celebrate, socialize, and snap photos with friends and family. Race co-director Cid Cardoso, who helps coordinate an event that started with just over 3,400 registered runners from 39 states in 2010, described what keeps the all-volunteer operation going year after year.

"This is an opportunity to give back a little to the running community," Cardoso said. "It's a lot of hard work, but when we stand at the finish line and see people cross with exhilaration the happy faces, the high fives, the pictures I think that's why we do it."

"We know what a great feeling it is, and it's great to be able to share and make that possible for other runners," he added.

The event reached a significant milestone in 2019 when cumulative charitable giving surpassed $1 million. Seven years later, that figure has more than doubled, underscoring how a volunteer-run road race that once fit inside 39 states' worth of registrations has grown into a durable source of funding for nonprofits across Wake County and the broader Triangle.