Magic City Half Marathon

Over the years our event weekend has been the fastest growing half marathon in the South! And with perfect running conditions, great swag and tons of excitement on and off the courses, we expect even bigger growth this year.Our events benefit the Ruben Studdard Foundation for the Advancement of Children in the Music Arts.The Magic City Half Marathon Weekend features great music, post-race craft beer, entertainment and of course a fantastic run in the heart of Birmingham.

Runners will follow an out-and-back course that starts and finishes at Birmingham’s Regions Park, on First Avenue South From there, runners head west and south, in the direction of Legion Field.Once the site for the annual “Iron Bowl” football game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn University Tigers, Legion Field today is the home field for the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s Blazers.Runners make their way past the aging 71,000-seat stadium on their way toward Bush Hills, where they turn right on 12th Street to head south toward Rickwood Field. The course heads through Rickwood Field along 2nd Avenue, and then takes runners back toward Legion Field, where they turn right on Graymont Avenue.The next stretch of the race begins a long, gradual uphill ascent over the next few miles, past Railroad Park toward the Five Points South neighborhood, which is mixed in with the UAB campus.Runners continue northeast and head through campus, running along the race’s only real rolling hills toward Avondale Park. They’ll do a quick out-and-back past the top end of the park along 5th Avenue, and then head back west toward 35th Street, where they’ll turn right and head north.