This small city that was voted by Money Magazine as one of its top 20 places to live in the U.S. in 2010 plays host to the 14th annual running of the Carmel Marathon Championship Weekend, a series of four races that features both a full and a half marathon in addition to a 10K and a 5K. All four running events follow out-and-back courses that start and finish in the heart of Carmel’s Arts and Design District, where the city’s newly built Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts stands, along City Center Drive.
From the starting line in front of the Palladium, runners in the half marathon head out on what is basically a counter-clockwise loop route through the city, along a combination of city streets as well as just over a mile along the Carmel Creek Park trail.
Both the half marathoners and the full marathoners start the race together, running the entire half marathon together. Those running the half will cross the finish line back at the Palladium while the full marathoners keep going for the second half of the marathon west of the half marathon route.
