The race starts on Elm Street in front of Paycor Stadium, home stadium of the Cincinnati Bengals.
From there, the course winds through downtown, crossing the river twice between Ohio and northern Kentucky — first over the Taylor Southgate Bridge and next over the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge — all while maintaining a mostly flat route for the first five miles of the race.
The course takes the field past a number of the city’s most important sports landmarks along the early downtown part of the course, including the remains of the old Riverfront Stadium (where Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds formerly played, and where Pete Rose knocked his legendary 4,192nd hit in September 1985) as well as the new stadium where the Reds now play, the Great American Ballpark.
After staying mostly steady at an elevation of around 500 feet above sea level from the starting line through the mile 5 marker at Plum Street, the course then begins a long, stair-step-style incline over the next three miles that organizers call “the Climb,” rising to about 800 feet above sea level by the time runners reach the eighth mile marker.
Along these miles, the course takes participants around and through hilly Eden Park, a 186-acre green space right in the center of the city that is also home to the city’s Cincinnati Art Museum and Art Academy, as well as the Krohn Conservatory.