Ave Maria Marathon
Ave Maria, FL
- Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, 1 Miler
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Just a short drive from Naples, Florida – the Ave Maria Marathon is located in the heart of beautiful Ave Maria and will include gorgeous, scenic routes for all distances! Athletes will have a chance to participate in the mile, 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon!
Local Historical Weather (Feb 10):
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
| H (°F) | 77 | 84 | 74 | 84 | 86 |
| L (°F) | 59 | 67 | 49 | 66 | 62 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Not Everglades but still saw a Gator
I was initially registered to do the Everglades Half with Vacation Races this weekend. However it got canceled a couple months in advance. I am trying to reach Sun Level … MORE
I was initially registered to do the Everglades Half with Vacation Races this weekend. However it got canceled a couple months in advance. I am trying to reach Sun Level in Half Fanatics so wanted to find a replacement race but did not want to change my travel plans so I looked for the next closest half marathon to Miami and I found this one. This race is located in a small town called Ave Maria outside Naples. I flew into Miami but there is probably a closer airport. I just didn’t feel like changing my flight and rental car. It was about a 2 hour drive from Miami. I did change my hotel and stayed in Naples. I took Friday off since I was planning to do the Everglades 5K and arrived Friday morning and drove over. Since I was looking forward to seeing some alligators and other swamp animals and vegetation I stopped by the nearby Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary which was close to Ave Maria and it was a nice 2 mile boardwalk where I saw lots of cool animals at a safe distance. I would recommend stopping by if you do this race. I then went to packet pick-up. It was just a booth outside. No other vendors but it was efficient and let me see the lay out of the town. Definitely fine to wait until race day if it works better with your plans. The packet included the bib and a purple, tech shirt. It’s an okay shirt. I’d rate it below average but it was fine for a smaller half marathon. Race day morning was easy as it’s a small race and there was plenty of parking. The marathon and half marathons started at 7am. There were no waves or anything but it was a small race so it didn’t really matter. There were around 70-80 participants in the half and less in the full. The course is a loop through the town with an out and back on a bike trail in the middle in that makes sense. So it’s kind of a lollipop shape but you start at the circle. The first part of the loop is through neighborhoods and golf courses and the scenery is fine. It is mostly on the sidewalk which is okay for a race like this. The bike path is next to a busy street so one side is cars. The other side has some nice swampy scenery and some more industrial buildings so it is a mixed bag. The second part of the loop is also through neighborhoods. Course was for the most part well marked. Though I though a few direction arrows may be nice near the end. There were a lot of crossroads but I correctly assumed on the lack of markings to go straight but I always feel better if I see an arrow pointing me instead of assuming. Otherwise production was good for a smaller race. There were mild markers and sufficient aid stations and porta potties. The volunteers were cheerful but there were limited other spectators. Since it’s a small race for some of the race I was by myself. I was excited I did see an alligator right nearby in a pond while on the bike path since alligators were one reason I wanted to do the Everglades race. This also had by far the best weather of any race I had done in Florida. It was still a bit hotter than ideal and there was a light breeze but as this is more inland there was less wind and also less humidity than the other Florida races I have done. It was also very flat as expected for Florida. My pace was fine. I didn’t push myself too hard since I had another race tomorrow. The race has a stated time limit of 3:30 but they weren’t strict about it since the marathon is a double loop of the half. I was under 3:30. I was aiming for under 3:20 but oops I just missed my goal by 3 seconds taking pictures of the alligator. The finish line had an announcer and you got your medal. The medal has a nice design but it kind of small compared to other half marathon medals. There was expected food like bagels, fruit and granola bars at the end. I liked that they had peanut butter for the bagels. Overall this was a fine race but not really anything spectacular. I typically like a bigger race as I prefer not to be running by myself so much but everything met expectations for me. This is definitely not my first choice for Florida unless you like races with under 100 participants. However I was happy I was able to find this race to replace the Everglades with and I’d recommend it to locals or if you happen to be in the area.
Great first time race
For the first year that this race was happening, everything ran very smoothly. Although it may have been a bit warmer towards the end of the day, the weather was … MORE
For the first year that this race was happening, everything ran very smoothly. Although it may have been a bit warmer towards the end of the day, the weather was perfect otherwise and the people were extremely nice.