Boise Marathon
Boise, ID
- Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Boise Marathon is the summer option for the Boise Four Race Series on one of the longest Boise days. Sunrise is at 6.04 a.m. and while Sunset is scheduled 9.30 p.m., you know that Boise sun can hang in the sky until late into the evening. We can’t imagine … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jun 20):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 82 | 74 | 89 | 63 | 73 |
| L (°F) | 68 | 55 | 59 | 41 | 47 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Great Greenbelt Starter
The races on the Boise Greenbelt are a mixed bag. It’s great to have this area without cars to complete a race and it’s a scenic river. That said, it’s … MORE
The races on the Boise Greenbelt are a mixed bag. It’s great to have this area without cars to complete a race and it’s a scenic river. That said, it’s not a closed course, so there’s a constant battle to avoid bikes, pups, kiddos, etc. Additionally, the Greenbelt can start to feel stale after a few races out there. This particular race is pretty straightforward as it starts and ends at Payette Brewing while completing a double loop. Although the repetition is a bit tedious, it avoids “some” of the tricky turns on some of the other races here. The challenges on turns in this race are just the overlapping races. Logistically, having multiple races on the course at once makes sense, but it can be a challenge in the final mile or two of a marathon when trying to weave strollers and walkers on a 5k. As for swag, it ok. The medal is pretty plain, although very large. The race shirt is nice, but that’s pretty much it. You don’t need more than that, but I don’t hate quirky sponsors! The aid stations are frequent enough but I had some issues finding water at 3 consecutive stations (1st thought it was water, second wasn’t sure what she had and 3rd had a death grip on the cup). I think I was a bit unlucky, but be prepared. I’ll underscore the people were awesome. Very friendly, helpful, and definitely doing their best to make the day good for everyone. Overall, good race, but not one that has that “one thing” to remember. Suggestions from me include: 1) perhaps a band or announcer at the finish to liven it up. 2) maybe a double sided photo op area (or multiple). There was a very long line for this. A few more “pros”…The timing loops were great. Some races don’t have enough, this one had tons! A few good vendors (I’d like to see even more). Overall attitude of all.volunteers. Just outstanding.
Awesome Small Race! Great for PR!
Boise Marathon! Lucky #13! This was my 13th Marathon, 10th state, and now my FASTEST MARATHON! Boise Marathon is a very well organized small race. The packet pickup was quick … MORE
Boise Marathon! Lucky #13! This was my 13th Marathon, 10th state, and now my FASTEST MARATHON! Boise Marathon is a very well organized small race. The packet pickup was quick & easy, just your bib & a t-shirt. I stayed downtown & got around on a lime scooter. Uber is super cheap here too, no need to rent a car. Easy Uber to the start. There was a bag check & plenty of porta potties. At the start the temps were in the 40s, but it warmed up nicely as the sun came over the mountains and got up to 60F. The course was easy, flat, and scenic. It’s an out and back course that starts in a park near downtown, out of the city along the Boise River into a canyon, and back. Aid stations were every 2 miles stocked with water & Gatorade. I’m pretty sure the station in the canyon had Kool-Aid 😂 Not all the stations had a porta potty. I used one and went in the bushes a couple of times. The lady I paced off of went in the bush one time too 🤭👍🏿 At the finish they had water, bananas, and oranges. Easy Uber back to my hotel after I finished.
I like what this race company is doing
I've run several of this company's races, and there's really little to complain about. I think the directors improve on little things as time passes. This is a Greenbelt race, … MORE
I’ve run several of this company’s races, and there’s really little to complain about. I think the directors improve on little things as time passes. This is a Greenbelt race, kind of boring for local runners, but my guess is out of towners will enjoy it. Great soft T-shirts, Impressive medals if that’s important to you, and just a low-key, low stress vibe overall.
Great Race
Beautiful scenery along the Boise River and green belt area. This is a low frills marathon plenty of water stops but not much going on after. MORE
Beautiful scenery along the Boise River and green belt area. This is a low frills marathon plenty of water stops but not much going on after.
Pretty Run Along the Greenbelt
We were up in Idaho for vacation anyway so ran it for the bling bonus on a long run. The race is pretty no frills, which isn't bad, it's just … MORE
We were up in Idaho for vacation anyway so ran it for the bling bonus on a long run. The race is pretty no frills, which isn’t bad, it’s just not a major production. You could pick what color shirt you wanted which was nice, I love blue and they had my favorite. The race starts at Payette Brewing Company on the Greenbelt…you run one direction for a little bit, cross over and then back on the other side of the river and run the other direction for a long ways and then back again as an out and back (I think it was supposed to be a shuttle, one way course but there was flooding they had recently). The course is super pretty along the river, lots of trees (Boise is known as the City of Trees). It was hotter than blazes that day and the race started at 7A so it was already warming up so it was a sloooow race for me. Super flat because it’s along the river. There were sections that you had to deal with other walkers/runners/dogs/bikes, but it wasn’t too bad. Post race food was pretty minimal. AG awards were cool wooden Boise magnets and the medal was a good medal. Tons of parking at start line which was nice–no worrying about where your car was, it was a huge parking lot.
Did not get water stops till mile 11
Not a lot of support. This year they ran out of water cups. The full and half marathoners had to deal with the start of the 10K and 5K as … MORE
Not a lot of support. This year they ran out of water cups. The full and half marathoners had to deal with the start of the 10K and 5K as they did the second loop through the start/finish line.
Got to run along the river and through a golf course.
So Much Potential...
There was no way to get my packet aka my bib the day before the race as they only offered pickup in the middle of the week. I don't live … MORE
There was no way to get my packet aka my bib the day before the race as they only offered pickup in the middle of the week. I don’t live in Idaho, but luckily had a former friend in the area and she picked it up so I avoided the massive line on race day. Weather was terrible with rain and high winds, but I found a couple friendly people during the race and we worked together. Course was pretty, but mile markers and turns were not clear. One of the friends I had made was a local so I was able to keep him in sight to follow. Lots of aide stations were empty and no Gu was given on the course. Luckily I was prepared. I did get to see my family 3 times on the course which was awesome. At the finish my new friend was the one to tell me that shirts were going to be mailed out. After the race I found out I won my age group and was so excited. It took 6 weeks and multiple emails to receive my shirt and age group award…which was a clear bottle with a sticker slapped on it that made it seem like I won the entire race. I was super bummed because I have never won my age group. Post race I found out via Facebook that tons of people got lost, ran longer distances, and didn’t carry water/gu and were on the course without. Because of the craziness, directors have stated they will now hire a “running committee” and everyone who ran in 2021 gets a free entry to their 2022 race. This race has great potential because the course I beautiful, but they need major help before I could suggest this race to others.
It was a flat easy course.
Lots of aid stations and people directing at turns in the course, which was good because the wind was blowing over signage. The biggest problem with this race was the … MORE
Lots of aid stations and people directing at turns in the course, which was good because the wind was blowing over signage.
The biggest problem with this race was the poor communication. Packet pickup was changed at least twice discovered that when going to pickup packet . 3rd time was the charm. At pickup they said shirts would be available race day. Race day they said they didn’t bring the shirts because it was raining. We were told they would set up another packet pickup. Still waiting.
Horrible beyond horrible
I did not run this race but I am a local who has run 50+ marathons and knows how a race should be put on. I live along the race … MORE
I did not run this race but I am a local who has run 50+ marathons and knows how a race should be put on. I live along the race route and was disgusted by everything that I heard happened during this race. It ranged from little to no on course fluids/nutrition, poor course markings, and poor race direction.
The day following the race I went out for a run late morning and was horrified that their were still large route markers tossed to the side of the path, cups, gel packets, a water jug, and other trash not yet picked up by race staff. The event organizers even tried to say that I was lying and that the photos I posted weren’t real. I ran 13 miles the day following the marathon and another 6 the day after that collecting every little piece of trash from the race I could find. It took the directors 72 hours to finally admit that they made mistakes. If you want more details I suggest you look at The Boise Marathon Facebook page. Look at the ’21 reviews and other comments from the days after the race. It is actually quite entertaining yet sad to read. This event company called “The Go Agency” apparently took over this event this year. Stay away??? If you want to do a marathon in Boise I would recommend the YMCA Famous Potato. At least they are runners and know what they are doing.
Flat and fast (well could be)
This is a race that I will come back to in order to go for a BQ time. I went out gunning for a big PR and blew up, but … MORE
This is a race that I will come back to in order to go for a BQ time. I went out gunning for a big PR and blew up, but the course lends itself to a fast time. No crowds to weave through and for the marathon, the course was marked well. I heard some of the other distances had some confusion. It is pretty much as flat as it can be but all on the greenbelt. The organization and communication could be better. I’m not sure if it was because it taken over this year by another org but the website info was a little lacking. There was no running through neighborhoods or the city. Putting the address to the start area and expo would be helpful for out of town runners.
Packet pick up was easy but swag/expo wasn’t much, just a long sleeve cotton blend shirt. The great thing about a small race was it was easy to wear the prerace warm clothes right up to the start time and drop them at the gear check. I got registered super early for a steal of a price so no real complaints here.
Post race, the medal was nice and food and drink were easily available.
Boise is a really nice city. Since I am going for all 50 states, I generally wouldn’t do a race twice, but this is one I will to come back to for a PR/BQ attempt.
Course could have been better
The initial description of this race said it went through the city, neighborhoods, and greenbelt, but the course was all on the greenbelt, which was scenic at first but repetitive … MORE
The initial description of this race said it went through the city, neighborhoods, and greenbelt, but the course was all on the greenbelt, which was scenic at first but repetitive after awhile.
Small, fun atmosphere marathon
Expo was super small, not much there but the people were very nice all around. I stayed in a hotel close enough to walk (Hampton) and everything was pretty easy … MORE
Expo was super small, not much there but the people were very nice all around. I stayed in a hotel close enough to walk (Hampton) and everything was pretty easy logistics wise. The race was beautiful! It was along a course that spent a lot of miles by the river and through a green belt. It had several loops but it was so nice I didn’t mind! The only issue I had was that it was not well marked in the final miles. I went the wrong direction twice which cost me a BQ— missed it by 1:50. I ran with 4:20 pacers and they made the miles fly by. The Wizard of Oz theme was pretty cute, especially the MC being costumed as the Wizard!