Clearwater Running Festival
Clearwater, FL
- 50K, Marathon, Half Marathon, Half Marathon Relay, 5K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Plan Your Runcation! #RunClearwaterThe Clearwater Running Festival is home to America’s #1 beach and is just 22 miles from Tampa on Florida’s stunning west coast. Clearwater boasts an endless supply of sun, warm weather, great dining and is a prime location for a running festival. All courses start and finish … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jan 30):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°F) | 70 | 77 | 62 | 81 | 53 |
| L (°F) | 45 | 54 | 45 | 62 | 36 |
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Great race. Travel for this one!
So this has been on my list for quite a while, and I finally decided to just drive down there and do it. I'm glad I did. The race org … MORE
So this has been on my list for quite a while, and I finally decided to just drive down there and do it. I’m glad I did. The race org was great, and there is a festival on the beach. The start / finish line is on asphalt, but is right next to the festival. Lots of venders here, lots of stuff to see and do. It’s a great race.
There is only one hotel at the start line and even with the race discount it is expensive. The race needs to partner with (more) cheaper hotel options that are not at the start / finish line. That is part a) of my negative comments on this race. Part b) is that they might consider having the shuttle bus stop at a few of those hotels, or at least one? The shuttle departs from a 15 or 20 minute walk from where I stayed, and if I was walking the opposite direction, toward the race, it would have been a 25 minute walk. Given, the shuttle was easy to catch, but if I want to drive there, then I need to think about / scout out parking, and that part of Clearwater is not a place I want to drive in or risk getting caught up in traffic after the race. With that said, for a race this big, I understand it is hard to do it flawlessly, and hard to please everyone. Overall, it was really well done and I would do it again.
Fantastic marathon
6 tough bridge crossings that add up. Besides that, the course is flat with a few small hills. The overall event is extremely organized and well put together. Definitely recommend MORE
6 tough bridge crossings that add up. Besides that, the course is flat with a few small hills. The overall event is extremely organized and well put together. Definitely recommend it!
3 bridges, 13.1 miles of Clearwater FL
How can you go wrong doing a half marathon in Clearwater, Florida at the end of January! And as the start is only 3 miles from my house, I especially … MORE
How can you go wrong doing a half marathon in Clearwater, Florida at the end of January! And as the start is only 3 miles from my house, I especially like this one!
The Clearwater combo is a 5K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. Bib pick up has plenty of parking and is painless. The same area is also the start/finish for both races, and there’s plenty of parking for five dollars, I believe it was.
This part of Florida is very flat, however there are three bridges to cover. The first one is a rather tall one that takes you from Sand Key park into the Clearwater Beach area. The second bridge is flatter and takes you into the downtown Clearwater area, and the third bridge takes you from Belleair Bluffs area onto the islands again, and back to the start at Sandy Key. I really enjoy the race because of the varied scenery, from beaches to marinas to downtown area to beautiful older homes, to gulf front properties.
The swag is a quarter zip pullover for the half, and is always well done, along with beautiful, sometimes stained glass looking medals.
I highly recommend catching this race locally, or getting out of a cold winter destination to enjoy the warmth!
Beautiful, but tough bridges!
Highly recommend for a florida marathon! The scenery was great but the bridges were tough! If you missed Disney, do this one and make it a vacation! MORE
Highly recommend for a florida marathon! The scenery was great but the bridges were tough! If you missed Disney, do this one and make it a vacation!
Support Local and Travel
I chose to do this race since it is produced by Millennium Running my favorite New England Race company who travel down to Florida once per year to host this … MORE
I chose to do this race since it is produced by Millennium Running my favorite New England Race company who travel down to Florida once per year to host this race for a RaceCation. This was a good way to be able to support a local running company but still escape the cold of New England. Much like Bermuda, there was a ton of New Englanders traveling to this race to run in warmer weather. This race logistically is very easy. Clearwater is a 25 minute drive from Tampa and there are lots of flights to Tampa. I was able to fly Friday night to do the 5K and half marathon combo. There is also race day packet pick-up making logistics even easier. The host hotel is right by the start/finish but I stayed at a Holiday Inn about 1 mile away since it was a bit cheaper and I’m an IHG member. I did chose to rent a car but you can definitely get away without renting a car. Clearwater is also a great place for a weekend trip. On Saturday afternoon I went on a dolphin encounter boat and it was so cool as the dolphins swam right by the boat. There is good pre race communication with email updates and a very updated and useful, easy to navigate website. I got my packet Saturday morning before the 5K. Swag is very good especially for the price in Florida. I have found Florida races tend to be expensive or have minimal swag. This race had a nice, tech quarter-zip jacket for the longer races, and a drawstring bag. There is a hat for the 5K. I liked the different swag item for each race. Even though I technically could walk to the race I did decide to drive. Parking was easy in the park and there was someone directing traffic. It does seem to fill up. I arrived about an hour early and it was getting full so definitely come at least 45 minutes early if you are driving. Race was organized and they had signs of where to sign up by pace and pacers. I lined up near the back. I was excited to see there were 3 hour pacers as I really wanted to finish this race under 3 hours as I was unable to finish Bermuda under 3 hours. However the pacers were not very good so I didn’t stick with them. More on them later. The weather the day of the half marathon was absolutely perfect. I think it may be the best weather for any race I have done. It was not too cold or too hot. There was minimal humidity for Florida and there was minimal wind. I knew this would be a good day of running. The course is really nice. It is a loop. half marathoners do it once and marathoners do it twice. It is pretty much pancake flat with 3 large bridges. I actually liked this elevation profile a lot as the bridges mixed things up. My strategy was to do steady run-walk intervals on the flat portion, power walk up the bridges and run as hard as I could down the bridges. I followed this strategy perfectly and had one of my best finishing times recently and also had very even splits. The course scenery was also excellent with most of it with views of the water or through nice, fancy neighborhoods or fun beachy areas. Production was also very good as expected by Millennium. There were plenty of aid stations with water and gatorade and one with Gu. The course was well marked and there were mile markers. My only minor production complaint was while there was always a coned off area for runners on the roads the area was a bit narrow towards the end making it hard to do my steady run-walk pace and I slowed down a tiny bit because of it. Everything else within the race’s control was excellent. A few things outside the race company’s control were less excellent. The first is that there are not a ton of spectators. Not a huge deal since there is a nice size running field of a bit over 1000 half marathoners and a few hundred marathoners but if you thrive on spectator support this wouldn’t be my first choice race. The other issues was the 3:00 hour pacers. The pacers were for the half and full marathon so I understand going a little faster the first half to bank time for the marathon but they were going so fast I could not keep up with them and I was way under a 3 hour half marathon pace. They also seemed to lose most of the runners with them who couldn’t keep up. I knew they were going to fast and that I was well on track to make my goal time so ignored them but seriously pacers need to go the pace they are supposed to do. I didn’t catch up to them until mile 8 which is crazy since I was consistently under a 13 min/mile pace the entire race. Otherwise everything was excellent and I had a great race. I was happy to finish around 2:46 and well under my 3 hour goal. The finish line is exciting with an announcer cheering us on. The medal is really nice and big and you get another big medal for doing the combo (although it was a bit odd the combo medal is given during packet pick-up and not after the race though it is better than accidentally forgetting to pick it up after the race and needing to go back like I did in Fargo). There were basic post race snacks and free energy drinks and beer at the finish line. I didn’t see anything more substantial for food than the typical granola bar, chips, bananas but didn’t look too hard. They also had a food truck selling coffee and one selling popsicles. The post race area is right by the beach and it is nice because you can go to the beach right after. Overall this was a great race with great production, great scenery, great weather, favorable elevation profile, and nice swag. I definitely think it is a good choice for Florida. I did think the Donna in Jacksonville had much better crowd support and personally I love the city of Miami so I would give those races a slight edge but this is still a great choice for Florida and a fun place to visit. I would definitely consider doing this one again as the logistics were easy for a weekend trip.
Missed cutoff time by 20 seconds
This is not a race for older runners. I am a 72 year old ultrarunner and was told I could not make the turnoff for the 50K because I showed … MORE
This is not a race for older runners. I am a 72 year old ultrarunner and was told I could not make the turnoff for the 50K because I showed up 20 seconds too late. I had stopped for one minute to help up an elderly woman who had fallen and this put me over the cutoff time. Still, I think though this is a very nice race, it does not cater to those of us who are older and getting slower.
Beach Party!
Fun run over the bridge (tough but worth it) and back...the sunrise was spectacular. The race finishes next to the beautiful sandy white beach. We enjoyed our beer while watching … MORE
Fun run over the bridge (tough but worth it) and back…the sunrise was spectacular. The race finishes next to the beautiful sandy white beach. We enjoyed our beer while watching the waves. I highly recommend this race.
Beautiful Sunrise on the Gulf
I ran this 5K as part of the combo with the half marathon. More of the details are in the half marathon review. The 5K is Saturday and I did … MORE
I ran this 5K as part of the combo with the half marathon. More of the details are in the half marathon review. The 5K is Saturday and I did race day packet pick-up since I arrived late on Friday. Packet included bib and a hat. I liked the swag item being a hat for the 5K as it was different than the swag item for the longer race. The race had the same start location as the half/full marathon and similar set up for the start. It is an out and back. It does go on a bridge which makes it a bit tough going up the bridge. The scenery is beautiful as it starts at 7am and it is sunrise on the bridge. It is well organized and there is a water stop around mile 1 and 2 that you pass twice. I knew it would be great conditions for me to have a fast half marathon on Sunday so I took the 5K easy and took some pics. My finishing time was fine. You do get a medal for the 5K which is rare for a Millennium event but much more common in Florida than New England where you rarely get medals for 5K. Similar post race set up as half marathon with snacks and ocean views. You get an extra combo medal if you do both the 5K and a longer race. Overall a nice way to get more bling and get another work out in but not a must run if you can’t arrive Friday evening.
All in, All day
All Day Running Co. Just put on a fantastic weekend of events. I signed up and did the 5k on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday. You got a … MORE
All Day Running Co. Just put on a fantastic weekend of events. I signed up and did the 5k on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday. You got a third medal for completing 2 distances over the weekend. The medals were really nice. Everything from packet pickup to race day and after party was very organized. A few local vendors were also on site. They even had a “sauna village” for after the races that had saunas, cold plunge tubs, showers and fire pits going, all on the beach!!! The race courses were well laid out and marked very well. There are 3 bridges to cross, so there is some work to do, but other that that the course is mostly flat. The weather was perfect am my pacer was right on time, literally! Not a ton of crowd support but there was a fair amount of people scattered around the course so you definitely did not feel like you were running in no-mans land. This is an event I will definitely put on my list to do again!!
Fun Destination Race
I ran the Clearwater Running Festival Challenge - the 5K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday, as a destination weekend getaway with a friend. We definitely enjoyed the … MORE
I ran the Clearwater Running Festival Challenge – the 5K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday, as a destination weekend getaway with a friend. We definitely enjoyed the race location, start and finish right along the gulf coast. The course is one big loop for the half marathon (2 loops for the full) and loops over 3 large bridges and through neighborhoods and along the strip between Clearwater Beach and Belleair Beach. We were able to stay within reasonable walking distance of the start/finish area.
The packet pickup was a breeze, with a few vendors but no big expo. It was at the start/finish area in Sand Key park with plenty of parking if you didn’t walk.
The beginning of the race was delayed because there was so much traffic coming into the park, the roadway wasn’t cleared in time to start at the scheduled start time. This wasn’t a huge deal at the beginning, but it meant that everyone was exposed to 10-15 extra minutes of hot Florida sun later in the race.
The start line became a huge bottleneck because of the horseshoe bend turn the road takes as soon as you cross the start line. This could easily be avoided or lessened by starting the race in waves or corrals. All 3 races started together – half, full, and 50K. Starting the full and 50K 5-10 minutes before the half also would have been a tremendous help. While the bottleneck was annoying, it also served an unexpected purpose of keeping me from starting too fast.
Out of the park, the race went over the first of the 3 large bridges. I heard many people complaining about these “hills” which I didn’t think were too bad, especially with a nice downhill following the uphill. I also run in an area that has quite a few hills, so for me they weren’t bad hills. There were enough trees and clouds to keep the race from being too hot until you reached mile 8-9. This is where the course left the shelter of the neighborhoods with trees and headed over the last bridge to the straightaway back to the park. This part of the course was in full sun early on and it was quite warm for a January day in Florida. The police did a good job of stopping traffic to let the runners cross the road and head back into the park for the finish.
I enjoyed being able to walk right out to the Gulf of Mexico and put my feet in the water after finishing the race – definitely a nice perk!! Post race food included the standard water, banana and other packaged snacks. They had a big tent set up on the beach to enjoy your post race snacks and adult beverage (if you chose to redeem your drink ticket).
The medals are HUGE! I ended up with the 3rd bonus medal for completing the challenge and these medals are by far my largest race medals. We also received a short sleeve shirt for the 5k, a quarter zip pullover of the same shirt material for the half/full/50K, and a reusable bag which doubled as many peoples’ drop bags.
Hot, hot, hot
Pros: Lots of pace groups, easy to find and lots of parking, great after party on the beach, fantastic swag. Cons: SO hot, double loop course, not enough bathrooms (especially … MORE
Pros:
Lots of pace groups, easy to find and lots of parking, great after party on the beach, fantastic swag.
Cons: SO hot, double loop course, not enough bathrooms (especially in the first loop when there’s a lot of runners), aid stations not staffed, and lack of support on course.
Beautiful Course! 🌴
This course was absolutely breathtaking! I flew down from NH for a runcation and stayed adjacent to the start/finish at the Sheraton Sand Keys Resort. The race began at sunrise … MORE
This course was absolutely breathtaking! I flew down from NH for a runcation and stayed adjacent to the start/finish at the Sheraton Sand Keys Resort. The race began at sunrise and the views were spectacular.
Transportation/Parking: The race began 10 minutes late allowing travelers to park and get ready to run. There was parking nearby but I stayed right on site so could walk to pick up my bib
Course: I’m not used to such flat terrain! The bridges had quite the inclines but otherwise the course was a pancake
Scenery: SO much to see! I ran with my phone in hand and snagged photos of the sunrise, birds, palm trees and the waterscape
Crowd Support: There were some areas with spectators which helped for an extra push through the course but wish there were some more
Aid stations: Lots of water stops (some even manned by neighbors of the race) I did not see any gels or syrup available through the course but believe they were out for the full and ultra marathons
Race Photos: I saw a couple photographers along the course and also at the finish along with the finish line video which is a great bonus
After Party/Festival: There was music, a massage area, waters/bananas/granola bars, ice bath area and sauna right on the beach! We also got free beer tickets to relax with on the beach afterwards
Medal/Swag: I ran the 5K on Sat and half on Sun and received 3 giant medals for completing both races! We also got a long sleeved quarter zip for the half and free beer
Negatives: Some areas on the course were tight as we ran along the breakdown lane on the road so I went onto the grass a couple of times.
I’m already planning next years trip back to Clearwater for this race!
Nice weekend, wicked race
Pros: - Clearwater is a lovely destination race in January - Flat, 2x loop course for marathon - Nice medals and shirts - some great views while going over three … MORE
Pros:
– Clearwater is a lovely destination race in January
– Flat, 2x loop course for marathon
– Nice medals and shirts
– some great views while going over three different causeways
Cons:
– won’t be getting much crowd support if you need it
– water stops were understaffed but thank you to those that were there and working feverishly to try and keep pace with the runners
– was a warm run – but it is Florida so it was expected
– narrow running lanes in several spots; fine if running alone but made it tight when in a group. 2nd loop was wide open with some exceptions down the home stretch where runners were relegated to a bike path that was uneven (1/2 asphalt, 1/2 concrete curb)
Other thoughts:
– if I go back to run here again it will be the 1/2 option and be done before it gets too warm
– easy access to ocean to soak sore legs in after your run
– they had a combo medal for those that ran 5K on Saturday and followed with the 1/2 or full on Sunday
Bad event, poor set up
Three of us went, and my niece took 1st Place Overall Woman. None of us will return next year because of how poorly this event was set up. 1. At … MORE
Three of us went, and my niece took 1st Place Overall Woman. None of us will return next year because of how poorly this event was set up.
1. At the start of the race, there was a turn right after the start of the race, and people were tripping on each other.
2. Bridge that runners went up, down, back up, and then down, and the bridge was large, but that is life.
3. No awards at the end of the race, and they had it advertised. I just found out that they gave a clear cheap coaster that said the same thing on all coasters to the winners, I guess.
4. No Awards as promised for the 1st thru 3rd Place winners of the race.
5. The only snacks that were at the end of the race were unripe bananas or crackers.
6. This was a big event and not cheap, yet the race was set up terribly, and no nothing at the end of the race. Within 10 minutes, the event was cleared out, and runners were very disappointed.
Millennium Racing Events put this on, and I suggest not doing their events.
We will not return next year, and many other runners said the same thing.
Easy to get to from Tampa airport
The big draw for me was hearing Ali Feller (podcaster Ali on the Run) announcing my name at the finish! Coming from the mountains of Colorado to sea level, I … MORE
The big draw for me was hearing Ali Feller (podcaster Ali on the Run) announcing my name at the finish!
Coming from the mountains of Colorado to sea level, I thought I was going to nail a PR, but alas I did not. So much for altitude training. The bridges give you some incline, but it wasn’t that difficult. I did not even have to stop and walk, and I am not a fan of hills. The best views were from the bridges. Also, the neighborhoods were pretty. No crowd support, until the finish where others runners cheered you to the line.
Aids stations were plentiful and well run. I chose not to use my hydration vest. Crazy cold weather that day. 32 degrees at the start. I wore full winter running gear. I felt sorry for those not prepared with gloves.
3 weeks post race and I have not received any race photos. I did get a video of the finish line that is the entire race. I scrolled through and did a screen capture to get a finish line picture of myself.
Overall, fun race.
Climb the Bridges for a Beautiful View
Packet Pickup: I picked up my packet on Saturday morning and there was no line for the bib. The line for the shirt was 5-10 minutes. Parking: There are nearby … MORE
Packet Pickup: I picked up my packet on Saturday morning and there was no line for the bib. The line for the shirt was 5-10 minutes.
Parking: There are nearby hotels so some people walked or rode the shuttle (Sunday only). Parking was $5 but it’s the closest parking I’ve ever had to the finish line (and I needed it).
Start Line: Plenty of porta-potties and I only waited in line for few minutes. I was at the back of the pack and couldn’t hear the announcer very well. There were no corrals but I could clearly see the pacers.
Weather: The temperature had dipped to a chilly 36 degrees at the low and was about 55 when I finished. I wore a t-shirt and arm sleeves in case I was too hot but it was chilly enough to keep them on the entire race. I wore a raggedy hoody and dumped it the first two miles to stay warm at the start. My legs also burned a little so it was great having a little protection from the sun. With the sun rising, the second half has much more exposure.
Course: You run a half-marathon loop twice. There are three bridges that I estimate are 75′ tall with the first being the steepest and each succeeding bridge has less of a grade. It’s heck of a climb but it’s such a beautiful view to overlook Clearwater. The course is flat between the first and second bridge and after the third bridge. There are slight hills between the second and third bridge. The course starts wide and gradually gets narrower during the first half-marathon. The second half is narrow when running on the streets.
Aid Stations: There was no entertainment but each aid station had helpful volunteers, orange Gatorade and water. The website says all aid stations will have a porta-potty but they are actually offset by a short distance. One porta-potty per stop.
Crowd: This race really lacked a cheering crowd which I found very surprising because it has so much potential. The course runs by the hotels, through residential neighborhoods, etc. There are so many areas for a crowd to gather but not many were there. Even a few residents came outside and asked what the race was. People were there where it counted though: the last 4 miles. I was walking from maybe 50 feet away and a couple was cheering me to keep going and as much as it hurt to start again, I pushed through.
Finish Line: Of course, most of the crowd was at the finish line cheering everyone when they came in. I received my medal and water nearly right away. Caddy’s was offering breakfast burritos at the end of the lot toward the beach. A tent was setup nearby on the beach to collect a Sam Adams Session Ale and relax in the beach chairs.
SWAG: Love the medal and it really says a lot about the course. The palm trees, rising sun, and beautiful view. Beautiful medal. I’m a bit nitpicky about the 1/4 zip shirt. I like that my wife’s 5k t-shirt has the large emblem on the front. Would’ve loved that on the back of my shirt but its a small emblem on the pec. Also, my ego wants to tell people I ran a marathon but the shirt displays all running distances.
Performance: I was not well prepared for any marathon and I was surprised I pulled off 10:30 pace especially with climbing the bridges. Besides the aid station stops, I ran steadily all the way until the last 5k. Run exercises in hilly Cincinnati are probably what got me through the bridges. My only double digit run during training was 12 miles in mid-November. Afterwards, I was plagued with injuries and lack of time. I would’ve been better prepared for the wall and recovery with more long runs.
Scenic Sunday run
Another great Millennium Running production! This is the only event they do in the South. I teased the owner that they traded the mountains of New Hampshire for the bridges … MORE
Another great Millennium Running production! This is the only event they do in the South. I teased the owner that they traded the mountains of New Hampshire for the bridges of Florida… no sea level racing, but the views of the inter-coastal waterway and sun rising over downtown Clearwater make running the bridges worth it. Not many spectators (it was Gasparilla the day before) but a lot of volunteers. The last 2 1/2 miles are run on the bike lane of Gulf Blvd which made for single file running and you’d have to pass on the right to avoid cars on the left. The various Clearwater, Belleair, Belleair Bluffs and other PDs did a great job marshaling traffic.