Queen City Half Marathon
Marquette, MI
Jul 26, 2025
- Half Marathon, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
With a fast and scenic course, chip-timed results and near-award winning shirt and medal design, the Queen City Half Marathon is a race that needs to be on your summer calendar! Marquette, as you know, is one of the coolest cities anywhere, and this event is going to show it … MORE
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Beautiful course in the cutest town!
Not the easiest place to get to if you’re from out of state, but so worth it! We actually flew into Green Bay and drove up from there and the … MORE
Not the easiest place to get to if you’re from out of state, but so worth it! We actually flew into Green Bay and drove up from there and the drive was easy and plenty of hotels nearby the race. We stayed at the Hampton right there on the lake and it was super easy to walk right to the start. Packet pick up was a breeze. The shirts were Brooks tech type tees available in men’s and women’s sizing. Had some places on the course where you pass 5k participants running in the opposite direction as well as the other half marathoners which I actually like as it gives runners the opportunity to high five and encourage each other- love that about the running community. There are a few hills but I liked that the finish is gradual downhill. There are some stretches with some good shade and I was grateful for some cloud cover in other open areas even though the weather really was as good as it gets for the middle of the summer. There were pacers starting with 1:40 goal time I believe. Running along the lake and through the park was super scenic. Even the finish line was great on the quaint downtown street (should add chocolate milk to the spread to make it even better
). It’s not a huge race yet- so can’t expect massive crowds cheering you on nor a huge expo or anything – but it seems to be growing quickly and the blueberry festival is the same day as packet pick up so live music and lots of vendors and booths to visit there if interested. Awards ceremony and raffle wasn’t til a little later so we went back and showered beforehand, but wish we would have come back sooner as there was awesome live music and super fun environment leading up to it. Medals were nice and we got a rose at the finish as well. Race photos available to purchase. Overall impressed and would love to do this one again if we make it back up to that part of the country.
Gorgeous scenery but…
This is a beautiful course, starting in downtown Marquette and running along the waterfront, but unfortunately it wasn’t well marked and we didn’t get a map in our pre-race registration … MORE
This is a beautiful course, starting in downtown Marquette and running along the waterfront, but unfortunately it wasn’t well marked and we didn’t get a map in our pre-race registration bag. I’m not from the area so I had no idea where I was going. They did a nice job blocking off intersections because you have to cross some busy ones, but I got slightly turned around twice, since I wasn’t running in the main pack. I would have liked more water stations at the start of the race, the first one wasn’t until mile 3, and it was humid that morning. If you pick races for swag/food, I wouldn’t suggest this one, there was a weird selection of tubs of cream cheese spreads, chocolate milk and bagel pieces at the end all left on a table in the sun. I’m not a fast runner so I get it that most people had already finished and it was just the leftover food that was on the table, but still that could have been managed a bit better. If you aren’t into swag and run for scenery then this is a good one.
Marquette & Superior
The course is scenic with great views of Superior and the woods. There wasn’t much of an expo or swag as far as that, but the medal was super. Easy … MORE
The course is scenic with great views of Superior and the woods. There wasn’t much of an expo or swag as far as that, but the medal was super. Easy parking and walking distance from several hotels. It’s during Marquette’s blueberry fest so there’s big street party, market, band etc the night. before. Big enough group of fellow runners to be fun but not chaotic. Bottom line-I recommend. I didn’t run that great for me, but not th race’s fault haha. Oh, and free post race flower!
Highly recommend
This was my first time checking out Marquette, and it did not disappoint. The area is beautiful, and the course does a very good job at highlighting some of that. … MORE
This was my first time checking out Marquette, and it did not disappoint. The area is beautiful, and the course does a very good job at highlighting some of that. The event has pacers, water stations, and offered Gu/chews at two different spots. Volunteers and everyone involved were very helpful and encouraging. Only thing to improve is that any finish line food/water was cleaned up or ran out before all finishers were actually done.