St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend presented by Juice Plus+ is in person this year, and we’re excited to introduce our newly designed courses. Each distance will take you on an inspiring journey in support of the kids of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The newly-designed courses feature Memphis landmarks and …
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St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend presented by Juice Plus+ is in person this year, and we’re excited to introduce our newly designed courses. Each distance will take you on an inspiring journey in support of the kids of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The newly-designed courses feature Memphis landmarks and local flavor, fewer hills and lots of cheer stations, entertainment and neighborhood parties along the way. To add more fun and camaraderie, the marathon, half marathon and 10K follow the same route until the shorter distances split off for the finish. And, for your most inspiring experience of race day, all routes run through the heart of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital campus. The marathon starts on B.B. King Blvd. between Beale St. and FedEx Forum. The route takes runners through Downtown Memphis and up 2nd Street to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital campus to greet patients and their families, before heading south on Front St. through the bustling South Main District. Runners will then head east to Danny Thomas Blvd. and north to picturesque North Parkway. Runners will enjoy the distinctive neighborhoods like Hein Park and Evergreen’s Stonewall St. whose cheer parties will keep your spirits up and energy level high. The route also includes a two loop-run through beautiful Overton Park. Runners will head back to Danny Thomas Blvd. and a return downtown via Union Ave. to celebrate at the finish line by AutoZone Park. The half marathon starts in the same location and at the same time as the full and 10K on B.B. King Blvd. between Beale St. and FedEx Forum. The route marries the marathon and 10K courses through Downtown Memphis and up 2nd Street to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital campus to greet patients and their families, before heading south on Front St. through the bustling South Main District. Runners will then head east to Danny Thomas Blvd. and north to picturesque North Parkway. The half route splits off on N. Avalon St. to head south through Evergreen neighborhood’s Stonewall St. whose residents fully embrace the celebration of race day year after year. Runners return downtown via North Parkway and Danny Thomas Blvd. to Union Ave. to celebrate at the finish line by AutoZone Park. The 10K starts in the same location and at the same time as the full and half marathon on B.B. King Blvd. between Beale St. and FedEx Forum. The route marries the full and half courses through Downtown Memphis up 2nd Street to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital campus to greet patient families, and then south on Front St. through the bustling South Main District. Runners will then head east to Danny Thomas Blvd. and turn left onto Union Ave. to celebrate at the finish line by AutoZone Park. With its own unique start location and time, the family-friendly 5K course starts on B.B. King Blvd. and takes runners and walkers through Downtown Memphis to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital campus to greet patient families before heading back on Danny Thomas Blvd. to Union Ave. to celebrate at the finish line by AutoZone Park.
The St. Jude Memphis Marathon follows a scenic Boston-qualifying course through the city of Memphis. Near mile 5, the course passes through the St. Jude campus where patients, their families and other onlookers gather to cheer. Runners will also pass through Overton Park, Overton Square, scenic neighborhoods and several Memphis historic areas before finishing in front of a crowd in AutoZone Park. Run through a piece of American history. See popular Memphis landmarks, scenic neighborhoods and the campus of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Be part of Memphis’ biggest half marathon. The St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon is half the length and twice the fun of the full marathon! Runners will get a tour of downtown and midtown Memphis, and run through the St. Jude campus, where patients, their families and other onlookers gather to cheer. Our mostly-flat course is perfect for a PR, and you’ll cross the finish line to the cheers of spectators in AutoZone Park.
Our 6.2-mile course winds through the city of Memphis – it’s our newest race! Like the marathoners and half-marathoners, 10K participants pass through the St. Jude campus and finish in AutoZone Park.
The St. Jude Memphis 5K is a fun tour of downtown Memphis on foot, beginning at the marathon starting line. Like the marathoners and half-marathoners, 5K participants pass through the St. Jude campus and finish in AutoZone Park.
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Fun Race
A very fun race. The course was easy, plenty of water station and spectators along the entire course. Live music and other music along the course kept it lively. The … MORE
A very fun race. The course was easy, plenty of water station and spectators along the entire course. Live music and other music along the course kept it lively. The only negative was they start the 10k along with the half and full marathons. This makes it a bit congested for the first 6 miles.
AMAZING Experience
This race has all the feels! I selected St. Jude as my one marathon to run. I participated as a bronze fundrasier. The route is beautiful. Running through the hospital … MORE
This race has all the feels! I selected St. Jude as my one marathon to run. I participated as a bronze fundrasier. The route is beautiful. Running through the hospital campus is so emotional. There is a lot of crowd support throughout the whole race. Water/gatorade stops at every mile after mile 2. I ran with the 5 hour pacer and it worked perfectly. The medal is fantastic, but the shirt was sadly not well made. Thumb holes were backwards on the shirt and seams sewn bunched up. A trucker hat was also given for the marathon (not sure about the other distances). If you plan to run one marathon this is the one to run.
Super organized!
20,000 total participants across five races. 10K, half, and full held together. I'm a back-of-the-pack fairly slow walker these days. It took a half hour from the start of the … MORE
20,000 total participants across five races. 10K, half, and full held together. I’m a back-of-the-pack fairly slow walker these days. It took a half hour from the start of the race for my corral to cross the starting line, but the atmosphere waiting was great.
The expo, race and post-race are super organized with routing of people through well-organized by an army of volunteers. If I didn’t live six hours away, I would definitely make this an annual event.
Must-do for Tennessee
This marathon will spoil you with swag. The course was easy and well marked with pace teams and frequent drink stations. If you run the marathon don’t use the portapotties … MORE
This marathon will spoil you with swag. The course was easy and well marked with pace teams and frequent drink stations. If you run the marathon don’t use the portapotties until after the half-marathon separates.
Inspired at St. Judes!
For my 28th Sub-4 marathon state, I chose the St. Jude marathon in Memphis TN. For me, this experience can be broken down into two categories: 1. the St. Jude … MORE
For my 28th Sub-4 marathon state, I chose the St. Jude marathon in Memphis TN. For me, this experience can be broken down into two categories: 1. the St. Jude Pediatrics Cancer fundraising and seeing the love and support of the Parents and Friends out on the course. 2. the running portion of it. So, on to #1: Powerful and emotional seeing the parents and friends screaming for us at mile 3! Seeing the emotion in their faces really hit home. In fact, the entire course was full of super appreciative locals cheering us on. #2: Outstanding communication throughout the entire process. The course itself is mostly scenic. Cool running through the downtown area and Overton Park and some really nice residential areas. I’d set the difficulty level as average. No giant climbs, but a bunch of smaller inclines. Felt like we were mostly going up or down, but nothing really bad. Tips: Graceland visit was really worthwhile. (pay for the guided tour). Stay at the host hotel or one close to it!!! They start closing the streets down at 6AM and driving into the City and finding parking is a mess! Really a worthwhile event to choose for TN, if you’re going after the 50 states.
First Marathon
This was my first marathon, and I really enjoyed it! The expo, start, and finish were all well organized. There were plenty of aid stations well equipped with Gatorade or … MORE
This was my first marathon, and I really enjoyed it! The expo, start, and finish were all well organized. There were plenty of aid stations well equipped with Gatorade or water throughout the course. The first ~9 miles were run with the half marathon participants before we split off. Crowd support waned a bit after we split, but it was pretty strong overall. The toughest part for me was a 3mi double loop in Overton Park. It was more of a mental struggle than a physical struggle, but I would recommend that you be prepared for that.
Overall, this was a great race for a great cause! Be prepared to get a bit teary eyed throughout the race.
One of the best
The most inspiring 3rd mile in running — tracking through st Jude. Tons of aid throughout. No negatives other than a couple of miles on a severely crowned street which … MORE
The most inspiring 3rd mile in running — tracking through st Jude. Tons of aid throughout. No negatives other than a couple of miles on a severely crowned street which isn’t fun in distance running.
Porto potties throughout the course and at the start. A bit of a trudge to get through all of the free beer folk to get a slice of pizza, but the hot soup was great.
A tremendous cause and very well run race.
Such a fun race
Loved this race. Expo was pretty large and packet pick up is simple. I’m a fan of bigger races and there was a lot of runners for this one. Tons … MORE
Loved this race. Expo was pretty large and packet pick up is simple. I’m a fan of bigger races and there was a lot of runners for this one. Tons of crowd support with lots of water stops and lots of alcohol stops if that’s your thing. I would say the course was pretty flat for Tennessee. Running by the childrens hospital at around miles 2-3 was amazing. Such a great cause and I’m going to try to make this one a yearly run, especially since i did so bad this year. Was sick with the flu or covid last week and knew going in it wasn’t going to be a good one.
Sneaky Fast Course
This is a mostly flat course that has just enough elevation changes, at the right times, to allow your legs to change muscles. I was apprehensive about the weather (60s … MORE
This is a mostly flat course that has just enough elevation changes, at the right times, to allow your legs to change muscles. I was apprehensive about the weather (60s with 90% humidity) but it ended up being great. Cloudy until the sun peeked out about Mile 24 but quickly hid behind the clouds again.
Overall the course is a loop with a double loop through Overton Park. Course marshals were visible and vocal in the key locations to direct runners. City scenery was nice as you ran through some of the older neighborhoods around Memphis.
My biggest complaint about the course is the shared portions with the half marathon. The marathon runners merged with the half multiple times which meant mostly walkers for my finish time. Course marshals were not as evident at these points and could have done more to direct half marathoners to one side or the other. This would have allowed a lane for the marathon runners to pass without having to dodge the half marathoners.
Post race area in the Redbirds stadium was very nice and open. They also displayed the finish line live feed on the jumbotron so you could watch others finish. Overall a smoothly run race.
My largest post-pandemic race so far!
Well, after doing many TINY races for over a year, it was a bit of an adjustment to participate in a large race (with some pandemic touches). The biggest source … MORE
Well, after doing many TINY races for over a year, it was a bit of an adjustment to participate in a large race (with some pandemic touches).
The biggest source of anxiety for me was that the web site wasn’t really updated with detailed information until two weeks before the race. I am a big planner, and this impacted my ability to plan ahead as well as my confidence about how the race was going to ‘go down.’ (WHY haven’t they posted the expo information yet? etc.)
The other anxiety-inducing experience was the email of the corral information which I received Wed before the race. The email said that my start window was 9:16-9:26 (the official start time is 8:00). Combined with the fact that I truly had gotten faster (so my original expected finish time was not accurate) and that I had a 3:20 plane to catch, I was quite alarmed. (I wanted to be with the 4:50 pacer, not the 5:30 pacer)… No one from the race responded to my frantic emails. At the expo, I was not moved up in corrals.
Race morning came–I have observed over my fifty-states journey that I really like to start running early! A lot of waiting (especially if I am running on West coast) makes me get more pre-race jitters. So, there was a lot of waiting–the web site said to park by 6:15, which I did, and I parked in a zone where they marked it green for quick getaway (that part worked like a charm)–I even prepaid parking online.
Corrals went more smoothly than the emails predicted, I was running by 8:30. Made the 3:20 flight 🙂
The race itself was worth all the fuss–large number of runners, many of whom had St. Jude connections (made me think, my problems are not significant). Nice city tour. Course had a 4 mile look repeated in the purgatory of miles 14-21, which I actually liked (the second loop was nice mentally). My garmin said there was 800 feet of elevation gain–some hills, but fewer than Tulsa! Spectator support was nice (especially at the end–mile 23 had a bugler that we went by twice on a little out-and-back), and at that point we were hooked back up with the extreme back of the pack halfers (again, puts my problems in perspective).
Lovely medal, great after-party! Great BBQ for my splurge meal! Great experience!
Marathon for a great cause
I'll admit I didn't love the course for the full marathon - there was a lot of jutting back and forth through neighborhoods, plus a slightly confusing two-loop section around/through … MORE
I’ll admit I didn’t love the course for the full marathon – there was a lot of jutting back and forth through neighborhoods, plus a slightly confusing two-loop section around/through a park from ~miles 14-21. Rolling hills were a little more challenging than I expected. But those things did nothing to dampen the spirit that comes with running this race.
Outstanding crowd support throughout – many of whom were saying thank you to the runners, constant reminders that this race is for something much bigger than yourself. Hydration stations were very frequent and had both water and Nuun at all of them. The race shirts were comfortable long-sleeve tech shirts, medals were huge, and – best surprise – a special finisher’s hat only for marathoners.
The logistics of the expo and starting line were a little chaotic with health protocols this year, but nothing too stressful.
Definitely recommend running this race!
Great race with an Outstanding Cause
St. Jude half marathon is a great charity to support. I was blown away by the young lady who sung the National Anthem Packet pick up was more technical than … MORE
St. Jude half marathon is a great charity to support.
I was blown away by the young lady who sung the National Anthem
Packet pick up was more technical than most but they let you know in advance
Staff and volunteers were amazing
Course was good with some hills with awesome support at aid stations
Communication leading up to the race was awesome
Post race was great
Medal and shirt were high quality
I definitely would recommend this race
Great Race with Amazing Support
The course is very easy with some rolling hills. Community support is everywhere and aid stations are abundant. I encourage everyone to do this race at least once... such a … MORE
The course is very easy with some rolling hills. Community support is everywhere and aid stations are abundant. I encourage everyone to do this race at least once… such a great cause.
My time was horrible as I was ill-prepared and have put on several extra pounds.
Must Do Race
This race is a must do. Although the Temp. was a little chilly, running through the City of Memphis and St. Jude's Hospital was a Great experience. The children lining … MORE
This race is a must do. Although the Temp. was a little chilly, running through the City of Memphis and St. Jude’s Hospital was a Great experience. The children lining the course is very emotional. I will do this race God willing every year. What an Awesome cause.
St Jude is a Must for all runners
This is the most emotional race I’ve ever run. You get to run through the campus of St Jude Hospital. Families and patients are on the race route and thank … MORE
This is the most emotional race I’ve ever run. You get to run through the campus of St Jude Hospital. Families and patients are on the race route and thank you for saving their children. This is a must race if you live in the south. Don’t miss it every December. My favorite December race. Fantastic atmosphere throughout the whole race. We have a group of 20 coming this year to run.
Best course support I’be seen
Awesome course support. There were gels in about four places. There were other fueling options too. Lots more people cheering than I anticipated. Nice long sleeve performance shirt. Post race … MORE
Awesome course support. There were gels in about four places. There were other fueling options too. Lots more people cheering than I anticipated. Nice long sleeve performance shirt. Post race food was a little light. Course is a little hilly, but not bad.
Meaningful race
I loved getting to run through the St Jude campus. It was pretty crowded and congested the first 5k but once it thinned our it was a bit better. Everything … MORE
I loved getting to run through the St Jude campus. It was pretty crowded and congested the first 5k but once it thinned our it was a bit better. Everything about this race was really heartfelt and meaningful. I’d do it again.
Run With Your Heart
This year the St Jude marathon weekend was a little different with the convention center being under construction. Notable changes.... the expo was about 20 miles away and the pasta … MORE
This year the St Jude marathon weekend was a little different with the convention center being under construction. Notable changes…. the expo was about 20 miles away and the pasta party was moved to the Peabody. The temporary expo location was much smaller and not as elaborate as normal but it was okay – fingers crossed it doesn’t deter people from coming back. It being so far away made for a tight window to make our hospital tour that afternoon. I hope if they’re there again next year they open earlier.
Friday afternoon we were lucky enough to have a tour of St Jude. Highly recommend!! The hospital was such a happy place filled with hope and love. The thought and detail that’s gone into every little thing will stick with you way past race day. We were already thinking we’d come back for 2020 but the tour solidified our plans.
Race day was great! The weather was overcast and gloomy but not too cold and it never really rained. The crowd support was incredible and running through the St Jude campus was unlike anything else. The families will pull out so many of your emotions and push you to keep going.
Each mile has a sponsor and spectators line almost the entire race. If your ever feeling low there’s someone around to pump you up!
The race was very crowded so I would not recommend for a pr race (if you’re a slower runner like me you’ll be weaving through people most of the time) but it’s definitely one of my favorite weekends of the year. It’s great being a part of something so special!
“When your legs are tired, run with your heart”
Emotional and Wonderful
I've fundraised for St. Jude as a hero before, but doing the actual race that you get to run through the grounds of the hospital is so emotional and worth … MORE
I’ve fundraised for St. Jude as a hero before, but doing the actual race that you get to run through the grounds of the hospital is so emotional and worth seeing what you’re truly running for. The patients that are able come out and line the course along the path that leads through the grounds of the hospital. Most in wheel chairs, wearing face masks, some holding signs about being cancer free because of you… It’s hard not to feel connected to the cause.
The race, along with anything St. Jude does, is put together beautifully and well organized. This year the convention center was under construction so we had to go down to Landers Center in Mississippi to get our packets, but with the race shuttles provided it wasn’t too bad. The course has some tough hills over the bridges which provides some difficulty, but totally doable. The full marathoners got a nice finisher hat which I liked. The half finishers didn’t get anything extra than the medal. If you ever consider a charity run, THIS is the one to do!
Great Race
The 10K Marathon was great, as always there were plenty of water stops, bathroom and great crowd support, the volunteers alone with the cheering squad was nice. The St Jude … MORE
The 10K Marathon was great, as always there were plenty of water stops, bathroom and great crowd support, the volunteers alone with the cheering squad was nice. The St Jude kids standing outside the hospital is a site for soar eyes, the finisher food was Awesome, fro. Pizza , chocolate milk, Powerade , OJ, bananas , crackers & Chips, oranges ,and there was plenty, oh forgot the hot soup, no holding back