Expo, schedule and race morning

Packet pickup

• Thursday, November 12, 2026: 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. - Expo opens 3:00 p.m. Packet pickup and bib assignment, sponsors/vendors, Sports Backers official merchandise store, expo shuttle running. Raceway GATES CLOSE 6:30 p.m.
• Friday, November 13, 2026: 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Expo opens 11:00 a.m. Packet pickup and bib assignment, sponsors/vendors, merchandise, expo shuttle running. Raceway GATES CLOSE 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, November 14, 2026 (race day): 6:00 - 7:15 a.m. - Race Day Packet Pick-up ONLY, and only for runners who pre-purchased it ($45). This is not at the Raceway and not the expo — location is emailed to purchasers closer to race day. The expo itself does not operate on race day.
• Expo shuttle - Thursday Nov 12: Omni Richmond Hotel 3-6 p.m.; Expo 3-7 p.m. - Last shuttle departs the hotel at 6 p.m.; last shuttle departs the expo at 7 p.m. Three shuttles on a loop, one handicapped accessible.
• Expo shuttle - Friday Nov 13: Omni Richmond Hotel 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; Expo 11 a.m.-8 p.m. - Last shuttle departs the hotel at 7 p.m.; last shuttle departs the expo at 8 p.m.

• GATE TRAP (the big one): Richmond Raceway gates close 30 minutes BEFORE the expo closes. You must be physically on site by 6:30 p.m. Thursday or 7:30 p.m. Friday or you do not get in, even though the expo is advertised until 7 p.m. / 8 p.m. The last shuttle drop-off from the Omni also happens 30 minutes before close.
• NO WALK-UP RACE-MORNING PICKUP. Race Day packet pick-up exists but must be PRE-PURCHASED ($45) during registration or added afterward. Sales close Friday, November 13 at 9:00 p.m. You get your bib race morning and your shirt only after you finish. If you did not buy it and did not get to the expo, you have no bib.
• Race Day packet pick-up LOCATION is deliberately not published — purchasers get an email with location and time details closer to race day.
• ID: bring your registration QR code AND/OR a photo ID. The QR code is in your confirmation email and in the race-week email.
• PROXY PICKUP IS ALLOWED and is unusually easy: anyone may collect another pre-registered runner's packet as long as they have a copy of that runner's registration QR code and/or photo ID. No notarized form, no signed authorization letter required. (Wording differs slightly by page: the expo page says QR code 'or' photo ID; the FAQ says 'and/or'. Bring both to be safe.)
• PACKET MAILING: $35 per person through September 15; $45 from September 16 through October 28. Must be added to your registration. DEADLINE CONFLICT on the official site — the expo page says 'No packet mailing will be offered after October 30' while the FAQ says 'after October 28.' Assume October 28 is the hard cutoff.
• Parking at the expo is free (Richmond Raceway surface lots).
• Run Richmond Premium Package ($220) buys expedited packet pickup at the expo, and if you miss the expo you can collect at the pre-race hospitality area on race morning instead — a separate path from the $45 race-day pickup.
• In-person distance switches (8k / half / full) can be done at the expo for $10 plus any entry-fee difference, provided the target race is not sold out. As of 2026-08-26 the full and half are SOLD OUT, so realistically only downward switches are available.
• NO BIB TRANSFERS to another person, ever. Running on someone else's bib disqualifies both people and bans them from future Sports Backers events.
• The expo is free and open to the public, ~60+ exhibitors, indoor and covered-outdoor space. The Event Alert System (EAS) weather flag color for race day is displayed at the expo.

2026-08-26

The published weekend schedule

Columns are [day, time, what, where]. All times ET. This is the 2026 edition (49th running, Saturday November 14, 2026) — the next edition IS announced and the schedule page is already updated to 2026, so nothing here is carried over from 2025 except where flagged. Sourced from richmondmarathon.org: /race-weekend/event-schedule/, /race-weekend/expo/, /faq/, /races/marathon/, /races/half-marathon/, /races/8k/, /race-weekend/travel/parking/, /race-weekend/travel/transportation/, /race-weekend/travel/directions/. Checked 2026-08-26. Start and finish are NOT in the same place: start is on Broad St downtown, finish is on 5th St north of Tredegar St by the riverfront, about 6-7 blocks / 0.75 mi apart. There is NO pre-race shuttle from hotels or parking to the start; most downtown hotels are walking distance. Race recommends arriving 45-60 min before your start, closer to 60 if checking a bag. You may move BACK to a slower corral/wave but never forward.

Getting there

Plan to walk on race morning and treat every wheeled option as a backup. GRTC is zero-fare citywide, which the race itself points out, but on the 2025 marathon Saturday GRTC put more than a dozen routes plus the Pulse on detour starting at 4:00 a.m., with temporary stop closures along the course, and GRTC has not published Saturday first-departure times, so a bus is not a reliable way to make a 7:00 a.m. corral. There is no race-morning shuttle. The free shuttle everyone hears about is the expo shuttle running from the Omni Richmond Hotel to the Richmond Raceway infield on Thursday and Friday only, with the last drop-off 30 minutes before the expo closes (6:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday). The one shuttle that does run on Saturday runs the wrong direction on purpose: a free shuttle carries finishers and spectators from the Brown's Island post-race party back up to the start-area parking, operating on 7th Street from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. If you parked near the start, that is your ride back to the car, and it is also the easy way to avoid walking uphill on trashed legs.

• Driving in at 5:45 to 6:30 a.m. Assume you cannot reach a door on Broad Street. On the 2025 schedule Broad was closed from Belvidere to 11th from 4:00 a.m., and the 6th through 9th Street cross-blocks between Grace and Marshall went with it. Approach from the east or south instead, on Main, Cary or Canal east of the closures, and expect to walk the last few blocks. The race stations staffed vehicle crossing points along the course that let cars through during gaps in the field, but you cannot schedule around them, so build in slack rather than counting on one.
• Towing and no-parking, the deadline that actually bites. Signs go up along the course from 9:00 p.m. Wednesday and restrictions hold until 3:00 p.m. Saturday, with tow trucks working from 4:00 p.m. Friday. If your hotel has street parking, move the car into a deck Friday afternoon. A tow costs $120 in city fines plus the tow itself, and recovery goes through Seiberts Towing at 804-233-5757, which is not how you want to spend the night before a marathon.
• Parking garages and where to leave the car. Downtown parking on race day is free and abundant, with the race citing more than 90 decks and lots. For the start it names 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th & Marshall and 8th & Grace/Franklin; for the finish, the James Center, 3rd & Main, 4th & Main, 4th & Cary, 6th & Main, 8th & Cary, 8th & Main, 12th & Canal, 14th & Cary, 15th & Main, 15th & Cary and Virginia & Canal. Because the start and finish are only six blocks apart, the race asks 8k runners to take the start-side decks and leave the finish-side ones for marathoners.
• GRTC Pulse and local buses. Free to ride and useful Thursday and Friday for getting around, including along the Broad Street spine toward the Fan. On race morning the Pulse runs detoured off Broad from 4:00 a.m. along with routes such as 1, 2, 3, 5, 14, 20, 50, 76, 77, 78, 87 and 91, and several downtown stops close, so budget extra time and do not make it your only plan for reaching the start.
• Getting back to your room before the party. The finish on 5th Street and the Brown's Island post-race party are effectively the same place, so the decision is whether to shower first. From a Canal Street or Shockoe Slip hotel it is a short flat walk and an easy round trip. From the Broad Street hotels it is a climb, so either accept staying in your finish-line clothes or use the free 7th Street shuttle from the party back up to the start area between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
• Dinner the night before at the start line. Tarrant's Cafe sits at 1 West Broad Street, on the exact Broad and 1st corner where the marathon starts, in an old corner drugstore building. It runs a broad New American and Italian menu, pasta and pizza included, and is open until 10:00 p.m. Friday, so you can eat, walk the block you will be standing in twelve hours later, and be back in your room in five minutes. Book ahead: downtown fills up on marathon Friday.

Parking near the course endpoints

These are mapped garages near the course, not a promise of race-day access. Check closures and pre-booking rules with the organizer.

• 2nd & Grace St Garage3 minute modeled walk to start
• Convention Center Parking Deck3 minute modeled walk to start
• BioTech 6 Parking7 minute modeled walk to start
• Richmond Garage7 minute modeled walk to start
• VCU Henry Street Parking Deck - East7 minute modeled walk to start
• 6th & Main Parking Deck8 minute modeled walk to start
• Commonwealth of Virginia Parking8 minute modeled walk to start
• Main Street Centre Parking Deck8 minute modeled walk to start
• VCU Henry Street Parking Deck - West8 minute modeled walk to start
• Broad and Belvidere Parking Deck10 minute modeled walk to start

Published entry tiers

Checked August 2026; fees and tiers can change.