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The city behind the course

A Richmond weekend

Start with the places the marathon actually passes.

The route's local signatures

Meet the architecture and landscape along the course. Use these places to get to know the city before deciding how to spend your time on your feet.

William Byrd Hotel

Near mile 1.7

Built into the flyover as a race-specific local landmark. The model rises about 35 meters.

Science Museum of Virginia (Broad Street Station)

Near mile 1.7

Built into the flyover as a race-specific local landmark. The model rises about 34 meters.

CarMax Park

Near mile 19.3

Built into the flyover as a race-specific local landmark. The model rises about 18 meters.

The Diamond

Near mile 19.5

Built into the flyover as a race-specific local landmark. The model rises about 25 meters.

Belgian Building / Vann Tower (Virginia Union University)

Near mile 23.7

Built into the flyover as a race-specific local landmark. The model rises about 49 meters.

The Jefferson Hotel

Near mile 25.3

Built into the flyover as a race-specific local landmark. The model rises about 40 meters.

600 Canal Place (Dominion Energy Tower)

Near mile 25.9

Built into the flyover as a race-specific local landmark. The model rises about 127 meters.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Near mile 26.2

Built into the flyover as a race-specific local landmark. The model rises about 120 meters.

A weekend rhythm that protects race day

  1. Arrival. Base your first walk on the real start and finish geometry, then inspect the final approach in the route map.
  2. Packet pickup. Go to Health & Fitness Expo at the Richmond Raceway Infield (2026 edition — 49th running, race day Sat Nov 14, 2026) inside its published window; save the final hours offline.
  3. The day before. Choose one course landmark, keep the outing short, and finish your feet-up time early.
  4. Race day. Follow the transportation plan, not ordinary weekend traffic directions.
  5. After the finish. Let the finish-area access plan decide the meal and meetup, especially on a point-to-point course.

Where the weekend should be based

The mistake here is booking a hotel with a garage and assuming you will drive to it Saturday morning: the start-line grid is barricaded before dawn. On the race's published 2025 closure schedule, Broad Street shut from Belvidere all the way to 11th Street at 4:00 a.m. and did not reopen until 10:00 a.m., and 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Streets between Grace and Marshall shut on the same 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. clock. The finish precinct closes even earlier: 5th Street from Bragg to Tredegar and Tredegar Street from 7th to Brown's Island Way were closed continuously from 5:00 p.m. Thursday until 5:00 p.m. Saturday. Street parking is the other trap. Richmond Police post no-parking signs along the course starting 9:00 p.m. Wednesday and begin towing at 4:00 p.m. Friday, with restrictions running to 3:00 p.m. Saturday, and a tow from a public street carries a $120 city fine (Seiberts Towing, 804-233-5757). So: arrive Friday, put the car in a garage before Friday afternoon, and pick a hotel you can walk out of. The race designates two host hotels, both downtown and both inside the walking radius: the Omni Richmond (100 S 12th St, described by the race as six blocks from the start and six from the finish) and the Delta Richmond Downtown (555 E Canal St, six blocks from the start and two from the finish), bookable through the official block via 288 Travel at 804-505-3005. Race-day garage parking downtown is free, and the race points runners to decks at 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th & Marshall and 8th & Grace/Franklin for the start, and the James Center, 3rd/4th/6th/8th & Main, 4th & Cary, 12th & Canal and Virginia & Canal for the finish.

Compare the actual hotel geometry →

Course geometry provenance is stated beside the player; elevation profiles always use the same route loaded there. City geometry is OpenStreetMap, ODbL. Aerial imagery is from USGS and USDA; other images carry their own source credits. Weather figures use Open-Meteo reanalysis for November 10-18 across 2016-2025 at the start line. Schedule, prices and expo hours were checked in August 2026 and are the fields most likely to move: confirm them on www.richmondmarathon.org before you book anything. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it fast.