RunRace USA › Minnesota › Twin Cities
The complete, course-first guide
Twin Cities
Sunday, October 4, 2026 · 8:00 a.m. CT
615 S 6th St, Minneapolis, MN 55415 (downtown, by U.S. Bank Stadium)
The race in 60 seconds
First run in 1982, Twin Cities has had time to become part of the city's running calendar. The marathon is a true point-to-point: its finish sits about 7.9 miles from the start as the crow flies. The modeled line carries about 1010 feet of total climb and ranges from roughly 0 to 954 feet above sea level. The elevation profile calls out Summit Avenue so the defining work is visible before race morning. Look for Capella Tower, Wells Fargo Center, IDS Center, Basilica of Saint Mary in the flyover, with recognizable forms modeled from architectural records.
Fly the course
The whole course, built from the best available published route trace and an extruded model of Minneapolis. Scrub it, change the camera, or let it play. Nothing here is a video: it is drawing the city live.
Route statusCurrent community course trace cross-checked against the published route. Public route 'Twin Cities Marathon' (created 2026-02-22). GET https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54052881.json loads without login: 1,181 track points, 42,657 m (26.5 mi), +179 m gain. Start 44.9744,-93.2633 (S 6th St downtown Minneapolis, matches official 615 S 6th St start), end 44.9518,-93.1049 (MN State Capitol, St. Paul). Start coords match actual 2025-10-05 race recordings (multiple RWGPS trips titled 'Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon', 42.5-42.9 km, same start point), so this is the current course.
The route line uses the best published course trace available. Public-domain USGS and USDA aerial photography plus USGS 3DEP elevation are baked into RunRace USA, so the flyover makes no paid map API or third-party runtime requests. Buildings, roads, parks and water use OpenStreetMap, ODbL. This is photographic terrain with modeled architecture, not photogrammetry. Bridge approaches, elevations and facade details are approximations; the organizer's published route remains the reference.
The elevation profile
This Marathon profile covers 26.2 miles, ranges from roughly 0 to 954 feet, and contains about 1010 feet of modeled climb.
- Summit Avenue, mile 20.65 to 22.99: 145 feet up, a long, steady false-flat grind from roughly mile 20 to mile 23, never steep but continuous.
- , mile 1.5 to 2.36: 97 feet up, 2.1% average.
The route at a glance
Gold is the selected modeled course; route provenance is stated beside the flyover.
Race-week weather, measured
At the start line, September 30-October 8 averaged a low of 49°F and a high of 66°F across 2016-2025. The same window reached 88°F at its warmest and 33°F at its coldest. Measurable rain appeared on about 35% of sampled days. Treat the range, not just the average, as the packing list.
Pace it by effort
The profile and grade strip come from the same route currently loaded in the flyover. Use even pace as a baseline, then protect effort on the highlighted climbs and exposed sections.
| Finish | Even pace | Halfway |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00 | 6:52 /mi | 1:30 |
| 3:30 | 8:01 /mi | 1:45 |
| 4:00 | 9:09 /mi | 2:00 |
| 4:30 | 10:18 /mi | 2:15 |
| 5:00 | 11:27 /mi | 2:30 |
| Published course limit, 6:30 | 14:52 /mi | 3:15 |
Build your race weekend
The course
Live 3D flyover, synchronized elevation, route map, mile-by-mile shape and local landmarks.
Where to stay
55 mapped places to stay, compared by the endpoint that matters.
Expo and logistics
Packet pickup, the published weekend schedule, transit, parking and current entry tiers.
Spectators
Route-aware viewing anchors and a plan that respects the actual course geography.
The weekend
A city guide built around the places modeled beside the course.
Official race site
The organizer's current dates, entry details and late course notices.
Common questions
Is there a lottery or a qualifying time to get in?
No on both counts. Twin Cities sells entries first come, first served, with no time standard and no random drawing. General registration for 2026 opened on Race Roster at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3, and the field filled well before race week. Once that happens the official marathon page lists only two ways in: buy a TCM Gold or Silver membership, which carries guaranteed entry, or join one of the charity teams. If you want a normal-price bib for a future year, the practical move is to be online the morning registration opens.
When do I need to be in my corral, and how is my corral decided?
Your corral comes from the estimated finish time you declared when you registered, not from a verified race result, so be honest about it. The Rules of Competition require you to be assembled in your assigned corral at least 10 minutes before the start. The gun is at 8:00 a.m. CT on Sunday, October 4, 2026, from 615 S 6th St in downtown Minneapolis, next to U.S. Bank Stadium, which in practice means being in the corral by 7:50.
What actually happens if I show up late to the start?
The corrals are dissolved once the race goes off, and there is no separate late start. The bigger problem is the clock at the other end: the course cutoff is measured from when the start line closes, not from when you personally cross it, so time you lose at the start is time you lose against the sweep. If you arrive after the field has gone, you can still run, but you should assume you are already down whatever minutes you were late.
What is the time limit, and why do two official pages disagree?
The marathon page states that roads stay closed and course services are provided for everyone who can finish within six hours and 30 minutes of the start line closing, which it translates to a 14:52 per mile average and an approximate 2:50 p.m. finish. The Rules of Competition page, however, says the marathon finish line closes at 2:15 p.m. Those two statements cannot both be literally true. Treat 14:52 per mile as the pace you must hold, plan to be done well before 2:15 p.m. if you are anywhere near the back, and confirm the number in your final race-week email rather than assuming the more generous figure.
What happens when the sweep catches me?
After the cutoff pace passes, you are asked either to move onto the sidewalk and continue as a pedestrian under normal traffic rules, or to board the course closing bus. The rules are blunt about the bus: participants are required to board it when a race official instructs them to. If you continue on the sidewalk you should expect no timing, no fluid stations, and no medical support behind you, because course services end with the sweep.
Where does the race finish, and how far is that from the start?
This is a point-to-point course. You start in downtown Minneapolis and finish on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, about eight miles away. Everything after the finish, your gear bag, food, family reunion, happens at the Capitol, so plan your day around ending in St. Paul rather than returning to the start. Runners generally stay near the finish end of the course, with Union Depot the useful St. Paul transit anchor and Nicollet Mall and Government Plaza the Minneapolis ones.
How does gear check work on a point-to-point course?
You get a clear plastic race bag at packet pickup, and that specific bag is the only thing gear check will accept. There is no advance drop; bags go in on race morning at the Minneapolis start line and travel to the finish. Retrieval is at the Capitol grounds, where gear check closes at 3:00 p.m. Note that the gear check closing time sits later than either published finish-line closing time, which is your practical deadline for collecting a bag.
Can I pick up my packet on race morning?
No. Packet pickup runs Friday, October 2 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 3 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the marathon page states there is no race-day pickup. If you are flying in, you have to arrive Friday or Saturday, which is the single most common planning mistake for out-of-town entrants at this race.
Can I give my bib to a friend if I get injured?
Not informally. The rules state that once a number is assigned to a competitor, no other competitor may use it, and anyone on course without a properly issued bib is directed to leave. Twin Cities does run an automated transfer process during defined windows, so the legitimate path is that official transfer, done inside the window. Refunds are separately limited to within 48 hours of registering, and online transaction fees are never refunded.
Are headphones, strollers, and other gear allowed?
Strollers, baby joggers, skateboards, inline skates, unauthorized bicycles, and any other wheeled device are banned from the course; only authorized wheelchairs, handcycles, medical personnel, and course marshals are exempt. Headphones are permitted for ordinary runners, and the race recommends open-style ones so you can hear announcements and traffic, but athletes competing for prize money may not have visible possession or use of any audio device.
What is on course, and what should I carry?
Aid stations with water and other refreshments are placed every two to three miles, and the race lists Nuun electrolyte drink plus Organic Pure Fuel from Anderson's Maple Syrup on course. Pace teams presented by Medtronic run a wide spread, from 2:55, which is 6:40 per mile, all the way back to 6:30 at the 14:52 cutoff pace, so there is a group at essentially every realistic target. Nothing about the aid setup requires you to carry your own fluid unless you have specific fueling needs.
Where are the hills, and is the 'flat' reputation accurate?
Mostly, with one real exception. The course throws a modest early bump at you between roughly mile 1.5 and mile 2.4, about 97 feet of climb, which is easy to over-run when you feel fresh. The one that decides your race is Summit Avenue: from about mile 20.65 to mile 22.99 the course gains around 145 feet, a long steady grind that lands exactly where marathons come apart. Bank nothing in the first two miles, and treat the split at mile 20 as the start of the hard part rather than the home stretch.
How cold, or how hot, should I plan for?
Plan for cold at 8 a.m. in Minneapolis in early October, but do not assume it. The 2023 edition was cancelled outright for heat and humidity, so this race has a demonstrated warm-weather failure mode as well as the obvious cold one. Bring throwaway layers for the corrals and check the event alert status the night before rather than only checking the forecast.
Is this race changing dates?
Yes, after 2026. The official site states that starting in 2027, Twin Cities Marathon Weekend moves to mid-October, with dates falling between October 10 and 17. The 2026 race is the last one on the traditional early-October weekend and is billed as the 45th anniversary event, counting from the first Twin Cities Marathon on October 3, 1982.
Register for the 2026 Twin Cities →on Race Roster
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 September 30-October 8 across 2016-2025 at the start line. Schedule, prices and expo hours were checked in 2026-08-26 and are the fields most likely to move: confirm them on www.tcmevents.org/alleventsandraces/medtronictwincitiesmarathonweekend/medtronictwincitiesmarathon before you book anything. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it fast.