Boise Half Marathon

It's kinda like getting free stuff... And don't ask us for a race discount on this race.. the early bird gets the worm!!!

It is fun around November when we get to hear folks complain about the race entry fee. Ya'll help us remind folks they can always wait to the last dang second.

Huckleberry

Send a message to learn more

FLASH SALE: We snuck over to Payette Brewing Co. and saw the cool kids of Mikkeller Running Club Boise. If you weren't there, you should know they all got a 50% off code that works for tonight only!!!

We are so thankful for our local running community and what they are doing out there improving overall community fitness as well as how much they have supported us!!! Running clubs, Shu's stores, or anyone else ... we may stop by to say thank you as well!!

We love ALL of you!!! Keep up the great work!!!

We're ready to run in the COLD!!! We said it. (Please note, we've moved this race back two weeks compared to 2023.)

FYI - Half of the $55 tickets are gone.

Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016 at High Noon, Jamie and I ran the Onward Shay Marathon (aka the Boise Marathon) race. This race ran through downtown, up and down Harrison Blvd, over by Camel's Back, through some cool parts of Warm Springs neighborhoods and then back to finish out the course on the Greenbelt. (Side note, I actually wanted to run the COT marathon, but this was the new one. Crazy that we "run" both of these races now.) Packet Pickup was at JUMP. That was cool too.

What a cool race!!!

We would love to re-create some of our amazing former routes for our running community BUT, we'll need YOUR help.

1. Find a local race to VOLUNTEER today!!! EVERY runner should volunteer for ONE race a year. I'll list some great options in the comments below.
2. Invite us into your neighborhood. Get with your local HOA's or neighborhood associations, get that community support and reach out to us. Heck, we'll come and speak to your group about the benefits of these events, how they impact healthy communities and we'd love to work with you!!!

Finally, we're currently projected for this race to reach around 2200 participants. (In 2022, we had 356 registrants. In 2023, we had 1053 registrants.) I think we need to up our game.... stay tuned.

Huckleberry

https://runsignup.com/Race/Volunteer/ID/Boise/BoiseMarathon

Local Runners, let's chat!!!

Current numbers for next week's race:
Registered Runners: 1838
Registered Volunteers: 30

You may remember a couple years ago when our local race tried to run with no community support? Yeah, that race failed. Our team vowed to not let this happen to another local race. So much so that we went and got that race and we're bringing it back to you.

But we need your help.

I'll continue to preach that EVERY runner should volunteer for ONE race/year. If you're not, let's talk about it.

Huckleberry

(Shout out to the folks below who volunteer more than just about anyone. From coaching, to being the DUDES at Idaho Food Bank to raising $1800 for the family of a fallen deputy this week and yes, you'll see tons of their faces working the races. Thank you f3boise.com.)

Did ya'll know the same kid who won that race is the same one who handed out all those medals yesterday??? Oh, and he stuck around to help us clean up aferwards. Love this kid.

Lots of magical moments yesterday, but this one is so dang cool.

Y'all are amazing. See you in the morning.

Huckleberry

QUESTION: Do you remember two years ago when a local race tried to run with no community support? (Our answer below.)

You know we preach that EVERY runner should volunteer for ONE race/year. If you're not, let's talk about it.

Let's talk numbers, for our Boise River Marathon, we had around 800 local runners cross our finish lines. For Sole KIDs, we've had around 1000 local finishers. For City of Trees Marathon, we had around another 800 local runners. That's roughly 2600 local runners.

For this race, we've have 350 runners signed up and another 30 on the waitlist. We currently have 10 volunteers. That's right.. 10.

Where is the community support for our local races? Ya'll are clearly finding races online and finding the registration links. But what makes that volunteer button so hard to find?

And to give you some perspective, we like to have around 1 volunteer for every 10 runners. So we're looking for around 25 more folks willing to chip in and help the overall running community.

ANSWER: Two years ago, we were on our couch under a blanket. We vowed to not let this happen to another race and decided to be part of a solution. Yeah, that race failed. But we also failed that race. That's what motivates us and we welcome you to come join our amazing volunteer team!!!

Huckleberry

Boise Half Marathon The Boise Half Marathon is on Saturday November 4, 2023.

We LOVE meeting all of you!!!

Can't wait to see everyone at packet pickups. That's FOURTEEN hours of packet pickups all across town so you can come visit our local shops that support so many of our Treasure Valley runners!!!

LAST MINUTE DETAILS:

11/1 - Wednesday - Packet Pickup at Fleet Feet Meridian from 3 - 6 p.m.
11/2 - Thursday - Packet Pickup at Shu's Idaho Running Company from 3 - 6 p.m
11/3 - Friday - Packet Pickup at Payette Brewing Co.. from noon - 8 p.m.
11/4 - Saturday - Boise Half Marathon @ 8.30 a.m.
11/4 - Saturday - Sole KIDs All Valley Championship @ 9.00 a.m.

Please remember, we don't offer race day packet pickups!!!

Huckleberry

Your support of this race makes things like this happen!!!! Thank you everyone!!!

DYK - There's a Race Director Map on the website under, Course Maps???

For you detail loving folk, here's an inside look at POI's throughout the course. Yep, you could probably look and predict the turns folks will miss (there's at least two) and where your Aid Stations, Portapotties, Emergency Shelters, Signage, etc. will be.

This map helps us plan/organize and most importantly, ICE (in case of emergency) get our emergency personnel to you.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/8/edit?mid=1pM5yMEYIXHmZqK69qab2xsYQHYUBF9Q&usp=sharing

Take a look, feel free to study your race route and you'll be better prepared race day!!! As always, feel free to comment below on how we can make this better!!!

Race Director Map - Boise Half Marathon - Google My Maps Please note, this mapping tool has certain limitations. For example, the route tool will not indicate the finish inside Albertson's Stadium. At times, this may appear runners are entering roadways however runners will be confined to the Boise River Greenbelt to the maximum extent possible.

MONDAY MEDAL REVEAL - 2023 has been amazing!!!

QUESTION: Why don't you offer race day packet pickups? Answer is below.

Super thankful of all of you for helping out races by signing up early and/or all the volunteers we've had throughout supporting our race season. Seriously, ya'll are the best.

We only have 8 spots left in the half Boise Half Marathon and in case you didn't know.. the Sole KIDs 5K is only for our youth runners and their audience. So you can't enter the 5K race. (EDIT: NINE spots left, somebody just asked for a refund.)

If you haven't volunteered for a race this season, it's expect to be 40 degrees and rainy on Nov. 4th!!! This will be a great chance to welcome in that Boise winter and support your local running community. Health tip - Breathing cold outside air is good for you!!!!l

Packet pickup information is on the website. We offer THREE different locations and over 14 HOURS of opportunities to visit/support three diffferent local small businesses that support our local runners. And ya'll have made it clear.. that it's not enough.

ANSWER to why no race day packet pickups:

We can only say what we know we can do well. So we try not to say much, ha. If you all waited until race morning to get your bibs/shirts assignments, that would pull away resources from other areas. (For example, folks like to go out in the middle of the night to change our course markings. We're out there on the course making sure that gets corrected before our runners get there and hopefully, it's one of those things you never knew about. Yeah, that's what we're up against.) So please know, our energies are on safety/security and making sure we keep our runners safe throughout the event. Simply, race morning we're at a point where ALL our energies are on the safety of our runners and the preparedness of our race course. We know, that may not work for you and that's just how it is and will be, for now.

And seriously, let's think about it.... it's cold race morning. You'd find one, maybe two volunteers in a long, long line trying to manage bibs, shirts, changes, refunds and ALL the stories about why you couldn't. And you're cold. And throw in the late folks who couldn't find parking and now you HAVE to hit the portapotty and try to get the race start on time... UGH.... So imagine race morning and having to stand in a super long line in the cold with a bunch of other people who waiting and all ya'll would be complaining about how this was not done well. We ain't wrong.

So, get your swag at one of our amazing small heated local shops, and sit in that warm car race morning that happens to be so close to the start line and get over to that start line about 5 minutes before Steve Machado fires that start gun.

That scenario sounds like a much better path that we can support!!! And we're learning from the mistakes of the past.. we saw races lose their focus morning of.. and we just won't set ourselves up for that. Disagree below!!!

Huckleberry

Runner's Guides.

Boise Half Marathon The Boise Half Marathon is on Saturday November 4, 2023.

COT "Ring of Fire - Solar Eclipse" Marathon The COT "Ring of Fire - Solar Eclipse" Marathon is on Saturday October 14, 2023. It includes the following events: Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k, and 5k.

Amazing deals going on over at Shu's, and they'll help you get ready for our fall race season!!! See you there!!!

It's official, we have best finish line location in the NATION!!!

BSU's blue turf takes first place in national travel award for best sports attraction According to a recent news release, Boise State's Blue Turf placed first in the Best Attraction for Sports Fans category in the 2023 USA TODAY 10Best Readers' C

They're coming from all over as we have 30 states represented so far!!!

AND please know, this race will support our Sole KIDs - Pomeroy, WA ambassador program. Between your support and our Boise Half Marathon Nov. race. we've raised $934 of our $5000 goal!!! So dang cool and can't thank everyone enough.

We will be making a special "oncemaybetwice-in-a-lifetime" announcement on Thursday that will affect everyone and we can't wait to share!!!

THX to our sponsors: Kate's Real Food, Payette Brewing Co., Shu's Idaho Running Company, INSERT YOUR NAME HERE.

Only Half left to run a Half at Early Bird Pricing. Don't miss your chance to be an Early Bird.

Only 50 more registrations at Early Bird pricing!!!

We hope to see you this weekend at the Aaron Butler Memorial Purple Heart Run on Saturday morning!!! If you haven't checked them out, this race has the biggest heart and certainly worth your support.

If you haven't volunteered for a race this year and are looking for an AMAZING race to support, come volunteer with tus!!!

“Great things do not happen because it’s your destiny. Your destiny happens because you do great things.” – Aaron Butler

"Awesome event I am humbled. Going to try and attend each and every year they do this. Great job to everyone involved!" -ABMPHR participant Paul Hern (Eagle, ID)

We love working with the best!!!

We are so THANKFUL for our friends over at Payette Brewing Co. as they will host our October 14th race and make our post-race in-town* atmosphere one of the best the Treasure Valley has to offer!!!

It's unreal how much this small business gives back to our local runnning and non-profit communities... , they even hosted our Sole KIDs night in June with their Payette Forward program. Throughout the years, the Payette Forward program has raised over $100K for local Idaho non-profits.

(Rumor is... they might host an afterparty for our Boise Half Marathon race as well on Nov. 4th.)

Thanks Payette Brewing for all that you do and being the absolute BEST!!!

*(Totally put in-town cause that Robie after-party is so amazing and makes climbing that dang hill so worth it.)

We recently learned the Tresure Valley lost another long standing race, ugh. We know how important these community races are to a healthy, active communities

So, in conjunction with our SoleKIDs Treasure Valley Championship race, we're bringing a new race to a familiar place. On Nov. 4th we're running a half marathon with one of the most iconic finish lines ever created, the Blue Turf.

All finishers will receive a finisher's medal and race shirt. (Probably another t-shirt hoodie)

The faster you are to register, the more you'll save.
Registration Numbers
001-100 = $55
101 - 200 = $65
201 - 299 = $75
300+ = $85
We expect these to go faster than a Billie or a Bettie, so sign-up now!!!

Boise Half Marathon The Boise Half Marathon is on Saturday November 4, 2023.