Akron Half Marathon 2026: The Marathon Sold Out, the Half Closes Sunday — Course, Climbs and Race-Day Weather
| Akron Half Marathon 2026 | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and gun | Saturday, Sept. 26, 7:00 a.m. EDT (wheelchair division 6:59) |
| Start | 1 S. High St., next to the Akron Art Museum, downtown Akron |
| Finish | Lock 3, just past the Akron Civic Theatre |
| Price now | $131.38, the Aug. 15–Sept. 20 tier |
| Entry closes | Sunday, Sept. 20 — online only, no race-day sign-up |
| Cutoff | 3.5 hours, on a continuous 16:00 per mile |
| Elevation | 406 feet of gain, 419 feet of loss |
| Sept. 26 normal | 49°F low, 69°F high |
Bottom line — The Akron marathon is gone. It sold out, the waitlist sold out with it, and the relay captain slots went too. The half marathon is the one still open, at $131.38, and the door shuts Sunday night, Sept. 20 — six days before anybody runs. It is also the bigger race: 2,342 people finished the half last September against 821 in the marathon. What you are signing up for is a 13.1 that hides 306 of its 406 feet of climbing in the first eight miles, then hands you a fast last five and one nasty 2.6% ramp at mile 12.4.
Can you still get into the Akron Half, and what does it cost?
Yes, for now. Thursday morning's check of the event's registration page showed the half still open at $131.38, the tier that runs Aug. 15 through Sept. 20. The marathon was marked sold out, and so was the $10 marathon waitlist. Relay Team Captain — the slot that creates a team — was sold out as well; only Relay Team Member was still selling, at $83.23, with a "limited space" flag on it.
The half has climbed through five price tiers this year: $109.98 in January, $115.33 in February, $120.68 from May, $126.03 from July, and $131.38 since Aug. 15. Waiting from New Year's to race week cost $21.40. The event's own FAQ is blunt about the end of it: the last chance to register online is Sunday, Sept. 20. There is no expo entry and no race-morning entry. The Kids Fun Run on Friday, Sept. 25 is free.
What does the course actually do to you?
The race publishes a climb-by-climb table, which is rarer than it should be, and it is worth reading before you pick a goal pace. Total gain is about 406 feet against 419 feet of loss — near enough to net flat, and nothing like flat in practice. The organizers say most of the gain sits in the first eight miles and that only 100 feet of it is left for the last five. That leaves roughly 306 feet crammed into the opening two-thirds.
| Climb | Miles | Distance | Gain | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High St. (off the line) | 0.1–0.2 | 0.1 mi | 29 ft | 3% |
| High St. bridge | 0.9–1.1 | 0.2 mi | 24 ft | 1.7% |
| Main St. | 2.5–2.8 | 0.3 mi | 21 ft | 1.5% |
| S. Firestone Blvd. | 3.1–3.6 | 0.5 mi | 47 ft | 1.82% |
| Bellows St. | 4.1–4.3 | 0.2 mi | 18 ft | 2.1% |
| E. Buchtel Ave. | 7.6–8.0 | 0.5 mi | 49 ft | 2.4% |
| High St. / Broadway (half only) | 12.4–12.7 | 0.3 mi | 37 ft | 2.6% |
Two things jump out. The race goes uphill at 3% from the gun, on High Street, before anyone has taken a breath — the course notes warn about exactly that. And then there is the last row. Buchtel Avenue at mile eight is the climb everybody talks about, and it is paid back by Fir Hill at −3.1% and Mill Street at −3%. But the half has a private 2.6% ramp at 12.4 miles that marathon runners never see, and it lands with 0.4 miles to go. Bank nothing for it.
Where does the half leave the marathon?
At the 12-mile mark, on the All-America Bridge. Both fields cross the Y-shaped span over the Cuyahoga River valley twice — outbound near mile nine, back near mile 12, about 300 feet above the water. Just after the second crossing, half marathoners stay left and turn left onto E. Market Street while the marathon and relay runners peel right.
From there it is short: a right on Broadway, a right onto Mill Street and a downhill past the Akron Rubber Worker sculpture, then left onto Main at Cascade Plaza with under a quarter mile left. The Blue Line carries you into Lock 3. The middle of the race is the part worth looking up for — Firestone Park's shield-shaped loop past mile four, the University of Akron campus and its Chihuly sculpture near mile seven, Quaker Square's silos around 8.5, and the 10-mile mark in North Hill, the city's International District.
What has race-day weather actually been in Akron?
The race is always the last Saturday in September, so the date moves between the 24th and the 30th. Here is what Akron-Canton Airport actually recorded on the last five race days, next to the 1991–2020 normal for that date.
| Race day | Low | High | Rain | Low vs. normal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Sept. 25, 2021 | 50°F | 67°F | none | +0.3° |
| Sat., Sept. 24, 2022 | 49°F | 66°F | none | −1.1° |
| Sat., Sept. 30, 2023 | 53°F | 77°F | none | +5.3° |
| Sat., Sept. 28, 2024 | 65°F | 76°F | 0.18 in. | +16.5° |
| Sat., Sept. 27, 2025 | 58°F | 80°F | none | +9.1° |
Four of the five were dry. The five lows average 55°F, six degrees above the Sept. 26 normal of 49°F, and the three most recent years all ran warm — 2024 started 16 degrees above its date normal. Plan for 50 to 60°F at the gun rather than the 49 the normal suggests. Sept. 26 enters the National Weather Service's seven-day window on Saturday, Sept. 19.
Timing matters more here than the low does. The gun is 7:00 a.m. and sunrise in Akron that morning is 7:17 a.m. EDT, so the first mile and a half are run in twilight and the last five in direct sun. Last year's half had an average finish time of 2:16:53, which puts the typical runner across the Blue Line near 9:17 a.m., by which point the temperature has usually climbed well out of the 50s. You dress for the gun and finish in a different race.
What should you wear for a 7 a.m. start in the low 50s?
A 50 to 58°F start that ends 10 or 15 degrees warmer is the standard fall-half problem, and the answer is almost always less than it feels like it should be at 6:40 a.m. in a parking deck.
| Piece | Call for Akron |
|---|---|
| Bottom | Shorts, or capri / 7⁄8 tights as the middle option — they cover the cold start without cooking you at mile 11. |
| Top | Short-sleeve top, with something disposable over it in the corral — not the jacket you want back. Our kit-by-temperature chart puts 50°F in shorts and a long sleeve, 58°F in shorts and a singlet: exactly the spread Akron sits across. |
| Gloves | Worth keeping past mile three if the low lands near 49°F — hands recover last. |
| Budget tight | Bubblelime's high-waist pair with an inner pocket runs $16 in 25 to 28-inch inseams — cheap enough to hold a gel and a key, but not a technical race tight: black is the only colourway with a full size run in stock and there is no reflective detail, so it is a daylight-race choice. Between sizes, read the inseam-by-height breakdown first. For colder mornings our sister desk's cold-weather layer round-up priced fleece-lined tights this week. |
| Shoes | A course with 406 feet of gain and two 3% descents is not the day for the pair you ground easy miles on all summer — our rotation guide covers which slot belongs on a rolling 13.1 and what the foam has left after 300 miles. |
What are the deadlines that catch people out?
Three of them, in order. Online entry closes Sunday, Sept. 20. Packet pickup is Friday, Sept. 25 only, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the John S. Knight Center on E. Mill Street — the same building the course passes on Broadway — and the race states plainly that there is no race-day pickup, which means anyone driving in Saturday morning has already missed their bib. Roads along the course close after 6:50 a.m., ten minutes before the gun, so a 6:45 arrival is not an arrival. Parking in the downtown decks and lots is free.
The money is one-way: no refunds, no deferrals, and transfers closed 45 days out. If you enter Sunday and get hurt, that is $131.38 spent — worth knowing if you are still in the part of a build where things go wrong, which our fall countdown tracks. The entry is at least doing something: the registration page showed $29,338.74 raised toward a $284,750 goal on Thursday, for charities including Akron Children's and the Akron Civic Theatre.
What if Akron is full or too far?
The weekend before is busier. Fourteen races over two days sit on this weekend's board and its companion list, several taking entries into Saturday afternoon, including the Philadelphia Distance Run and the Fox Valley half. For the opposite of Akron's profile — no hills, and a Boston qualifier you can enter on race morning — the Erie course breakdown is the flat end of the spectrum. If this is your first race at any distance, the night-before checklist is the piece to read Friday, not Saturday.
FAQ
What time does the Akron Half Marathon start in 2026?
7:00 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Sept. 26, on High Street next to the Akron Art Museum. The wheelchair division goes at 6:59.
Is the Akron Marathon sold out for 2026?
The full marathon and its waitlist were both sold out at Thursday's check, as were the relay captain slots. The half marathon and the relay team-member slot were still open.
What is the time limit for the Akron Half?
3.5 hours, held to a continuous 16:00 per mile. Runners who fall off that pace are asked onto the sidewalk or the SAG bus as roads reopen.
Sources
Course, start time, cutoffs, packet pickup and refund policy: the Akron Marathon Race Series FAQ and its 2026 half marathon course description. Prices, sellouts and fundraising totals: the event's Race Roster page, read Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. Finisher counts and the 2:16:53 average: MTEC Results for the 2025 half. Temperatures, rainfall and normals: NOAA NCEI daily summaries and 1991–2020 daily normals for Akron-Canton Airport (station USW00014895).