US Races Next Week (Sept. 19–20, 2026): Air Force Marathon and Top of Utah Saturday, Fox Valley and Santa Fe Sunday
Quick answer — Next weekend is a Saturday weekend. The Air Force Marathon goes at Wright-Patterson on Sept. 19 with the 5K and 10K at 6:30 a.m. EDT and the marathon and half at 7:15, Top of Utah runs down the canyon into Logan at 7:10 a.m. MDT the same morning, and the Equinox Marathon climbs Ester Dome in Fairbanks at 8. Sunday belongs to Fox Valley in St. Charles at 7 a.m. CDT and the Santa Fe half at 7:30. The DC Half is already full, all three events.
What is running Saturday, Sept. 19?
| Race | City | Start (local) | Entry | Sept. 19 normal (low/high) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force Marathon | Dayton, OH (Wright-Patterson AFB) | 5K & 10K 6:30 a.m., half & marathon 7:15 a.m. EDT | Open. Marathon $130, half $115, 10K $65, 5K $50 | 54°F / 75°F |
| Cytiva Top of Utah Marathon | Logan, UT | Marathon 7:10, half 7:30, 10K 7:50, 5K 8:10 a.m. MDT | Open to 7:00 a.m. race morning. Marathon $130, half $80, 10K $70, 5K $50 | 48°F / 74°F |
| 62nd Equinox Marathon & Relay | Fairbanks, AK | 8:00 a.m. AKDT, UAF Athletic Field | Open to 7:59 p.m. Sept. 18. $110 plus fee | 34°F / 53°F |
| DC Half 5K | Washington, DC (West Potomac Park) | 8:00 a.m. EDT | Full. $60, no new entries | 61°F / 78°F |
What is running Sunday, Sept. 20?
| Race | City | Start (local) | Entry | Sept. 20 normal (low/high) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fox Valley Marathon, half, Fall Final 20 | St. Charles, IL | Marathon, half and 20-mile 7:00 a.m., 5K 7:10 a.m. CDT | Open. No refunds, no transfers, $35 to defer | 51°F / 74°F |
| Capitol Ford Santa Fe International Half | Santa Fe, NM | Half & 3-Amigos relay 7:30, 5K 8:00, kids 1K 9:00 a.m. MDT | Open. Roads into the start close at 7:00 a.m. | 56°F / 79°F |
| DC Half | Washington, DC | 7:00 a.m. EDT | Full. $120 was the last price | 61°F / 78°F |
| Prospect Park Half Marathon | Brooklyn, NY | 8:00 a.m. EDT, Center Drive | Open to 5:00 p.m. Sept. 19. $85.80 with fee | 59°F / 74°F |
Why is the Air Force Marathon the one to plan around?
Size and structure. Four distances leave Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on the same morning, and the two short ones go 45 minutes ahead of the long ones, so a family can split across the field without splitting the day. Current pricing runs $130 for the marathon, $115 for the half, $65 for the 10K and $50 for the 5K, with $10 off the long distances and $5 off the short ones for military registrants. That window closes Sept. 17. After that it is expo-only entry on Sept. 18 and 19 at $145, $125, $75 and $60 — a $15 penalty for waiting a week. The Tailwind Trot kids' 1K runs the evening before, at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18.
Dayton's 1991–2020 normal for Sept. 19 is a 54°F low and a 75°F high. A 7:15 a.m. gun on a normal year means starting near 56°F and finishing a four-hour marathon near 72°F, which is the classic mid-September problem: you dress for the gun and cook at mile 20. Our kit-by-temperature guide handles that split directly.
Which race next week has the hardest weather on paper?
Fairbanks, by a wide margin. The Equinox Marathon's Sept. 19 normals are a 34°F low and a 53°F high, and the course goes up and over Ester Dome, so the top of the climb is colder than the airport reading that produces those normals. An 8 a.m. start in near-freezing air with 26.2 miles of exposed ridge is a different clothing problem than anywhere else on this board: gloves and a hat you can shed, tights rather than shorts, and a top layer you are willing to carry. Runners caught between two sizes in tights should read the inseam-by-height breakdown our sizing desk published — a tight that ends at the wrong point on the calf is the thing you notice at mile 18 in the cold.
Santa Fe is the quiet second. The half starts at Romero's Park in Agua Fría and finishes at Reunity Resources Farm, all of it above 6,000 feet, on a redesigned course this year. A 56°F normal low sounds mild; thin air and strong high-desert sun at 9 a.m. do not.
What is already sold out?
The DC Half, completely. Pacers Running has all three of its West Potomac Park events marked full: the Saturday 5K at $60, the Sunday half at $120 and the two-race District Challenge at $155. Registration technically runs to Sept. 18 and 19, but there is nothing to buy. If you wanted a Washington half next weekend, that ship sailed.
Everything else on the board still has room as of Saturday morning. Top of Utah is the most forgiving: online entry stays open until 7:00 a.m. race morning, with in-person signup at race headquarters Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday 6 to 7 a.m. Equinox closes hardest, at 7:59 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18.
Where is next weekend's forecast?
Not out yet, and we will not invent it. The National Weather Service digital grid runs seven days ahead; as of this morning its last period is Friday, Sept. 18. Sept. 19 enters the grid on Sunday and Sept. 20 on Monday. The normals in the tables above are 1991–2020 NCEI daily values for the nearest long-record station — useful for packing, useless for deciding between a singlet and a long sleeve.
What about this weekend, before any of that?
Ten races are running right now. REVEL Big Cottonwood left Guardsman Pass at 6:45 this morning and the Erie Marathon at Presque Isle goes at 7 a.m. Sunday over a 68°F dew point. The full board with entry status is in this weekend's list, the hour-by-hour kit calls are in Friday's guide, and Erie has its own course and weather-history preview.
How should you spend the week between now and then?
If Sept. 19 or 20 is your race, this is taper week, and the useful work is logistical rather than physical. Lay out the kit you plan to wear and run in it once, at race pace, for 20 minutes. Confirm your packet pickup window — Fox Valley's race-day pickup add-on closes Sept. 19 at 4:30 p.m., and Top of Utah's Friday window runs noon to 6. Read the race-morning checklist if this is a first one. Check whether your start is dark: Equinox at 8 a.m. in Fairbanks is fine, but a 6:30 a.m. 5K in Dayton is not, and our visibility gear notes cover that. Prices on fall running kit move fast this month; our sister desk tracks them in its fall running gear price check.
TL;DR — Seven races, Sept. 19–20. Air Force Marathon 7:15 a.m. EDT Saturday, with the 5K and 10K at 6:30 and the price rising $15 after Sept. 17. Top of Utah 7:10 a.m. MDT, open until race morning. Equinox in Fairbanks at 8, closing Friday night, with a 34°F normal low. Fox Valley 7 a.m. CDT Sunday, Santa Fe half 7:30, Prospect Park 8. The DC Half is full. Forecasts arrive here Friday, Sept. 18.
Sources
- Dates, start times, pricing and entry status: each event's own registration page — usafmarathon.com and its Race Roster listing; logandowntown.org and RunnerCard for Top of Utah; RunSignup for the Equinox Marathon, the DC Half and the Prospect Park Half; fv26.com for Fox Valley; santafehalfmarathon.com. Checked Sept. 12, 2026.
- Temperature normals: NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 daily normals, stations Dayton (USW00093815), Logan (USC00425186), Fairbanks (USW00026411), Aurora/DuPage (USW00094892), Santa Fe (USW00023050), Washington National (USW00013743) and New York Central Park (USW00094728).
- Forecast availability window: National Weather Service gridpoint forecasts, checked Sept. 12, 2026, 7:40 a.m. ET.