High Mountain Half Marathon Decade Anniversary 2026

The High Mountain Half marathon is the perfect fall race to escape the high temps of the lower elevations and plan a cool, relaxing destination race vacation. It is also a great training race for a fall marathon. The half marathon course is a point to point race where runners will be bused from Blue Ridge High School starting at 4:40 am for a cool, crisp 6:00 am start time. Runners will be surrounded by beautiful cedar and pine trees as they travel down Porter Mountain and into the town of Pinetop/Lakeside finishing up at the Blue Ridge High School track. On Saturday morning there is also a 10K and 5K run.   Friday evening highlights are a Glow/Color  Run/Walk and Free Kids run.

Half Marathon    Saturday, August 1   6:00 AM  Start Time

TIME LIMIT 
A 4 hour time limit (at 10 a.m.) has been set for the Half Marathon and power walking participants to reach the finish line. In case a participant has not reached the finish line by that time (see Time Checkpoints section below), he/she can be transported to the finish by a race personnel vehicle (or “sag wagon”). In case he/she decides to go on at his/her own responsibility, he/she needs to move to the side of roadway. This measure is taken in order to ensure the safety of all participants. When the time limit (see below) expires, police will allow vehicle traffic to resume.  

TIME CHECKPOINTS 
In order to complete the course before opening to traffic at 10 a.m. you need to reach the following checkpoints on or before times listed below (18:19 pace )

Aid Station Mileage (miles)      Checkpoint time for 6 a.m. start

2     6:36 AM

4     7:13 AM

6     7:49 AM

8     8:26 AM

10   9:06 AM

12   9:39 AM

10K Saturday, August 1, 2026     6:30 AM Start time

5K - Saturday, August 1, 2026    7:00 AM Start time     Out and back course that starts and ends at the Blue Ridge High School Track

 5 K Glow run/walk - Friday, July 31, 2026   8:30 PM Start time     Participants will complete 2 large loops around Blue Ridge school where much of the course is not well lit.  Please bring glow lights, hand lamps and flash lights if you would like a little extra light.  Music is played on various parts of the route.  Most of the course will be on either the track or paved paths, yet a small segment will be on a grass field.  Runners have the choice to be splashed with paint power or not by choosing one of the two designated course adjustments on the grass field area. Prior to the race, participants can stretch their creativity with paints.    A t shirt is included with your race entry fee.   This is a Non-Timed event.

Kids Run Friday, July 31, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Blue Ridge High School Track - FREE event
Ages 0 -12      Distance 1K
Registration begins at 4 PM until race time on Friday
A Shirt and Medal will be provided for the first 75 registrants