The American River Parkway’s #1 Half Marathon Event!
The Parkway Half Marathon has been an annual spring-time tradition for runners and walkers in the Sacramento region for 18 years! This flat, fast, and shady course travels along the American River Parkway through old-growth Oak forests, lush meadows, and pristine riparian habitat, making it a perfect race for a PR, and a scenic journey for everyone!
But the Parkway Half is more than just a race. It is the first, and for nearly a decade, the ONLY race event to donate 100% of its proceeds to benefit the American River Parkway.
And even though race events were shut down from 2019 to 2020, including the Parkway Half, proceeds and donations continued to flow in to the race’s Parkway Fund thanks to the tremendous community participation of our three “virtual” races - the Tour de Parkway I, II, and III.
As a result, the Parkway Half Marathon and the Tour de Parkway race events, along with generous direct donations to the Parkway Fund, increased our cumulative donations over the past 18 years to nearly $400,000!
These donations help fund habitat restoration, invasive plant removal, trash clean up, kids’ interactive nature trails, and our latest project - drinking fountain installations. We’ve installed three with another two slated for this Summer!
To that end, participating in the Parkway Half Marathon is the number one way to support your Parkway!
Come on out for the race, stay for the party, and support your Parkway along the way!
2025 Event Features
Event Info
Each course travels along the American River Parkway and features the most aid stations than any other half marathon (6 for the runners; 8 for the walkers), and servers ice-cold water and Gatorade at each aid station. For entertainment, we live bands along both courses. Bananas are welcome!
Kids’ Otter Dash
Register your child for the Kids’ Otter Dash presented by the City of Rancho Cordova. Race is distance is 1/2 mile and parents can run or walk with their children for free! All finishers receive a tech race shirt, post-race lunch, free race photos, and their own parkway otter dash medal.