Road Running and Racing in Phoenix: Your Calendar Guide

Phoenix's running community is substantial, and the race calendar reflects it. The climate creates a concentrated fall-through-spring racing season from October through April, with summer races limited to before-dawn events and organized trail runs at elevation. The Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and Half Marathon, held in January through downtown Phoenix, is the largest single-day running event in the state: over 30,000 participants running courses through central Phoenix with live music at every mile marker. The Pat's Run in Tempe, a 4.2-mile race honoring Pat Tillman at Arizona State University, is the most emotionally significant run in the Valley and attracts participants who are not competitive runners alongside serious competitors. The Arizona Road Racers association tracks and sanctions most local road running events throughout the Valley and maintains the most comprehensive race calendar available. Trail running in the Phoenix metro has its own event calendar centered on South Mountain, the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, and the White Tank Mountains. For first-time race participants: the Tempe Fall Classic and various Run Local events at Tempe Town Lake provide low-stakes introductions to organized running at distances from 5K through 10K.