Dear {FirstName} {LastName},

Countdown:  11 days  ..from the 2026 Tobacco Road Marathon and Half Marathon on Sunday, March 15, 2026.

You have probably heard the controversy from Atlanta about the 2026 USATF Women's Half Marathon Championship.  The lead vehicle led the top three runners off-course near the end of the race due to an emergency.  Apparently, a police officer who was assigned to the race was struck by a car, and that disruption caused the lead vehicle to alter its path.

There are several messages in this for all of us.

First, there are typically three different races wrapped up into one event for each runner in a race...

1. There is the race you trained for.  Your hard work and preparation got you to race day.  Congratulations!  This in itself is worth celebrating.  Also know that few runners will ever say they are fully prepared for their race or that their training went as planned.  Don't feel bad if your training wasn't 100%.
2. There is the actual race day and race.  Even if you follow the runner's adage "Nothing new on race day," something unexpected or surprising will certainly happen.  We hope that any surprise is a delightful one, but "things happen."  This could be anything from traffic on the way to the race site...to bad weather (hopefully not a repeat of our 2025 weather)...to forgetting to bring an important item for your race.  Additionally, unexpected challenges happen on the race organizer's side, as obviously happened at the USATF Championship.  We at Tobacco Road spend a year planning all the details of our race, but we still have to react to race-day situations.  You can reduce your surprises by planning and, especially, giving yourself some extra time on race morning to be able to respond to surprises.  And please understand we are working hard to put on the best race possible for you, but it might not be perfect.
3. Then, there is the race you wished you had run.  After you finish, please celebrate your results with us at our post-race party--whatever your results are.  You will have achieved so much more than nearly everyone else--many who will still be in bed.  You can and should reflect on what went well and, perhaps, a few things you wish had gone differently.  But rather than to feel any disappointment about that, use it for learning for your next race.  In fact, if you aren't signed up for a race after Tobacco Road, now is the time to sign up for your Fall race.  If your race doesn't go well, you will already know your "redemption race."  And if your race at Tobacco Road goes well, you'll want to try to repeat and better it.  Top-notch North Carolina fall events include RDC (Oct 25, also on the American Tobacco Trail), City of Oaks (Nov 1, in Raleigh), Outer Banks (Nov 8), and Charlotte (Nov 14).  In fact, those events don't overlap--you could run all four!

And be sure to plan to run the Sunday March 14, 2027, Tobacco Road Marathon and Half Marathon--registration opening soon!

But, back to what we can learn from Atlanta...

Course

Know the course.  Please review https://tobaccoroadmarathon.com/maps.  For the Half Marathon, there are just six turns and one turn-around.  For the Full Marathon, there are also just six turns but two turn-arounds.  These are well-marked and will be staffed with volunteers directing you.  There are, however, two points to pay particular attention to:

1. At mile 2.5 where we move off the road and onto the American Tobacco Trail, the Full Marathon turns right and the Half Marathon turns left.  There will be clear signs and volunteers, so simply be aware of this split.
2. The southern turn-arounds (mile 6.55 of the Half and mile 18.7 of the Full) are NOT at the same location.  The Half Marathon turn-around is earlier.  Full Marathoners:  Make sure you run past the Half-Marathon turn-around.  Note:  The Half Marathon turn-around is shortly after you go through a tunnel under US 64.

Spectators

The course maps also show the locations of aid stations and good locations for spectators to see you running.  Plesae let your spectators know that there will be traffic backups at points where roads cross the American Tobacco Trail (ATT).  The best roads to cross over the ATT (east-to-west) during the race are Scott King Road (at the north end), US 64 (at the south end), and Morrisville Parkway (in the middle).  Recommended:  Have your spectators join you at the Expo where we can suggest to them specific spectating plans for your race distance and expected finish time.

Note that we don't have a runner tracking mobile app, but results will be updated live on https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16247&RId=10130 with just one mid-course timing mat (at the 6.55 miles turn-around) on the Half, and five mid-course timing mats on the Full (at 3.4, 8.3, 13.1, 18.2, 19.7 miles).  If your spectators want to track you with greater precision, we recommend you use an app like Life360 on your cell phone.

Photos

Back this year:  Free photos!  For your lasting memories, we will be providing free photos of your finish.  Be sure to smile!  Note, however, we are asking for an optional $5 donation (via Venmo) for our supported charities for anyone who downloads photos.  That's a small fraction of what many races charge for photos, and your $5 donation will go 100% to charities.  If half of you donate, that's $10,000 more for charities.  (Donations will be taken when photos are available.)

Target Training

About Your Registration

• Your Name:  {FirstName} {LastName}
• Your Emergency Contact:  {e_contact} {e_contact_phone}

And, in case you have missed any of our recent emails, check https://tobaccoroadmarathon.com/emailarchive for our runner email archive.

Nothing new on race day...except for a PR!
The Tobacco Road Marathon Race Committee