Buckeye Marathon

Buckeye Marathon, also billed as the Race to the Runway, is held in Buckeye, Arizona, on January 9, 2027, with a marathon (26.2 miles), a half marathon (13.1 miles), a 10K and a 5K. The marathon starts at Sun City Festival, winds around the White Tank Mountains and drops more than 530 feet net to a finish on the tarmac at Buckeye Municipal Airport. The half, 10K and 5K are out-and-back courses from the airport with mountain views. All races are chip timed, and the event supports the city's youth scholarship fund.

A certified Boston qualifier with that much net descent is a genuine personal-best course, but downhill running punishes quadriceps that have not trained for it. Build downhill repeats into the last eight weeks, hold back over the early miles where the drop is steepest, and expect the flat sections late to feel harder than the numbers suggest.