How we rate races
Every half marathon in the U.S. gets a score out of 100, based on eight things we can actually measure. We update it every week from the latest results, and no race can ever buy a better score — not with ads, partnerships, or anything else.
What the badges mean
Below 40, we don't show a badge at all — the race is still listed, it just isn't notable enough to call out.
Runner Favorite
Storied, big, loved, and run to a high standard. The races people rave about.
Standout
Strong across the board — exactly the kind of race worth planning a trip around.
Solid Pick
A real, well-run race — just smaller or newer than the headliners.
What we look at
Each one is worth a set share of the 100 points. Here's the full breakdown.
Heritage
20 ptsHow many years the race has been run.
A race that's run 12 years straight is clearly doing something right. Brand-new or one-off races miss out here.
Size
15 ptsHow many people finish in a typical recent year.
A bigger turnout usually means better sponsors, volunteers, and on-course support. We don't reward size in a straight line, though — a 5,000-runner race isn't 50× better than a 100-runner one, just a couple of points better.
Momentum
5 ptsWhether the race is growing or shrinking.
Growing or steady is a healthy sign. A race in steep decline often means the organizers or the local running community are drifting away.
Loyalty
20 ptsHow many of last year's runners had also run the race in one of the two years before.
Runners don't come back to races they didn't love. It's the single strongest sign of a great race — and the clearest line between a real community race and a copy-paste one.
Course & details
15 ptsA measured (USATF-certified) course, results that match across more than one timing company, photos, and a course map.
The signs of a well-run race. Certification means the course was actually measured to 13.1 miles. Matching results from more than one timer mean the times are trustworthy. Photos and maps mean someone cared about the experience.
National draw
10 ptsHow many states runners travel from.
A race that pulls runners from 40 states is a true destination. One that's 95% locals is a hometown race — great in its own way, just a different thing.
Front-pack speed
5 ptsHow fast the winner runs.
A sub-1:15 win means the race draws genuinely fast runners. Even if you'll never break two hours yourself, it's a good sign the race is worth a competitive runner's time.
Weather
10 ptsThe typical race-day high temperature.
Somewhere around 55–60°F is about ideal for 13.1 miles. We don't punish races that own their conditions — hot, cold, or humid — but we'll always tell you what to expect.
The filler-race markdown
A handful of operators run dozens of near-identical races — same name, different city, same company, tiny turnouts, and almost nobody coming back. When all three of these are true at once, we knock 20% off the score:
- The same organizer runs at least 8 different races, and
- Those races typically draw fewer than 150 finishers, and
- Almost no one comes back year to year (under 3% on average).
We deliberately ignore which website a race uses to take sign-ups — plenty of great community races register through the big platforms, and we'd never mark one down for that.
What we don't measure
Scenery and vibe. Both matter a lot, but neither shows up in finish-time data. Down the road we may factor in course character (waterfront, ridgeline, city streets) and runner reviews.
Your personal goals. A 5,000-runner big-city "Runner Favorite" might be exactly wrong if you want a quiet rural first half. The score tells you a race is well-run; only you can decide if it's well-run for you.
New races. A brand-new race has no history and no returning runners yet. It can still score well on course, size, and weather, but it's capped around 60 until it has a few years behind it.
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