2027 Bill Snyder Highway Half

The Bill Snyder Highway Half is a point-to-point race that begins near I-70 on Highway 177 — the Coach Bill Snyder Highway — and delivers you to the gates of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Runners board buses early and are shuttled out to the start, trading a pre-dawn alarm for a sunrise over the Kansas plains and a straight shot back toward town.

The first eight miles run along the highway, a long, mostly straight stretch with rolling grades and little crowd support — one runner called it "a little daunting," though the occasional berm breaks the crosswind. Aid stations with water and Gatorade appear roughly every two miles, and some have handed out GU. The course then turns through the outskirts of Manhattan, past a park and through campus, before a final uphill mile that leads to the stadium. In normal years, the finish line sits on the field itself.

Now in its 12th annual edition, the race draws around 900 finishers from roughly 21 states, and about a quarter return for another go. It benefits charities chosen by Coach Snyder, including Homecare Hospice, No Stone Unturned, and Johnson Cancer Research. A 5K starts and finishes at the stadium, and the half is part of a three-year medal series.