2027 Skunk Cabbage Classic 10K & Half Marathon

The Skunk Cabbage Classic is Ithaca's way of calling spring. Now in its 43rd running, the race starts and finishes inside Cornell's Barton Hall, where pre- and post-race life happens in warmth while March does its unpredictable thing outside — race-day averages hover around 33–52°F with a stiff 14 mph wind.

The half marathon winds through the Cornell campus, follows a scenic paved rail trail, and rolls into the countryside of Ellis Hollow. It's a road race first and foremost, and a fast one: the 2026 results included a new half marathon course record, with the winning time around 70 minutes. A field of roughly 500 finishers turns out, drawn from about a dozen states, and about a third of tracked runners come back in later years — a loyal core for a race this size.

There's a 10K too, and the whole thing is staged by the Finger Lakes Runners Club with a sense of humor: for 2026 the skunk mascot morphed into Skunktimus Prime, complete with a "RUNBOTS, ROLL OUT!" rallying cry and a T-shirt to match. It's a community race with a real sense of occasion — spring, skunk cabbages, and a fast morning in Ithaca.