Lake Tahoe Marathon

The Lake Tahoe Marathon is the Sunday flagship of a three-day running festival held each October around the shores of Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border, now in its 31st year. This race runs on Sunday, October 18, 2026, with a standard 8:00 AM start; an optional 7:00 AM early start is offered for walkers and runners expecting to take more than six hours, who receive a finisher's medal but are not eligible for age-group awards. The course is point-to-point, beginning at Meadow Road and Highway 89 just south of Homewood on Lake Tahoe's west shore and finishing at Lakeside Beach in South Lake Tahoe, about six blocks from the casinos at Stateline. The route is very hilly, climbing and descending forested lakeside roads past Emerald Bay and the Eagle Falls trailhead, with roughly 1,785 feet (544 m) of total elevation gain and a notorious steep stretch around miles 8-9.5 known locally as the 'Hill from Hell.' Sunday's slate alongside the marathon includes the downhill Emerald Bay Half Marathon, the Tahoe 10K, the Super Hero 5K, a Kids Pumpkin Run and a 4-person marathon relay. The wider Lake Tahoe Marathon festival stages separate races on the two preceding days, each a distinct event with its own entry and its own results: the Lakeside Marathon and Nevada Half Marathon on Friday, October 16, and the Cal Neva Marathon, Incline Half Marathon, Very Scary 5K and 72-Mile Midnight Express on Saturday, October 17. The Tahoe Triple (Lakeside plus Cal Neva plus this Sunday marathon) and the Tahoe Trifecta (Nevada, Incline and Emerald Bay half marathons) are multi-day packages that combine those separate races. Finishers receive a 4.5-inch medal and long-sleeve technical shirt, and free shuttle buses run from the Golden Nugget Hotel Casino in Stateline to the start. Expect crisp mid-October mountain weather, from the 40s°F at the early start to the 60s°F by early afternoon.