Tucson Marathon

The Tucson Marathon is a net-downhill, point-to-point Boston Qualifier that starts at the Biosphere 2 research facility near Oracle, Arizona and finishes at Pima Community College Northwest Campus in Oro Valley. First run in 1969 and now operated by Aravaipa Running under race director Jamil Coury, who took over the event in 2022, the course descends through Sonoran desert scenery with views of the Santa Catalina Mountains, making it one of the fastest Boston-qualifying marathons in the country. For the 2025 edition the net downhill was trimmed from 1,549 feet to 1,493 feet specifically to stay under the Boston Athletic Association's new downhill-indexing penalty threshold, which takes effect with the 2027 Boston Marathon qualifying window. A half marathon, 50K ultra, and 4-person marathon relay run alongside the full marathon, and the race weekend includes packet pickup events in both Phoenix and Tucson. Held every December, the race takes advantage of Arizona's mild winter racing conditions; the 2024 edition produced course records of 2:12:47 (men) and 2:38:30 (women).