Cleveland Marathon

The organiser’s marathon page lists the course highlights: the heart of Hingetown, Ohio City and Gordon Square, “long, flat sections from Lake Avenue to West Boulevard”, the Edgewater neighborhood, a turnaround in Lakewood reached from West 115th, and a return trip with “a brief, two-mile stretch on the Shoreway (reduced from six miles in previous years)”. The last mile drops back onto Detroit Avenue through Ohio City and Hingetown to a downtown finish. Start and finish are both at St. Clair Avenue Northeast at Mall B.

The route is the one the organiser introduced for 2026 in its March 2026 announcement, which says the marathon begins at The Mall, heads west along St. Clair and turns back towards Euclid Avenue past Public Square and Playhouse Square, with the first views of Lake Erie by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The course is USATF certified and a Boston qualifier.

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The organiser’s March 2026 announcement describes the early course as heading “downhill to The Flats and up their first big hill into the historic Tremont neighborhood”. In numbers: the road is at 198 m at the start and reaches 204 m near km 2.7, then falls away. The lowest point of the course, 176 m, comes at km 10.8, and the road climbs from there to 208 m at km 13.7, the highest point of the whole race.

In all the marathon climbs about 108 m. Start and finish stand within a metre of each other, at 198 m.

Measured

After the Lakewood turnaround the profile is nearly level: from km 26 to km 37.5 it never leaves a band between 191 and 197 m, a spread of about 6 m over more than eleven kilometres. The organiser’s marathon page promotes “long, flat sections” on the course.

The late rise comes after that. The road falls to 180 m at km 38.2 and then climbs 26 m to 206 m by km 40. The organiser’s text places the Edgewater neighborhood, a crossing over the Shoreway next to Edgewater Park and Hingetown in this closing stretch, ending with “an electric final mile” on Detroit Avenue into the downtown finish. From km 40 to the line the road falls back to 198 m.

Measured

The marathon starts at 7:00 am. The marathon page names three checks. At mile 9.2, West 14th Street and Clark Avenue, the cut-off is 9:40 am and runners behind it must be on the sidewalk going north until Starkweather. At mile 13.0, Superior and Huron, West 9th, the cut-off is 10:40 am and all runners behind it must do the half marathon. From mile 16 runners must keep “a 16 min/mile plus 15 minute buffer”, and anyone behind it is turned around on the out-and-back section between miles 16 and 22.5.

The organiser states the limit as a 7-hour pace, set by street closure ordinances along the course. The finish line stays open and staffed beyond 7 hours, and participants who fall behind move to the sidewalks where available.

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