Marathon Relay

The marathon can be a team sport. Gather three of your friends, co-workers, neighbors….and take a chance on 26.2 miles divided by 4! A ton of fun, this is a great bonding experience with the potential for some good bragging rights!

Register

Registration is open!

Date and time

Saturday, April 26, 2025
7:33am

We are using a wave start. Relay teams should be in the wave that corresponds to their expected total finishing time.

Entry fees

Your entry fee entitles all in-person entrants to FREE race photos.
Visit the regis tration page to see fee details based on chosen race and registration date.

Packet pickup

You will need to pickup your packet prior to your race. Please see the packet pickup page for more details on when and how to do this.

How the marathon relay works

Relay Team members should read the Relay Team Instructions.

Divisions

There are four categories: male, female, mixed 2 & 2, mixed 3 & 1.

Bibs

At bib pick-up, your team will receive 5 race bibs—one for each team member, and one that has a timing chip on it. The bib with the timing chip is attached to a race belt that is worn by each team member as he/she runs their leg of the relay.

How to make exchanges

One member of the relay team starts the race at the start line on First Street, just south of the State Farm Center.

Each exchange zone will have a huge sign, and the exchange area will be flagged. Please give yourself ample time to get to your exchange. There are three Exchange Zones:

Exchange Zone A (mile 6.7) is located on Amber Lane, just east of the Meijer store in Urbana, on the left (south) side of the street.
Exchange Zone B (mile 13.6) is located on Logan Street at the intersection of Market and Logan.
Exchange Zone C (mile 19.5) is located at Mendota Drive on the east side of Prospect Avenue.

At the Exchange Zone, the arriving runner finds his/her teammate, takes off their race number belt, and gives it to the waiting teammate. That runner puts on the race number belt and begins his/her running leg to the next exchange station.

Time estimates and team attire

All relay participants should determine an estimated time it will take to run their individual legs and then communicate that to their teammates. Another helpful hint is to know the color of your teammate’s running attire or to all wear the same running attire.

Follow the explicit driving directions you will be given to get from one exchange zone to another exchange zone. The directions may appear to take you far out of your way, but they are designed to take you around areas affected by the race. Not doing so could result in your team getting stuck in traffic and missing the timely exchange with your runner. Here are the distances of the four relay legs.

Leg 1 = 6.7 miles
Leg 2 = 6.9 miles
Leg 3 = 5.9 miles
Leg 4 = 6.7 miles

Finishing together

Yes! If you all want to cross the finish line together, that is allowed. Runner #1, #2, and #3 can wait for the last teammate on Irwin Drive and then all four team members can run into Memorial Stadium together and cross the finish line in unison.

The course

The race starts near the State Farm Center, runs through campus, loops through Urbana, back through campus, out into Champaign, south to Savoy, and finishes on the 50-yard line of Memorial Stadium.

The course will be closed to traffic for participants who are averaging faster than 13:43 minutes per mile. Slower participants may continue after traffic is allowed onto the race course, but they do so at their own risk and must follow pedestrian statutes. Race volunteers, the finish line, and post-race festivities will remain active long enough to accommodate runners taking up to 6 hours.

The course is USATF-certified. IL19001DT (valid until 12/31/2029).

Learn more about the course

Goodies & Shirts

Relay entrants will receive a Bella + Canvas-brand short-sleeve unisex jersey tee and a drawstring backpack. Finishers get a great medal, food and drink after the race, and one beverage at the 27th-Mile Celebrate Victory Bash on Saturday April 26. (Entrants must display their race bib to receive the beverage.)

Bella + Canvas-brand short-sleeve unisex jersey tee, made of airlume combed and ringspun cotton/polyester. Your relay shirt will feel oh so soft!! The shirt comes in adult sizes XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL and XXXL and youth sizes S, M, and L. The shirt color is heather prism mint. The relay shirt features the 2025 shirt design on the front.

See the sizing chart .

Awards

There will be first, second, and third place awards given to each member of each team in the categories listed above. Relay awards are based on chip time.