WThe Around the Bay Road Race is the oldest long distance road race in North America, held in Hamilton, Ontario since 1894. It is not marathon length, nor has it continuously run (thus the Boston Marathon, founded in April 1897, is the longest running marathon. The longest continually-running footrace in North America is the Bemis-Forslund Pie Race, founded in 1891. The 30 kilometre race is also known as the Billy Sherring Memorial Road Race. It is also called the 30K Around The Bay.
WBay to Breakers is an annual footrace in San Francisco, California typically on the third Sunday of May. The phrase "Bay to Breakers" reflects the fact that the race starts at the northeast end of the downtown area a few blocks from The Embarcadero and runs west through the city to finish at the Great Highway. The complete course is 7.46 miles (12.01 km) long.
WThe BIG 25 Berlin is an annual road running competition over 25 kilometres that takes place in Berlin, Germany in early May.
WThe Bix 7 Road Race is held annually in Davenport, Iowa, as a commemoration to Davenport native and jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke. It is followed a week later by the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival.
WCity2Surf is a popular road running event held annually in Sydney covering a 14-kilometre (8.7 mi) course. The event is a "fun run" as well as a race, attracting both competitive runners and community participants who can choose to run or to walk. The event attracts more than 80,000 entrants who start in staggered groups based on previous running times and early entry.
WThe Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot is an annual footrace over an 8 miles (12.9 km) course through the city of Dallas, Texas (USA). There is also a 5k run/walk. Participants may choose to register for the 5k as a timed or untimed runner. In 2005, 3,843 harriers completed the 8-mile (13 km) Trot, in addition to 22,668 runners in the 3 miles (4.8 km), making the Dallas Turkey Trot the largest Thanksgiving race in the United States and the second-biggest footrace in the state of Texas, with 26,511 total registered runners. The 2011 race attracted a record attendance of 36,820.
WThe Foulées du Gois is an international road running race held annually on the Passage du Gois, a tidal causeway between Beauvoir-sur-Mer and the Île de Noirmoutier, France. The professional race, held over the submerged causeway, is from one end of the causeway to the other, a distance of 4.15 kilometres (2.58 mi). A series of alternate races are undertaken earlier in the day, when the tide is not over the causeway, for youth and non-professional divisions; the adult non-elite divisions are 8.3 kilometres (5.2 mi) in length, a round trip of the Passage du Gois. The event is the second-most publicised in the département of Vendée, after the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race.
WThe Greifenseelauf is an annual road running event in the Swiss Canton of Zurich, that was established in 1980 and takes place in the middle of September.
WThe J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge is an annual series of 3.5-mile (5.63 km) road footraces owned and operated by JPMorgan Chase, with an intended focus on promoting fitness, camaraderie and team work to employees of local businesses and organizations. Teams are organized by company or organization, and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation celebrates the participants by making a donation to local charities.
WThe Lilac Bloomsday Run, also known as Bloomsday, is an annual timed road race in the northwest United States, held on the first Sunday of May since 1977 in Spokane, Washington. The course length is 12 km.
WThis list of the largest running events in the world is based on the number of participants. If available, the number of "registered" participants or finishers may be specified. Not all participants will actually complete a race. Running USA's Road Running Information Center estimates that, on average, 80%-85% of registrants will complete a race. If a yearly event has consistently high participation, the year in which that event had the largest number of participants has been listed.
WSome long-distance races involve alcohol during or after the event. Some such events could be likened to a pub crawl over an extended distance while others have the alcoholic drinks as a reward at the end of the race.
WThe Manchester Road Race is a 4.748 mile (7.641 km) footrace held annually on Thanksgiving Day in Manchester, Connecticut. Race proceeds are donated each year to Muscular Dystrophy research and about 18 other local charities. Beginning promptly at 10:00am every Thanksgiving Morning, the race attracts athletes of all ages and abilities. First run in 1927, the race regularly attracts accomplished runners from across the United States as well as internationally recognized competitors.
WThe Terry Fox Run is an annual non-competitive charity event held in numerous regions around the world in commemoration of Canadian cancer activist Terry Fox, and his Marathon of Hope, and to raise money for cancer research.
WA turkey trot is a footrace, usually of the long-distance variety, that is held on or around Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Its name is derived from the use of turkey as a common centerpiece of the Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey trots are also held in the United Kingdom, usually shortly before or after Christmas Day. In the United States, many courses used for these Thanksgiving events are run at major certified USA Track & Field road race distances between 5,000 and 21,098 meters; others are informal fun runs as short as 1.0 mile (1.6 km). The oldest documented turkey trot, a still-ongoing annual event in Buffalo, New York, dates to 1896.
WTwilight's Last Gleaming Cross Country Challenge is a four mile, annual cross country style running race. It is held on the same course, in and around Arroyo Verde Park, annually on the last Saturday in October, starting at 5 p.m. The race was the last race of the Southern California USATF Cross Country Grand Prix series before the final. The 2015 event will be on October 24.
WThe Waffenlauf is a military running long-distance running competition which was very popular in Switzerland from the 1940s until the end of the 1980s.
WWorld Athletics Label Road Races are races that the World Athletics designates as one of the "leading road races around the world." The classification was first introduced for the 2008 running season, upon the suggestion of the IAAF Road Running Commission. The races are split into three categories: marathons, half marathons and other. Within the "other" category are traditional road race distances, over which IAAF world records can be set, along with some "Classical races," which span unusual distances.