Fourth of July is a hugely popular day to run a marathon – but what if running a marathon isn’t quite your thing? Well, for over 50 years now, you can swing into the small city of Monmouth and run the Fourth of July Monmouth Mini-Marathon. What is a mini-marathon?
There are lots of races that call themselves “Mini Marathons”, but in most cases the race has very little to do with the actual distance of a marathon aside from being much shorter. The great thing about the Monmouth Mini-Marathon is that the name really means something, since the race is almost exactly 1/10th as long as an official marathon, at 2.6 miles.
Not only is the name appropriate and the distance creative, but the course itself makes sense, with a logical start and finish. The point-to-point race starts in front of Monmouth City Hall and finishes in front of the library in Independence.
Any course shorter than a 5k will be relatively fast, but the Monmouth Mini Marathon also boasts a slightly downhill course (47 feet of drop) with only two turns, so expect to rack up some speedy splits (and of course a PR if this is your first time running a true “mini marathon”.)
The race precedes the 4th of July Parade, which follows the same route, so you can also look forward to an extra adrenaline boost from the enthusiastic spectators lining the street and cheering you on. This has been one of my favorite Independence Day races, with a fun atmosphere, a fast course, and great organization.
Here is a pro tip: Try to park somewhere halfway along the course, so you have a mini warmup to the start and a mini cool down back to your car after the race (just be careful of being blocked in by the parade). And since the race begins at 11:30a, you can easily find a race earlier in the morning and make it a double.
