New Mexico fun runs
20 seasonal, themed and one-of-a-kind fun runs in New Mexico.
Novelty course: 7 · Food and drink: 3 · Iconic tradition: 3 · Holiday and seasonal: 2 · Costume and theme: 2 · Color, glow and night: 1 · Quirky format: 1 · Animals: 1
- Novelty course Big Tesuque Trail Run (The Big T) Timed for peak aspen color, a 12-mile up-and-back from 10,000 feet to the radio towers atop 12,000-foot Tesuque Peak above the Santa Fe ski basin.
- Novelty course Holloman Ace of Races A marathon, half and 5K on an Air Force base flight line that finishes past static aircraft and ends with a 'left, right, left' cadence.
- Novelty course Cactus to Cloud Sky Race As the name says, a 50K that starts among cactus at Oliver Lee State Park in the Tularosa Basin and climbs into the fir-and-spruce forests around Cloudcroft.
- Holiday and seasonal Sugar Skull Fun Run A county-run Día de los Muertos 5K where runners come in sugar-skull face paint and costume, plus a one-mile 'strut and stroll' for strollers and pets.
- Food and drink Canteen Brewhouse Beer Runs Short themed runs between Albuquerque breweries: a 1K Halloween 'Creepy Crawl' and a patriotic 'Liberty Lager Jogger' to La Cumbre, plus a 'Reinbeer Run' and Valentine's singles run to Santa Fe Brewing.
- Costume and theme NM Great Pumpkin Chase A Halloween-morning 10K and 5K that ends with an untimed 100-yard Inflatable Costume Mad Dash.
- Holiday and seasonal Albuquerque Running Fiesta (Día de los Muertos 5K) A downtown race weekend held on Día de los Muertos, with a costume-optional Day of the Dead 5K alongside a marathon routed over Route 66 and through Old Town.
- Novelty course Pyramid Rock Run A roughly 4-mile climb over Pyramid Peak, run the same morning hot-air balloons launch from Red Rock Park during Gallup's Red Rock Balloon Rally.
- Color, glow and night NM Farolito Trail of Lights 5K An evening 5K on a course lined with 2,500 candle-lit farolitos, the paper-bag lanterns of New Mexican Christmas.
- Quirky format Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon A 44-mile out-and-back that bikes, runs, skis and snowshoes from Grants to the 11,301-foot summit of Mount Taylor and back the same way.
- Iconic tradition Bataan Memorial Death March A 26.2-mile desert march on an active Army missile range honoring the WWII defenders of Bataan, with 'heavy' divisions carrying 35-pound rucksacks.
- Animals Run for the Zoo Albuquerque's long-running zoo benefit finishes in front of the ABQ BioPark Zoo, with some courses passing through it and free zoo entry for all participants.
- Iconic tradition Jemez Mountain Trail Runs Los Alamos trail races where every entry includes handmade Jemez Pueblo pottery and a post-race New Mexican feast.
- Costume and theme Alien Chase 5K/10K Roswell's UFO Festival run, where alien costumes are encouraged and the best one wins a prize.
- Novelty course Great Balloon Chase A half, 10K and 5K timed for the morning the hot-air balloons of Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta lift off over the North Valley.
- Novelty course Las Cruces Electric 5K A dusk 5K run down a closed street lined with thousands of spectators who have come for the Electric Light Parade right behind it.
- Food and drink Las Cruces Pizza Run An evening 5K across the rolling NMSU golf course with free hot pizza at the finish; the walk is the 'Green Chile 5K,' the run is the 'Supreme,' and the mile is the 'Personal Pan.'
- Food and drink Red or Green Fun Run Named for New Mexico's 'red or green?' chile question: run as many 2-mile loops from a brewery as you can in three hours, solo or as a 'Relay Ristra' team, for chile prizes.
- Iconic tradition Shiprock Marathon The oldest and largest marathon on the Navajo Nation, run in view of the 1,800-foot volcanic Shiprock pinnacle (Tsé Bitʼaʼí).
- Novelty course Taos Ski Valley Up & Over 10K A ski-resort 10K that climbs 2,612 feet from the Taos Ski Valley base to 11,819 feet, then descends technical alpine terrain, with a vertical-K the next day.