Race Weekend at a Glance
The 2025 edition runs under a new name. U.S. Polo Assn. took over as title sponsor this year, and the weekend is now the U.S. Polo Assn. Palm Beaches Marathon. The format is the same one runners know: two shorter races on Saturday morning, then the marathon, the half marathon, and the four-person marathon relay on Sunday at dawn.
The organizers announced in October that they expect more than 6,000 runners across the five distances. That makes it one of the larger road races in South Florida and the largest event of its kind in Palm Beach County. Registration runs through the race website, and the expo and packet pickup take place at the Meyer Amphitheatre on Flagler Drive on the Friday and Saturday before the races. There is no packet pickup on race day, a rule the organizers hold to every year.
The Course
The start and finish sit on Flagler Drive at Datura Street, at the downtown waterfront. From there the marathon course runs north and south along Flagler Drive, with the Intracoastal on one side and the city on the other, then moves through the downtown core and the older residential neighborhoods nearby. The organizers describe the route as entirely flat and rank it among the fastest marathon courses in Florida. Shade comes from the tree-lined city streets, and the water views come from Flagler Drive, which passes the Manatee Lagoon, the museums, and the waterfront parks.
The flat profile is the practical point. Runners chasing a Boston qualifying time pick this race for the same reason they pick any December race in Florida: cool mornings, no hills, and a certified course. The half marathon shares the same start and much of the same waterfront stretch.
The Schedule
Saturday belongs to the 5K and 10K, which start at 7:30 in the morning and finish before most of downtown has had breakfast. Sunday is the main event. The marathon, the half marathon, and the relay all start at 6:00 AM, in the dark, so that the marathoners finish before the heat builds. The table below puts the weekend on one page.
Source: race organizers' announcements, October and November 2025.
What It Means for Downtown
For anyone who lives in the downtown towers or along Flagler Drive, the practical effect is a Sunday morning of road closures on and around the waterfront. Closures begin before the 6:00 AM start and lift in stages as the last runners clear each section, so garage access and morning plans on December 14 deserve a look at the organizers' closure map during the week beforehand. Saturday's closures are shorter and end by mid-morning.
For hotels, restaurants, and the waterfront retail strip, race weekend is one of the busier December weekends of the year. Six thousand runners travel with families and friends, and most of them stay within walking distance of the start. If you are coming in for the race and want to stay downtown, book early. The Brightline station sits a few blocks from the start, which makes the race an easy day trip for runners coming up from Fort Lauderdale or Miami and a practical alternative to driving in before dawn.
Why Runners Notice West Palm Beach
A marathon is a long look at a city. Runners who come for the course spend two or three days in a downtown that has changed a great deal in five years. The waterfront is finished, the office towers along Flagler and Okeechobee are leased to financial firms that moved south, and the restaurants and galleries that followed them are open for the weekend. We wrote about the financial migration in our piece on West Palm Beach as Wall Street South, and race weekend is a good time to see what it looks like on the ground.
The honest version of the real estate tie-in is simple. People who run this race in December are seeing the county at its best, in the first weeks of the season, and a share of them start asking what it would take to spend more of the winter here. If that is you, our guide to the best time to buy in Palm Beach County explains how the season shapes inventory and negotiation, and the West Palm Beach community page covers the downtown buildings and neighborhoods within reach of the course. Our events calendar lists what else is on in December.
Bottom Line
Race weekend is December 13 and 14, 2025. The 5K and 10K run Saturday at 7:30 AM, the marathon, half marathon, and relay run Sunday at 6:00 AM, and everything starts and finishes on Flagler Drive at Datura Street. The course is flat, certified, and a Boston qualifier, and the organizers expect more than 6,000 runners. Residents should plan for Sunday morning closures along the waterfront. Visitors should book downtown early and treat the weekend as a look at the city in season.
For visitors using race weekend to look at downtown: Walk the course on Saturday afternoon once the short races clear. Flagler Drive from the Meyer Amphitheatre north to the Manatee Lagoon is the waterfront the downtown market is priced on, and seeing it on foot tells you more than any listing photograph.
Event details come from the organizers' October 2025 announcement (reported by WFLX on October 16, 2025) and the race website: dates, start times, the five-race format, the expo location, the 6,000-runner expectation, and the new title sponsorship. Start times, closure maps, and expo hours are set by the organizers and can change. Verify against the race website before race weekend.
Course descriptions (flat profile, USATF certification, Boston qualifying status, the Flagler Drive waterfront stretch) are the organizers' own descriptions of the course. We have not independently measured the route.
This article is an event guide. Real estate references are general context and link to our own published analysis.
U.S. Polo Assn. Palm Beaches Marathon, official race website and registration pages.
WFLX, "Palm Beaches Marathon to draw 6,000 runners from around the world this December," October 16, 2025.
