North Carolina · 5K
Every upcoming 5K around Winston-Salem, with start times, entry fees, finish-time stats from past editions, start-line maps, and the local run clubs to train with.
42 upcoming 5K races found · 35 with finish-time stats
Winston-Salem has genuinely built around runners - 79 parks, 28 miles of greenways, and a Salem Lake loop that serves as the default long-run anchor for most people in town. Group runs cluster downtown around Bailey Park and spill into Reynolda Village, which means the social infrastructure is already in place before you even pin on a bib.
The city runs mostly on pavement and multi-use paths, but Salem Lake's crushed-gravel loop gives the scene a trail edge that shows up in the race calendar too. Fall is when the energy peaks, and the inland North Carolina heat of July and August means anyone racing summer here earns it.
By the numbers
The Winston-Salem races that stand out on the numbers: the biggest field, and the longest unbroken run of editions.
How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Oct 25, 2026.
Across the 29 RunSignup 5K editions with published results on RunSesh, walkers and charity entrants included, the median finish time is 34:08. The median last finisher crossed at 1:01:42. Fields here tend to be small - the median field size is 53 - so you will likely know several people around you by the end, and the back of the pack is never far from the front.
Fall is by far the busiest stretch, with 15 races running September through November, and October alone has 6. Summer still has 8 races if you want one, but Winston-Salem's inland heat and humidity make those a harder effort. January is the quietest month, with 1 race on the calendar.
18 races say they give a shirt. None of the 33 say they give a medal. That said, 15 races have published no giveaway details at all, so the shirt and medal picture is incomplete - those races have not said one way or the other.
The fields are typically small and community-oriented, which takes some of the intimidation out of a debut. The Salem Creek Greenway and Hanes Park track give you solid training ground close to where most races start, and the finish-time spread across published results is wide enough that no pace feels out of place.
Yes, one race around Winston-Salem gets you off the pavement: 1 is a trail race.
