Sat, Aug 29, 2026
Columbus, GA
Entry is $30 now and rises to $35 after Aug 28, 2026, so registering before then saves $5.
This is a midnight race through a residential neighborhood, which means you are running in the dark with a large crowd around you. The atmosphere comes from the hour itself. After you finish, there is barbecue and sweet tea at the finish area.
A free outdoor concert starts a few hours before the gun, with vendors set up nearby. Packet pickup is the evening before at a location the organizer announces closer to race day.
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Going by the 2025 results, this is a big field, and the spread of finish times is wide, so this is a mostly recreational race rather than one for club runners.
5K · 2025 results
Top 3: Andrew McGowan (16:48) · Bradley Brooks (16:55) · Dillon Hawley (17:04)
The Country’s Midnight Express 5K has been held every year since at least 2014. That is as far back as RunSignup's records for this race go, so it may well be older.
Enter a finish time to see where it lands against the most recent 5K results.
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 Jul 27, 2026.
Set a goal and get a pace band: every mile split on a card sized for your phone lock screen, so race morning needs no math.
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Almost certainly not. Half the 5K field finished slower than 33:39, and the last recorded finisher came in around 1:08:25, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.
With 1,194 finishers there are runners at every pace, so you are never out on your own. There is no qualifying time, and the finish-time spread above shows how varied the field really is. If it is your first 5K, that spread matters more than the winner's time.
The 5K winner ran 16:48 while the median finisher took 33:39. That spread points to a broad, mostly recreational field rather than a race dominated by club runners.
