Sat, Oct 17, 2026
Newton, NC
Entry is $25 now and rises to $30 after Sep 29, 2026, so registering before then saves $5.
The course runs through downtown Newton at night, which gives it a different feel than a typical weekend morning race. Streets that are usually busy with traffic become the racecourse, and the darkness adds some atmosphere without making anything hard to navigate. The race benefits local elementary school programs, so there is a purpose behind the turnout.
Free race emails
In for this one or still deciding, keep race season near Newton on your radar: a Monday look ahead and a Thursday rundown of the weekend's races.
Two helpful emails per week. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Going by the 2025 results, this is a small, friendly 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: CHRIS VAN DYKE (18:35) · SAMUEL ABERNETHY (20:18) · CHARLIE KOONTZ (20:56)
The Night Crawl 5K has been held every year since at least 2012. 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.
Traveling for this race? The map shows hotels and rentals in and around Newton — pan or zoom to compare what's nearby.
The map is provided by Stay22. If you book through it, RunSesh may earn a commission at no extra cost to you — it never affects the races we list.
Almost certainly not. Half the 5K field finished slower than 39:24, and the last recorded finisher came in around 1:05:10, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.
A field of 249 is big enough that you will have company at your pace without feeling lost in a crowd. 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 18:35 while the median finisher took 39:24. That spread points to a broad, mostly recreational field rather than a race dominated by club runners.