Fri, Feb 26, 2027
Wilmington, NC
The course runs from Wrightsville Beach into downtown Wilmington, finishing near the historic waterfront. Most of the route is flat coastal road, and the scenery shifts gradually from beach neighborhoods to older streets as you get closer to the river. The finish area sits along the downtown waterfront, with restaurants and shops nearby.
Free race emails
Get races near Wilmington in your inbox. Every Monday we send the races coming up, and every Thursday we send the ones happening that weekend.
Two helpful emails per week. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Going by the 2026 results, this is a big field, with a competitive front end and a big recreational middle.
Top 3: Joe Maguire (1:07:00) · Gunner Schlender (1:07:04) · Tom Thierry (1:07:39)
Top 3: Pablo Martinez-Oliva (2:27:28) · Yowana Wamala (2:30:13) · Michael Broud (2:31:13)
Top 3: Chris Nunn (14:44) · Asher Frederick (16:44) · Paige Phillips (17:25)
Top 3: Asher Frederick (5:07) · B. Frederick (5:50) · Caiden Braun (6:08)
The Novant Health Wilmington NC Marathon 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 13.1 Miles 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 Oct 25, 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.
Not sure what to aim for? The marathon pace chart lists the pace for every finish time.
Traveling for this race? The map shows hotels and rentals in and around Wilmington — 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 13.1 Miles field finished slower than 2:06:11, and the last recorded finisher came in around 3:30:07, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.
With 2,167 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 13.1 Miles, that spread matters more than the winner's time.
The 13.1 Miles winner ran 1:07:00 while the median finisher took 2:06:11. That spread points to a mixed field, with a competitive front and a big recreational middle.
Want more races like this delivered straight to your inbox?
