Sat, Apr 17, 2027
Fort Smith, AR
The race is held at the Bakery District in Fort Smith, with several distance options spread across the morning so runners and walkers can choose what fits them. The event is put on by a local therapy and community organization that works with neurodivergent individuals and families in the area, so the crowd reflects that connection.
Free race emails
In for this one or still deciding, keep race season near Fort Smith 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 2026 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 · 2026 results
Top 3: Malcolm Harper (17:24) · Francisco Bautista (22:08) · Alejandro Yepez (23:19)
8K · 2026 results
Top 3: Jonathan Tobey (30:31) · Kaylub Kaye (36:50) · Storm Nolan (36:53)
The 2026 Run for Autism has been held every year since at least 2025. 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 Fort Smith — 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 40:48, and the last recorded finisher came in around 1:30:37, so there is a long tail of runners behind the middle of the pack. Most fields are far slower than people expect.
It is a small race (111 finishers), which is friendlier and less intimidating than a big-city event, though the field thins out. 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 17:24 while the median finisher took 40:48. That spread points to a broad, mostly recreational field rather than a race dominated by club runners.
