Santa Claus Half Marathon - North Pole, Alaska - Running

The Santa Claus Half Marathon is a Running race in North Pole, Alaska consisting of a Half Marathon.

The fast and flat terrain of the North Pole serves as the setting for the Santa Claus Half Marathon, which is run on a combination of paved roads, dirt trails and bicycle paths through this small Alaska town, which receives hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa each December from children around the world (though it lies more than 1,000 miles from the actual North Pole).
Sponsored by the Alaska-based Usibelli Coal Mine, the race is part of a series of eight local running events the company sponsors, including the Midnight Sun Run and the Equinox Marathon, which takes place in nearby Fairbanks in the early fall.

From the starting line near the North Pole Refinery on the Old Richardson Highway that connects Fairbanks with the town of North Pole, the race begins officially at 9:00 AM and lasts until 12 noon.

Runners follow the highway southward and eastward in the direction of Moose Creek and the Moose Creek Bluff, where they turn and head northward for a loop that takes runners along Chena Lakes Recreation Area Road.

After the loop, which lasts for roughly the middle third of the race, runners follow the course back along the route they've just run toward the finish line back at the refinery, where they can enjoy the free barbecue and awards ceremony provided to all entrants.

Runners participating in the Usibelli race series will earn points from the Santa Claus Half Marathon toward the rest of the events in the series.

While in town, runners will no doubt catch some of the Christmas spirit - it will be pretty much unavoidable (!), as the town receives visitors year-round to see its world-famous Santa Claus House and travel along holiday-themed streets like St. Nicholas Drive, Kris Kringle Drive and Snowman Lane.

Race Weather & Climate

Nestled between the banks of the Tanana and the Little Chena Rivers in central Alaska, about 15 miles southeast of Fairbanks, North Pole typically sees some of its rainiest weather of the year in August, which has brought record temperatures here as low as 21ºF (in 1986) and as high as 90ºF (in 1994).

On race day (Aug. 5), the average low is 48ºF and the average high is 69ºF.