The Vermont City Marathon was established in 1989 by a small group of local runners who believed that Burlington, Vermont could support a large New England marathon event in the spring. Our marathon relay was the first marathon relay held in conjunction with a marathon in the USA. The 1989 race brought 414 marathoners and 125 5-Person Relay teams to the finish line. In the early years the race was supported by The Bank of Boston, dba the Bank of Vermont and an all-volunteer race committee through 1991.
In 1992 the race grew to several thousand runners. The organization’s Board decided at this time to hire a race director and an administrator. The Bank of Vermont donated office space, a graphic designer and registration administrators and financial assistance as the race grew in the subsequent years. We greatly treasure the relationships we've had with our title sponsors over the years - The Bank of Vermont, The Bank of Boston, KeyBank, People's United Bank, and starting in 2022 M&T Bank. They've always had our back, and we hope that we have delivered a first class event that they can always be proud to be a part of.
Since 1993, the event has grown tremendously both in numbers and status in the running industry. In 1998, a 5,000 runner cap was established to ensure the quality of runner’s services and the integrity of the event. In 2001, the cap was raised another 500 runners based on feedback from runners and organizers. Shortly thereafter, Runner’s World magazine ranked the race as one of the top 20 best marathons in the United States. In the subsequent 2 decades the Vermont City Marathon has been between the 25th and 40th largest marathon in the country on an annual basis, and boasts one of the fastest course profiles of any US marathon.
RunVermont, the current parent organization, was created in 2004, in order to present a common brand to the many events and programs that had been developed as complementary services. In 2011-2012 we were the Local Organizing Committee for USA Triathlon's Age Group National Championship Olympic Distance and Sprint Distance races. As of 2023 we are proud to produce:
- M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon & Relay
- Sport & Fitness Expo
- Half Marathon Unplugged presented by Switchback Brewing
- Island Vines 10K/5K
- Freezy Cheeks 5k series
- Summer 6 Pack series
- The Mini Milers, Junior Milers, and Mini Marathon Youth Running Programs
- Rdy2Run coaching services
Running programs that are currently on hiatus but that you may see back on the calendar soon include:
- FirstRun Burlington
- CHAMP 5k
- Pine Street Mile
- Burlington Urban Adventure
- Get Out Give Back 5k series
- The RunVermont Virtual Adventure
- Run To The Fair
- The Vermont Women's Running Camp
We hope to see you at a race soon!
