Registration for the Garmin Marathon Series is currently open for all race distances in Tucson. For additional information about the cities, races, community engagement opportunities and future locations, please visit garmin.com/marathons.
World-renowned distance runner Abdi Abdirahman considers the Tucson area a “hidden gem,” especially when it comes to training for competition.
“I think Tucson is the right place to train,” Abdirahman said. “There are a lot of trails here and people don’t know that. We have one of the biggest trail systems in the country. We have the Rillito River, the Santa Cruz River … so many trails we have, like at the Saguaro West National Park.
“There’s so many parks. It’s kind of a hidden gem. A lot of people don’t know that, so it’s for us to promote it.”
Runners from across the world are about to discover the advantages of training in Tucson — something competitive bicyclists from all over have already experienced when arriving here to compete in El Tour de Tucson.
Garmin. a global leader in fitness tech and pioneer of the world’s first running smartwatch, announced in April the formation of the inaugural Garmin Marathon Series that will begin this fall.
Tucson is one of the debut locations with a marathon scheduled Nov. 15 on a course yet to be determined. The event will occur a week before the El Tour de Tucson takes place.
“It’s a great opportunity for the city of Tucson and also the Tucson runners,” said Abdirahim, a five-time Olympic runner who competed in the 10,000-meter run three times and marathon twice.
“We are a big community. We have a million people. I think if we find a great course, it’s gonna be with the right people and with the community getting behind it. If it gets the right sponsorship, I think that it will be successful at the end of the day. Just like everything, you have to start from somewhere. I’m glad the government (City of Tucson and Pima County) came in and showed the interest that they want to put events in Tucson, and I think it’s going to be successful.”
Abdirahim and a few local dignitaries attended a Garmin Marathon Series kickoff event at The Monica downtown Tuesday night.
Those in attendance included representatives of Garmin and members of the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl, sponsored by Gin & Juice, Rio Nuevo, Visit Tucson, City of Tucson and Pima County officials, Southern Arizona Sports, Tourism, & Film Authority (SASTFA) administrators, Ray Flores, owner of the Monica and president of Flores Concepts, Victor Cuevas and Victor Cuevas Jr., the owners of the Mexican Pacific League baseball team relocating to Tucson this winter, and Frank Gamez III, Mexican Baseball Fiesta CEO.
All are heavy hitters in Tucson’s development as an attractive location for entities such as Major League Baseball, the Indoor Football League and now Garmin to showcase a significant event.
Blake Eager, the president of SASTFA, mentioned that Tucson was chosen over six other cities to follow Toledo, Ohio, in the Garmin Marathon Series. The marathon in Toledo will take place Sept. 21.
“Looking at the World Baseball Classic (that took place in March), we had to beat out Orlando (Fla.) and the country of Colombia that was in it,” Eager said of MLB choosing Tucson and Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium to host the event.
“You’re looking at the Indoor Football League championship (Aug. 25 ). We had to beat out Las Vegas for that. Now you’re looking at Garmin. Garmin is a humongous international brand. There were six other cities in competition that we beat to get the marathon here. We are so fortunate. I think there’s a lot of positive momentum and movement in the direction that I think everybody wants it in.”
Eager added that what Southern Arizona gets out of this boon of events occurring in Tucson depends on how the community responds.
“We have to take advantage of what is happening,” he said. “How do we make these things successful? What does success mean for Southern Arizona? I think these are the conversations that we’re starting that we’ll build answers for years to come.”
Elliott Scott, lead public relations specialist for Garmin Health, was in attendance at The Monica. He stated that Tucson is an ideal city to stage the annual event based on information gathered by a Garmin committee from its survey of potential sites.
“When we were going through the process of bringing this concept to life, we were looking for a few things,” Scott said. “We wanted a really strong regional community where we thought runners would be excited about it. We wanted scenic courses that we thought were interesting.
“We were looking for mid-sized markets where we wouldn’t be displacing races but adding something. Tucson checked all of those boxes when our survey team came here in 2024. They were immediately like, ‘Yes, Tucson has the right combination.'”
Scott labeled Tucson an “endurance-athlete mecca.”
“Cycling is huge here and we know there are a lot of runners,” he said. “Weather was a factor. Having a mid-November race is at a good time with the Tucson weather.”
The event will include a USA Track & Field-certified and Boston Marathon-qualifier full marathon course, USATF-certified half marathon, 10K and 5K. A two-day expo showcasing Garmin products and technology will precede race day and be open to the public
Attendees can expect limited edition race gear from Garmin, meet and greets with Garmin-sponsored professional athletes and additional items from select sponsors. Directly following the race, a finish line festival downtown – also open to the public – will give runners a chance to celebrate with local food, live entertainment and other activities.
Abdirahman and local runners are taking part in hour-long runs Wednesday and Thursday to help determine ideal locations for the 26.1-mile course.
“My role will be more with the 10K, to be honest,” Abdirahman said. “They have professional people who will design the course, and I think it’s going to be a success. We will find out Nov. 15 how well people love it, and also it will be great to get the reviews from the runners.
“I think it’s going to be something the running community will be excited about. I’m already getting phone calls. As professional distance runners, they do this for a living. They ask me what the prize money is going to be. This will be more of a community event to start, to be honest. Maybe down the road, we can see it turn into a professional event. I’m excited about the whole thing.”
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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