Plymouth Runway Mile & 5K 2026

Description

The Plymouth Runway Mile and 5K are held at Plymouth Municipal Airport as a fundraising effort for scholarships for aviation students.

Flight training is a costly endeavor and is often the largest hurdle that students must manage in order to pursue their dreams of becoming a pilot. All proceeds from Plymouth Runway will support scholarship opportunities for students through local flight schools.

Both the Runway Mile and Runway 5K are competitive races with chip timing and overall/age group awards. Strollers are welcomed. Any child completing the course under their own power will need to be registered. If a child is being pushed in a stroller, that child does not need registered for the event.

There will be numerous aircraft including airplanes and helicopters parked for participants and spectators to enjoy. There will also be an opportunity for helicopter rides (for a fee). The runway will be closed to aircraft operations for the duration of the event so that participants have the unique opportunity to race on the actual runway. Expect fast racing, food trucks, and aviation fun!

Plymouth Runway Mile : 9:00am start

The one-mile course starts on the south side of the main airport building. Participants will race on the newly constructed taxiway for 1/2 mile before turning onto the runway itself and heading back to the finish. See course map below. While all ages and abilities (and strollers!) are welcome, this is a competitive race. It will be chip-timed and there will be awards. When registering, we ask participants to estimate their finish time in case we need to utilize a wave start so that all participants have the opportunity for their best race. Presence of a wave start will depend on registration numbers. There will be overall and age group awards for the Runway Mile. There are no finisher medals for the Runway Mile . The finish line for Runway Mile participants will close at 9:30am, and we will immediately begin presenting awards to ensure completion prior to the 5K start.

Plymouth Runway 5K : 10:00am start

The 5K course starts on the south side of the main airport building. Participants will race on the newly constructed taxiway for 1/2 mile before turning onto the runway itself and heading back toward the finish. Instead of turning into the finish, runners will run counterclockwise around the airport before cutting through a gate and heading back onto the runway where they will have the unique opportunity to run the length of the entire runway (heading East) before then turning onto the taxiway and racing West back to the finish! See course map below. There will be overall and age group awards for the Runway 5K. There are no finisher medals for the Runway 5K . The finish line for Runway 5K participants will close at 11:00am (19:19/mile pace) with awards immediately following.

Plymouth Runway Challenge

The Plymouth Runway Challenge is an opportunity to compete in both races at a discount ! Registration for the Challenge will get you a bib for both races at a cheaper price than registering for both separately.

Why would anyone want to sign up for two races? Besides the pride that comes with completing two races in the same day, participants will also receive a custom finisher medal for completing the Challenge . Medals will be awarded to Challenge participants at the 5K finish line. Finishers are still eligible for overall and age group awards in both individual races. Note: there are no performance-based awards for the Challenge, only the custom finisher medal. Participants must finish both races in their respective time limits to receive the finisher medal.

Parking ( IMPORTANT!! )

Due to limited parking at the airport, parking will be available at the airport on FRIDAY ONLY. On Saturday, participants/spectators will park at Plymouth High School (1 Big Red Drive, Plymouth) and will be shuttled to the airport by bus. The drive takes approximately 7 minutes. Buses will run continuously to and from the airpo