Sunflower Relay, Half Marathon and Marathon
Winthrop, United States • 24 Apr 2027
Sunflower Relay, Half Marathon and Marathon
The Sunflower event offers a marathon-plus course, a half marathon, and a team relay on trails in the Methow Valley. The route begins at 2,180 feet elevation in Mazama and finishes at about 1,600 feet in Twisp. The course uses well marked deer trails, single-track trails, and gravel roads and crosses private property that is open to the event for one day only. Runners pass flower-carpeted meadows and fields with views of the Methow River, the North Cascades, and the Chelan Sawtooths. At two points the route climbs to about 2,600 feet.
- Marathon 26.8 miles, elevation +2,520 / -2,350
- Half marathon ~13.1 miles
- Relay teams of two to five, legs 2.2, 5.6, 5.9, 6.5, and 6.6 miles
Marathon participants are expected to run the entire course and be able to complete it within seven hours. Half marathon participants should be able to finish within five hours. Relay teams must meet the event time limit; waves are used to reduce congestion at exchange points and are assigned first-come, first-served. Leg 1 is suitable for younger runners and may be accompanied by an adult; participants under 17 may run other legs if they can complete the leg independently. Kids 17 and under may enter for free with a limit of three youth entries per team.
Logistics include race-day shuttles from the finish to the start areas for marathon and half marathon participants, transport of racer bags from the starts to the finish, and packet pickup on the days before and of the event at local Mazama and Chickadee Trailhead locations. A detailed public map is not provided to respect landowner privacy; participants are asked not to pre-run the course. Dogs are not allowed on the course or at the finish venue.
The 2026 event is sold out including waitlists. Registration for 2027 opens May 15, 2026. Refund and transfer rules apply: transfers are allowed until March 25, 2026, refunds may incur a cancellation fee, and no refunds are issued after March 15, 2026. Methow Trails is a nonprofit and income from the event supports year-round trail operations in the Methow Valley. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.