M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon 2027: The Complete Race Guide

Burlington in Late May: Why the Vermont City Marathon Still Delivers

Burlington, Vermont in the last week of May is exactly what you want before 26.2 miles of city streets and lakeshore paths. Lilacs are still in bloom. The Adirondacks sit clean and sharp across Lake Champlain. The air at 7:15 AM is cool enough to race fast — most years. And 20,000 spectators come out to make the whole thing feel less like a regional race and more like a proper event.

The M&T Bank Vermont City Marathon is New England’s second-largest marathon and Vermont’s biggest single-day sporting event. The 2027 edition — the 38th running — arrives with the most significant course changes in years. A redesigned two-loop route eliminates the old Amtrak level crossing, which once held up runners mid-race while a freight train rolled through, and removes a confusing figure-eight intersection at Main and Pine Streets. A new wave start cuts congestion. And for the first time, a standalone half marathon runs alongside the full, giving 13.1 runners their own race rather than just a relay leg.

The finish has also been rerouted. Instead of looping back the way you came, the 2027 course takes you downhill toward historic Union Station before turning south into Waterfront Park through a corridor of trees. On a clear morning with the lake sitting behind the finish line, it should be something to run through.

Beyond the course changes, what VCM does year after year is harder to redesign: neighborhoods that throw genuine block parties, spectators handing out maple syrup shots at mile 19, taiko drummers pounding out a beat at Battery Street when your legs are going quiet. It is a race with real character. The 2027 edition is shaping up to be the tightest, best-organised version of it yet.

Vermont City Marathon 2027 — Race at a Glance

Vermont City Marathon 2027 — Registration, Fees and How to Sign Up

Registration opened on October 1, 2026 via RunSignUp. This is a standard open-entry race — no lottery, no ballot. Entry is tiered: the longer you wait, the more you pay. Prices jump after December 31, 2026, so if you know you are running, register before the end of the year. RunVermont has also eliminated separate transaction fees entirely, meaning the price you see at checkout is the total price.

M&T Bank debit and credit cardholders get an automatic $20 off at checkout. If you are organising a group, five friends earn $40 off each entry and ten or more friends earns the lead registrant a free spot.

What Makes Vermont City Marathon Worth Running?

A Redesigned 2027 Course — Smoother, Faster and Finally Without Train Delays

The 2027 course is the most meaningful update to VCM in years. Gone is the at-grade Amtrak crossing that once, notoriously, could hold a train over the course mid-race and make runners wait. Gone too is the figure-eight at Main and Pine Streets where runners crossed their own path multiple times on successive loops. In their place is a cleaner two-loop design with a new wave start to spread the field and reduce the bottlenecks that frustrated runners in earlier editions. The 2027 course also introduces a proper downhill finish run toward historic Union Station before sweeping into Waterfront Park from the south through a tree-lined approach. The course is awaiting final USATF certification but RunVermont has confirmed it meets the BAA’s updated 2027 elevation standards for Boston qualifying.

Vermont’s Biggest Race Feels Like a Block Party, Not a Logistics Exercise

With roughly 7,500 registrants across all events, VCM is large enough to generate real race energy but small enough that Burlington’s neighbourhoods own the course. The stretch between miles 18 and 21 — where locals set out tables with watermelon, oranges and maple syrup shots — is one of the most organically supported sections on any American marathon. It is not orchestrated by the race. It is just Burlington doing what Burlington does. Drag queens give high fives on Church Street. Kids run lemonade stands by the course. The whole thing has an authenticity you simply cannot manufacture at a 40,000-person race.

A Legitimate Boston Qualifier on a Manageable Profile

VCM has statistically produced far more sub-2:30, sub-3:00 and sub-4:00 finishes than its field size would predict, which tells you something about the course profile and field quality. Ryan Smith ran 2:15:52 here in 2026 on a wet, grey morning — a course record that held up under conditions that seemed unlikely to produce fast times. Kellyn Taylor’s 2:35:18 women’s win on the same day confirms that both sides of the field can run to their ability here. The key variable is weather: cool and overcast gives you a proper day; warm and humid on the exposed lake path sections will cost five to eight minutes regardless of fitness level.

The Relay Makes It a Race for Everyone in Your Group

Vermont City was the first marathon in the United States to incorporate a relay as a permanent, regular feature from day one — 1989. For 2027, relay options run from a two-person half-and-half split at $185 per team to a full three-to-five person relay at $240 per team. It is a serious relay with its own competitive divisions and age-group categories. If you have a mixed-ability group or a non-runner colleague you want to rope in for race weekend, this is the format that makes it work.

Burlington Is One of New England’s Best Race Weekend Cities

Memorial Day weekend in Burlington is not a consolation prize for missing Boston. Church Street has excellent food and craft beer. The waterfront is genuinely beautiful. Lake Champlain kayaking, day hikes on the Adirondack side and Vermont farmstead cheese are all within easy reach. Two brand-new hotels are opening in time for 2027: The Harborvale on the waterfront and the Cambria Hotel Burlington on Cherry Street, both steps from the start and finish. The HQ hotel, the DoubleTree in South Burlington, runs shuttle buses to and from the course. For runners travelling from Boston, New York or Montreal, this is a proper destination race weekend with a strong city to come back to after you finish.

Equal Prize Money and a Progressive Racing Culture

VCM became one of the first marathons in the country to offer equal first-place prize money across male, female and non-binary open divisions. The race has offered cash prizes to the non-binary division winner since 2024 — $2,400 for first place, equal to the open men’s and women’s purse. That decision made national running media and reflects a broader culture at RunVermont that treats the race seriously as an athletic event for everyone who shows up to compete.

The 2027 Vermont City Marathon Course — Mile by Mile

Miles 0-2: The Opening Run and the First Battery Street Assault

The gun goes at 7:15 AM from Waterfront Park with Lake Champlain behind you and Burlington’s lower streets ahead. The opening mile rolls gently as the wave start does its job spreading the field. At roughly mile 2, the course hits Battery Street — six steep blocks climbing away from the lake and up into the city’s upper streets. With taiko drummers at the bottom and a wall of spectators on both sides, the urge to sprint this thing is immediate and powerful. Don’t. This climb comes back at mile 15. The runners who attack it in loop one are almost always the ones walking it in loop two. Take it strong and controlled, summit it and ease off on the descent before you hit the lake path.

Miles 2-7: The Lake Path — Beautiful, Fast and Dangerously Seductive

Past the Battery Street summit, the course drops back toward the lake and picks up the Burlington Bike Path heading south. This is the most visually spectacular section of the marathon and, for recreational runners, the most dangerous. The path is flat. The Adirondacks sit crisp across the water. Early-race adrenaline is still running high. Every instinct says push. That instinct will cost you at mile 20. The lake path from miles 3 to 7 is where runners who finish in 3:45 plant the seeds of a 4:15 finish. Run your target pace here, nothing faster, and treat the energy you are not spending as a deposit you will want at mile 19.

Miles 7-13.1: Parks, Neighbourhoods and Church Street — Closing Out Loop One

The course turns back toward the city around mile 7 with a brief climb through residential streets before threading through several of Burlington’s parks and then into the Church Street Marketplace. Church Street is a pedestrian-only strip with restaurants and bars on both sides, and on race day the crowd here is well-caffeinated and loud. You pass through it twice. The first time, in loop one, the energy is clean and motivating. The Pine Street arts district section that follows is quieter but consistently well-supported. The second half of loop one gradually returns you to Waterfront Park — the halfway point for full marathoners and the finish line for the new standalone half marathon. The half marathon field finishes here. The full marathon field has one more loop to run.

Miles 13.1-26.2: The Second Loop — Where the Race Is Actually Decided

The halfway point at Waterfront Park is a psychologically dangerous place. You feel reasonable. The finish line infrastructure is right there. The urge to surge as you pass it is almost universal. Resist it entirely. You are about to run Battery Street again at roughly mile 15, then hit the lake path again from miles 16 to 19 with legs that have 15 miles on them. Then, at around mile 19, the course climbs its most race-decisive section — roughly 120 feet gained in just over a mile, arriving at exactly the point when glycogen is gone and the accumulated cost of the lake path miles shows up all at once. Runners who held pace discipline from miles 14 to 18 get through this with form intact. Runners who pushed the flat sections find it collapsing under them quickly. Past mile 21, the course trends downhill. The 2027 redesign then delivers a new finish run descending toward historic Union Station before turning south into Waterfront Park through a tree-lined corridor. If you have anything left in the tank, this is where you spend it.

Race Strategy — How to Run Vermont City Without Blowing Up at Mile 20

Vermont City Marathon 2027 — Race Weekend Schedule

Sports and Fitness Expo — Packet Pickup

Vermont City Marathon Weather — What to Expect in Late May Burlington

Late May in Burlington is genuinely variable. The lake moderates temperatures but it also pushes humidity higher than you expect on warmer mornings. In 2026 runners started under steady rain that kept conditions cool enough for two runners to earn US Olympic Trials qualifying times and one to break the course record. If the forecast shows heat, adjust your goal and respect the lake path. There is no shade on the Champlain sections and the sun is strong from 9 AM onwards on clear days.

Spectator Guide — Best Places to Watch Vermont City Marathon

Where to Stay for Vermont City Marathon 2027

Burlington is a small city and VCM weekend is its busiest accommodation weekend of the year by some distance. Book early — several properties have race-specific group rates that expire months before the event, and at least two brand-new hotels are opening in time for 2027: The Harborvale on the waterfront and the Cambria Hotel Burlington on Cherry Street. Both are genuinely close to the start and finish and worth locking in early.

International Runners — Visa and Travel to Vermont City Marathon 2027

A Short History of the Vermont City Marathon

The Vermont City Marathon started in 1989 on a straightforward theory: that Burlington, Vermont, a college city on Lake Champlain with a strong running culture, could support a proper spring marathon. A small group of local runners proved that theory correct on May 28, 1989, when 414 marathoners and 125 relay teams crossed the finish line at the inaugural event. What nobody had predicted was how much the relay would define the race. Vermont City was the first marathon in the United States to incorporate a relay as a permanent, regular part of the event from day one — and the relay format took off in a way that reshaped Burlington’s corporate and community culture for decades. By 2003, relay teams had grown from 125 to 625 and demand was so high that entry shifted to a random selection process.

Over the following three decades VCM settled into the 25th-to-40th range among US marathons by size, consistently producing one of the fastest course profiles in the country relative to field size. The race has attracted serious elites — Kellyn Taylor, Maegan Krifchin, Tyler Andrews, Sergio Reyes and others have all run here. Ryan Smith’s 2026 course record of 2:15:52 fell on a wet morning that looked unlikely to produce fast times. Krifchin’s 2:33:04 from 2023 remains one of the fastest women’s marathon times run in New England outside Boston. More than 150,000 runners had finished the race by 2023, and that number grows by roughly 1,400 to 2,000 solo runners each May.

RunVermont, a Vermont nonprofit, has produced the event since 2004. Title sponsors have changed over the years — Bank of Vermont in the early years, then People’s United Bank through 2021, then M&T Bank after its merger with People’s United in April 2022. The relay presenting sponsor for 2027 is Darn Tough Vermont, one of the most respected sock brands in endurance running and a genuine Vermont company. In 2026 VCM hosted the RRCA Eastern Region Marathon Championship, drawing a stronger elite field and contributing to Smith’s record run. The 38th edition arrives in 2027 with a redesigned course, a new half marathon and everything that has made this race worth the trip since 1989.

How Vermont City Marathon Compares to Similar Spring and Fall Marathons