The Mangum Marathon & 1/2 Marathon begins at the Dog Pen, located outside Ellerbe, North Carolina, near the junction of Carthage Creek Road and Holly Grove Church Road. This January road race offers two distances: a full marathon (42.2 km) and a half marathon (21.1 km). Both events are chip timed, with a 7-hour cutoff for the marathon and a 5-hour cutoff for the half marathon.
The course follows quiet country roads with rolling terrain and extended sections where participants might find themselves running solo for periods. Marathon participants will travel 2 miles out, turn right, proceed 11.1 miles to a turnaround point, and then retrace their path back to the finish. The full course presents its most challenging ascent around mile 22. All finishers will receive medals, the top male and female overall winners will be awarded custom engraved tumblers, and age-group awards will be presented three deep for categories ranging from 0-19 to 60+.