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Marathon Details - Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > IN > Indianapolis > Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

CNO Financial Group Indianapolis Monumental Marathon & Half Marathon, 5K

Indianapolis, IN USA

November 8, 2025

http://www.monumentalmarathon.com

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Race Details

The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon course highlights include: the Indiana State Capitol, Arts Garden, Lucas Oil Stadium, Circle Center Mall, Warehouse District, Eli Lilly Headquarters, Monument Circle, Federal buildings / monuments, the Massachusetts Avenue District, the course also features beautiful neighborhoods and streets including Pennsylvania Avenue through Fall Creek Place, Meridian Street, Washington Boulevard, Meridian-Kessler, Broad Ripple, Butler University, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Half-marathoners follow the marathoners for the first seven miles at which time they separate, then rejoin the marathoners again at their 10 mile mark and the marathoners at their 23 mile mark. Both fast and flat courses are USATF sanctioned and certified with the marathon course a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Many runners PR on this course.

Contact Information

Name:	Sydney Meyers
Address:	Indianapolis Monumental Marathon P.O. Box 55488 Indianapolis, IN 46205
Phone Number:	317-426-8518
Email:	Email the organizers

Race Organizer

CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (1/9/20)

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Now one of the 15 largest marathons in the US, the CNO Financial Indianapolis Monumental Marathon is the ideal fall marathon for everyone from the first time marathon runner to elite athletes. Starting and finishing at the Indiana State Capitol, the course highlights landmarks and historical neighborhoods throughout Indianapolis. Nationally recognized as flat and fast, this event has hosted Olympians, PR seekers, and thousands of Boston Marathon qualifiers.
"A top 15 U.S. Marathon
"Indiana's largest, fastest marathon
"7th most Boston Marathon Qualifiers among all North American marathons in 2019 (Almost 20% of all finishers!)
"8 Consecutive Marathon Sell Outs
"One of Runner's Worlds' "Best Marathons for First Timers"
"Supports local public education

Runner Reviews (216)

Course 4.6

Organization 4.5

Spectators 3.8

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Number of comments: 216 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 22 > ]

M. H. from Indianapolis, IN (11/10/2024) "Great race-need more bathrooms before race" (about: 2024) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Indianapolis Monumental Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 Great race-need more bathrooms available before start of race. Beginning and end of race very congested! Spectators need to not be in or around corrals because runners cannot get in corrals. Also, at the end of race runners cannot get out of the chute because spectators are blocking trying to get in. Need more organization.
R. G. from IN (11/9/2023) "Free for all at the start" (about: 2023) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Indianapolis Monumental Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 The congestion at the start was dangerous. I was nearly knocked down twice in the first mile. I had to come to a complete stop two other times. I've run the race several times before, but this year was probably my last. The course is good. The fans are good (much of the time). The swag is good. But they desperately need to get the start under control, before people get knocked down and trampled.
K. W. from IN (10/30/2023) "Oh the road surface!" (about: 2023) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Indianapolis Monumental Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 It's been severals years since I've ran Monumental, but this time the poor quality of the road surfaces really stood out to me; lots of cracks, fissures, holes, you name it. I'd rather focus on just running, or enjoying the scenery, than constantly looking at the road trying to find a smoother line. Aid stations seemed more difficult too, another first for me. It would be nice if they had a person 50-100 m in front of the aid stations shouting 'aid station/water just ahead,' or have the pacers shout it. They also could have spaced the tables out a little more. You know how most people want to get their drink from the first table and that's really where the congestion is, so I like to go toward the end of the aid station. Well, a couple times I missed a drink because the aid station was so compressed with maybe only 2 tables. To be fair, these are minor criticisms and neither one impeded my performance, but they were notable vis-a-vis all the other marathons I've ran. One the positive side, the crowd support was exceptional.
J. S. from Washington (10/30/2023) "Overall well done event!" (about: 2023) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Indianapolis marathon B overall grade lots of turns at start and lousy roads, otherwise beautiful fast course, good aid stations and volunteers. Nice shirt and medals. City has really cleaned up since last visit 8 years ago. Recommend as an alternative to Chicago. Easy to spectate for family friends. Nice job indy.
Joe Ely from IN (4/1/2022) "Excellent race without big city hassles" (about: 2021) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ Indianapolis Monumental Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I've run Monumental seven times now and it's a favorite. You get the 'big time marathon' feel without the big city traffic or hassles. Indy is very easy to get around...I booked a parking spot in an underground lot just 100m from the finish line and only 300m from the start corrals. Flat course with usually cool weather. A winner.
R. H. from Houston, TX (11/19/2021) "Excellent race that's worth travelling to" (about: 2021) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Pros: -Downtown Indy is very walkable. Everything you need is right there in the downtown area and there is no need for a rental car. There are many hotels that are super close to the start and finish, and there are tons of restaurants downtown to eat at. (There's also a Whole Foods downtown that we swung by for some grubbage.) -The Colts were in town and playing on Thursday night...we had a great time watching the game at Lucas Oil Stadium during our time in Indy! -The expo is also downtown, and very close to the hotels. It was an easy walk to get to the convention center, and once inside the wide variety of vendors was great. -Start line organization was very well done. Bag drop-off and starting corrals were easy as pie. -Course aid stations were well manned and well stocked. -Between miles 19-21 they had trivia questions and answers posted on signs on the side of the course. This was a really helpful distraction, and was also a cool way to learn some fun Indiana trivia. -Weather was perfect for the race. After I finished it was really nice to grab a slice of pizza and sit in the sun on the grass of the capital grounds and enjoy the race-day atmosphere as others finished their race. Cons: -There were plenty of intersections on the course that did not have anyone directing traffic. It always makes me nervous when cars try to navigate through runners without anybody there to direct them. -There were a couple spots on the course where traffic was right next to the runners. It would have been better if they had closed down an additional lane to provide a buffer. -The race t-shirt was really ugly. I won't ever wear it, but fortunately they had a good selection of race apparel at the expo, so I was able to get a shirt that I'll actually wear. One final comment is that I wonder why they can't have the start of the race at Monument Circle? Starting at the capital is nice, but Indy is known for Monument Circle and that is it's most famous landmark. I always buy a start-line picture of the marathons that I run, and having a sea of 15,000 people lined-up on Meridian St with the monument in the background would make for a very memorable picture indeed. Just a thought... Overall the Indianapolis Marathon is a race worth doing, and there's plenty to see and do in Indy to make a long weekend out of it. You won't be disappointed.
Todd Deffenbaugh from Alabama (11/8/2021) "This is a top-notch marathon" (about: 2021) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I highly recommend this marathon for a variety of reasons: Course Very flat overall and much of the course is quite scenic. I enjoyed how it doesn't duplicate any terrain. This aspect alone sets it apart from the vast majority of marathons. My total distance ended up being about 0.6 mile too long. Congestion during the first 3 miles caused about half of my overall "overage". Recommendation: If you're serious about achieving a certain time, get in your corral early and make sure that you're at the front of your "wave". It's quite congested at the start but this is the case for any large marathon. Weather Couldn't have been any better! The race is at the perfect time of the year. It was 30 degrees at the start and around 47 degrees at the finish. Organization They clearly have a seasoned team running this event. I had no issues except I couldn't find my pace group. Apparently, my pace group leader arrived late or didn't hold up the sign like all of the other pace groups. Crowd Support While its certainly not Chicago or NYC, crowd support was good and there were a lot of fun/festive spots along the course. Destination Indianapolis is an underrated city. Its clean and has a lot of good restaurants. The core downtown area is very walkable. In summary, I hope to participate again. Kudos to the city for putting on a fantastic event!
C. Y. from TX (1/9/2020) "Poor On Course Planning" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 This was my 59th marathon.I don't care about medals, crowds,expo or shirts, only ORGANIZATION on the course. I'm a midpacker, so it was surprising to hear they were out of Gatorade at the 10 mile and following aid station. A race this large needs more portos on the course. Having only 3 available every 2ish miles had many folks waiting, I waited over 5 minutes to use one around mile 15. Otherwise, this was a perfectly adequate race, but not one I would run again.
Oscar Rodriguez from Bogota, Colombia (11/28/2019) "My first family marathon" (about: 2019) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my ninth marathon and the first one I ran with my wife and oldest daughter. It has been the most exciting to be able to share with them. Enjoy the race a lot. Although it is not very large
Keith Caruso from Tennessee (11/15/2019) "Better than average fall marathon" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 This was my 31st marathon in my 22nd state. I found the course to be mostly flat; the few hills were more grades than actual hills. However, with a 28 degree, 20 degree wind chill at the start and not much warmer at the finish, it was chilly. I dressed right, so I was comfortable throughout, but the headwind in the second half was tough. I hit my BQ by 40 seconds, but it was a struggle. The start was clogged, but it helped keep me warm, so it was a mixed bag. Too many slow runners snuck into the first 2 corrals, so some enforcement could help. The road surface wasn't great for many areas in the race. The course seemed to hit most of the better parts of town, and I don't recall running through any seedy areas, but I wouldn't exactly call Indianapolis scenic. I can't remember a race with as many water/Gatorade stops, and the volunteers were great, as most knew to balance the cups on their hands so I didn't have any mishaps like at so many races where volunteers wind up either holding onto the cups or dropping them on me, which would have been pretty cold this day. The shirt was a reasonably attractive short sleeve tech shirt. I paid extra for a fleece-lined quarter zip pullover, which is wonderful. I'll really enjoy it if I can get it back from my wife. The medal was okay; nothing enormous, but not exactly cheap either. I stayed at the Hampton Inn about a 1/2 mile from the start, so I can't comment on bag drop or the facilities, although I seem to remember a good number of port-o-lets both at the start and along the course. There was minimal crowd support, but it was frigid out, so I don't think that I would have been out either. I frankly don't pay attention to the crowds or lack thereof, so I'm not one to ask. There were abundant volunteers at every water stop, so there was no risk of blowing a water stop and ending up thirsty. The course was well marked, and I never worried about getting lost, although I was out there with my 5,000 closest friends for the day, so little chance of that. Merging with the half-marathoners for the last mile or two was a bummer, but most were considerate. I only had to yell at one or two. I didn't hang around at the finish, leaving through the first exit I could find due to the cold, so I can't speak to post-race food or anything besides water and Gatorade. Overall, this was an above average big-city marathon that was certainly smaller and more convenient than Boston, New York, or LA, even if it lacked the cache of those races, but it wasn't Twin Cities or Marine Corps either.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 22 > ]



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M. H. from Indianapolis, IN (11/10/2024) "Great race-need more bathrooms before race" (about: 2024) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Indianapolis Monumental Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 Great race-need more bathrooms available before start of race. Beginning and end of race very congested! Spectators need to not be in or around corrals because runners cannot get in corrals. Also, at the end of race runners cannot get out of the chute because spectators are blocking trying to get in. Need more organization.
R. G. from IN (11/9/2023) "Free for all at the start" (about: 2023) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Indianapolis Monumental Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 The congestion at the start was dangerous. I was nearly knocked down twice in the first mile. I had to come to a complete stop two other times. I've run the race several times before, but this year was probably my last. The course is good. The fans are good (much of the time). The swag is good. But they desperately need to get the start under control, before people get knocked down and trampled.
K. W. from IN (10/30/2023) "Oh the road surface!" (about: 2023) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Indianapolis Monumental Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 It's been severals years since I've ran Monumental, but this time the poor quality of the road surfaces really stood out to me; lots of cracks, fissures, holes, you name it. I'd rather focus on just running, or enjoying the scenery, than constantly looking at the road trying to find a smoother line. Aid stations seemed more difficult too, another first for me. It would be nice if they had a person 50-100 m in front of the aid stations shouting 'aid station/water just ahead,' or have the pacers shout it. They also could have spaced the tables out a little more. You know how most people want to get their drink from the first table and that's really where the congestion is, so I like to go toward the end of the aid station. Well, a couple times I missed a drink because the aid station was so compressed with maybe only 2 tables. To be fair, these are minor criticisms and neither one impeded my performance, but they were notable vis-a-vis all the other marathons I've ran. One the positive side, the crowd support was exceptional.
J. S. from Washington (10/30/2023) "Overall well done event!" (about: 2023) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Indianapolis marathon B overall grade lots of turns at start and lousy roads, otherwise beautiful fast course, good aid stations and volunteers. Nice shirt and medals. City has really cleaned up since last visit 8 years ago. Recommend as an alternative to Chicago. Easy to spectate for family friends. Nice job indy.
Joe Ely from IN (4/1/2022) "Excellent race without big city hassles" (about: 2021) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ Indianapolis Monumental Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I've run Monumental seven times now and it's a favorite. You get the 'big time marathon' feel without the big city traffic or hassles. Indy is very easy to get around...I booked a parking spot in an underground lot just 100m from the finish line and only 300m from the start corrals. Flat course with usually cool weather. A winner.
R. H. from Houston, TX (11/19/2021) "Excellent race that's worth travelling to" (about: 2021) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Pros: -Downtown Indy is very walkable. Everything you need is right there in the downtown area and there is no need for a rental car. There are many hotels that are super close to the start and finish, and there are tons of restaurants downtown to eat at. (There's also a Whole Foods downtown that we swung by for some grubbage.) -The Colts were in town and playing on Thursday night...we had a great time watching the game at Lucas Oil Stadium during our time in Indy! -The expo is also downtown, and very close to the hotels. It was an easy walk to get to the convention center, and once inside the wide variety of vendors was great. -Start line organization was very well done. Bag drop-off and starting corrals were easy as pie. -Course aid stations were well manned and well stocked. -Between miles 19-21 they had trivia questions and answers posted on signs on the side of the course. This was a really helpful distraction, and was also a cool way to learn some fun Indiana trivia. -Weather was perfect for the race. After I finished it was really nice to grab a slice of pizza and sit in the sun on the grass of the capital grounds and enjoy the race-day atmosphere as others finished their race. Cons: -There were plenty of intersections on the course that did not have anyone directing traffic. It always makes me nervous when cars try to navigate through runners without anybody there to direct them. -There were a couple spots on the course where traffic was right next to the runners. It would have been better if they had closed down an additional lane to provide a buffer. -The race t-shirt was really ugly. I won't ever wear it, but fortunately they had a good selection of race apparel at the expo, so I was able to get a shirt that I'll actually wear. One final comment is that I wonder why they can't have the start of the race at Monument Circle? Starting at the capital is nice, but Indy is known for Monument Circle and that is it's most famous landmark. I always buy a start-line picture of the marathons that I run, and having a sea of 15,000 people lined-up on Meridian St with the monument in the background would make for a very memorable picture indeed. Just a thought... Overall the Indianapolis Marathon is a race worth doing, and there's plenty to see and do in Indy to make a long weekend out of it. You won't be disappointed.
Todd Deffenbaugh from Alabama (11/8/2021) "This is a top-notch marathon" (about: 2021) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I highly recommend this marathon for a variety of reasons: Course Very flat overall and much of the course is quite scenic. I enjoyed how it doesn't duplicate any terrain. This aspect alone sets it apart from the vast majority of marathons. My total distance ended up being about 0.6 mile too long. Congestion during the first 3 miles caused about half of my overall "overage". Recommendation: If you're serious about achieving a certain time, get in your corral early and make sure that you're at the front of your "wave". It's quite congested at the start but this is the case for any large marathon. Weather Couldn't have been any better! The race is at the perfect time of the year. It was 30 degrees at the start and around 47 degrees at the finish. Organization They clearly have a seasoned team running this event. I had no issues except I couldn't find my pace group. Apparently, my pace group leader arrived late or didn't hold up the sign like all of the other pace groups. Crowd Support While its certainly not Chicago or NYC, crowd support was good and there were a lot of fun/festive spots along the course. Destination Indianapolis is an underrated city. Its clean and has a lot of good restaurants. The core downtown area is very walkable. In summary, I hope to participate again. Kudos to the city for putting on a fantastic event!
C. Y. from TX (1/9/2020) "Poor On Course Planning" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 This was my 59th marathon.I don't care about medals, crowds,expo or shirts, only ORGANIZATION on the course. I'm a midpacker, so it was surprising to hear they were out of Gatorade at the 10 mile and following aid station. A race this large needs more portos on the course. Having only 3 available every 2ish miles had many folks waiting, I waited over 5 minutes to use one around mile 15. Otherwise, this was a perfectly adequate race, but not one I would run again.
Oscar Rodriguez from Bogota, Colombia (11/28/2019) "My first family marathon" (about: 2019) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my ninth marathon and the first one I ran with my wife and oldest daughter. It has been the most exciting to be able to share with them. Enjoy the race a lot. Although it is not very large
Keith Caruso from Tennessee (11/15/2019) "Better than average fall marathon" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 This was my 31st marathon in my 22nd state. I found the course to be mostly flat; the few hills were more grades than actual hills. However, with a 28 degree, 20 degree wind chill at the start and not much warmer at the finish, it was chilly. I dressed right, so I was comfortable throughout, but the headwind in the second half was tough. I hit my BQ by 40 seconds, but it was a struggle. The start was clogged, but it helped keep me warm, so it was a mixed bag. Too many slow runners snuck into the first 2 corrals, so some enforcement could help. The road surface wasn't great for many areas in the race. The course seemed to hit most of the better parts of town, and I don't recall running through any seedy areas, but I wouldn't exactly call Indianapolis scenic. I can't remember a race with as many water/Gatorade stops, and the volunteers were great, as most knew to balance the cups on their hands so I didn't have any mishaps like at so many races where volunteers wind up either holding onto the cups or dropping them on me, which would have been pretty cold this day. The shirt was a reasonably attractive short sleeve tech shirt. I paid extra for a fleece-lined quarter zip pullover, which is wonderful. I'll really enjoy it if I can get it back from my wife. The medal was okay; nothing enormous, but not exactly cheap either. I stayed at the Hampton Inn about a 1/2 mile from the start, so I can't comment on bag drop or the facilities, although I seem to remember a good number of port-o-lets both at the start and along the course. There was minimal crowd support, but it was frigid out, so I don't think that I would have been out either. I frankly don't pay attention to the crowds or lack thereof, so I'm not one to ask. There were abundant volunteers at every water stop, so there was no risk of blowing a water stop and ending up thirsty. The course was well marked, and I never worried about getting lost, although I was out there with my 5,000 closest friends for the day, so little chance of that. Merging with the half-marathoners for the last mile or two was a bummer, but most were considerate. I only had to yell at one or two. I didn't hang around at the finish, leaving through the first exit I could find due to the cold, so I can't speak to post-race food or anything besides water and Gatorade. Overall, this was an above average big-city marathon that was certainly smaller and more convenient than Boston, New York, or LA, even if it lacked the cache of those races, but it wasn't Twin Cities or Marine Corps either.

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Marathon Details - Indianapolis Monumental Marathon