Great Waldensian Footrace
About this race
Come out to Valdese and join us for the 50th running of the Great Waldensian Footrace to celebrate the Festival of the Glorious Return. A long-running staple of the August race calendar, the Great Waldensian Footrace features a 5K, 10K, and 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk, surrounded by the Historic Valdese Festival. All participants & guests are invited to take a cool, post-race swim in the Valdese Community Pool. Enjoy local crafts, food, and great entertainment throughout the day.
Day of race registration is available from 7:00am to 7:45am. Race entry fees are $20 through March 1st; $25 from March 2nd through July 31st; and $30 through August 6th. Race day entries are $35. Students may enter the 5K or 10K for $15 through August 6th. Entries received after July 15th cannot be guaranteed a tee shirt. Register early, claim your preferred tee shirt size, and save!
Pick your distance
Running
5,000 Meter Run
Out and back course, starting and finishing at the Valdese Community Center, off Carolina Avenue. race|result timing & scoring. Expect high temperatures and high humidity. The course is not USATF certified.
10,000 meter Run
Out and back course, starting and finishing at the Valdese Community Center, off Carolina Avenue. race|result timing & scoring. Expect high temperatures and high humidity. The course is not USATF certified.
1 Mile Fun Run/Walk
The One Mile Fun Run is free. Only those participants aged 13 and younger are eligible for an award. Start time is approximate; the actual start time is immediately following the conclusion of the 5K & 10K races. Expect high temperatures and high humidity.
Typical race-day weather
Based on 9 years of Open-Meteo archive data for this event's race dates in Valdese, plus the 3 days either side.
The sun rises at 6:39 AM and sets at 8:23 PM local time (EDT) in Valdese on August 8, 2026 — 13h 44m of daylight.
Course
No course map published yet.
The organizer hasn't released a route for this event, and we don't publish guesses. If you're the organizer, send us a GPX file and we'll draw the profile.
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2026 results — Great Waldensian Footrace
235 finishers across 3 distances · leading places in the 5,000 Meter Run
| Place | Name | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Levi Stephens | 19:09 | 6:10 /mi |
| 2 | Nolan Darling | 19:37 | 6:19 /mi |
| 3 | Mike Darling | 19:48 | 6:22 /mi |
| 4 | Noah Thomas | 19:54 | 6:24 /mi |
| 5 | James Gouge | 20:10 | 6:29 /mi |
Every finisher is on the results page, filterable by distance, gender and age group.
All results by year
Other races near Valdese
Different organizers, within 40 miles, in the next three months
Goblin Gallop for Recovery 5K at Wpcc
Gobbler 5K & 13.1M at Hickory, NC (45)
Holiday 5K & 13.1M at Hickory, NC (49)
New Year 5K, & 13.1M at Hickory, NC (01)
Where this page comes from. Race details were last updated on . We re-check listings regularly and again in the week before race day.
- Entries, prices, waves and inclusions — the event's official registration page
- Temperature and humidity — Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis via Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
- Elevation and terrain relief — Copernicus DEM GLO-90, ESA (CC BY 4.0)
- Comparisons and counts — Race Discovery calendar, 1 Valdese event
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