Women's Distance Festival

Women's Distance Festival

Columbia, Maryland, United States View on map
May 16, 2027 (America/New_York local time)
Running

About this race

Ladies!  Bring your mother, daughter, sister, other family member, colleague or friend and run or walk this beautiful two mile course through Washington Park. This race is for women and girls of all ages, whether you are a competitive runner or just plan to stroll through the park.

Strollers are welcome.  Due to insurance liability restrictions, please note pets are NOT permitted in the live race.

Carrie Ward & Melissa Wiseman are back as your Women's Distance Festival race directors - we can't wait to see you out there!

IMPORTANT NOTES!
Race shirt guarantee deadline for all participants is June 17.
All participants in the 2-mile run/walk will start at 8AM!

Please note: There are no refunds.  If the live race cannot be held as planned, all registrants will be converted to the Virtual Race option.

FINISHER AREA
There will be bottled water, bananas, and snacks in the finisher area.  

RACE RESULTS & AWARDS
Participants who opted in during the registration process will receive a text message with their time shortly after crossing the finish line. Results will also stream live throughout the morning and be available at: http://www.ItsRaceTime.com

Award categories are Overall, Masters, 14 & under, 15-19, 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, and 80+. 

Awards will be available following the race.

CURBSIDE PACKET PICKUP
Curbside packet pickup will be held on Friday (day before the race) at 3:00-6:00 pm at the Springfield Running Center, 2943 W. White Oaks Drive, Springfield, IL.  Look for the SRRC signs & drive right up to pick up your packet; no need to exit your car.  Feel free to arrive anytime during the pickup time, but please be patient if it is busy and you must wait a few minutes for your items.

If you registered by the t-shirt deadline, we will have a shirt for you!  If you registered after the deadline but were still able to choose a shirt during online registration, we should have a shirt for you!  Please note you will receive the size you selected during registration.  If you registered after our shirt supply was exhausted, unfortunately, you will not receive a shirt.  We can only guarantee shirts for those registered by the June 18 deadline.  Any additional race swag/giveaways will be distributed with race packets on a first come, first served basis while supplies last.

Please do your best to attend the Friday evening packet pickup.  You are welcome to have someone else pick up your packet for you if cannot make it.

RACE DAY PACKET PICKUP
Limited race day packet pickup will be available on race day morning in Washington Park at 7:00-7:45 a.m.

Packets for the live race that are not picked before the race starts will be forfeited.  There is no packet shipping option.

NOTES FOR VIRTUAL RACE PARTICIPANTS
- Run or walk your two miles wherever you choose! 
- Beginning on race day you will be able to submit your time on this page (click on this year's results):  
https://runsignup.com/Race/WomensDistance/Page/RaceResults
- By your name, click EDIT TIME.  
- You can submit results for one week after the race date. Virtual participants will appear in the race results but are not eligible for age group awards.
Race packets for virtual participants will be available for free curbside pickup.  There is no shipping option.

KIDS' FUN RUN
The Kids' Fun Run will be held immediately following the live 2-mile race and will start at the top of the hill near the finish line.  This is an untimed event for children ages 12 and under.  All participants in the kids' fun run will receive a medal and treat bag at the finish line.

Pick your distance

Running

WDF 5K

May 16, 2027 5K 8:00 AM
$40.00
Open

WDF 5K [VIRTUAL]

Can't attend in person on race weekend? Sign up for the virtual option instead. Run on your own any time during race weekend and submit your results once you're done. Your virtual participation must be during race weekend (Friday through Monday).

May 16, 2027 5K 8:00 AM
$30.00
Open

Typical race-day weather

Based on 1 year of Open-Meteo archive data for this event's race dates in Columbia, plus the 3 days either side.

Temp (°C)
Minimum temperature (race-week average) 14.3° / Maximum temperature (race-week average) 26.4°
Feels Like (°C)
Minimum feels like — heat index / wind chill (race-week average) 13.9° / Maximum feels like — heat index / wind chill (race-week average) 29.1°
Peak wind (km/h)
Strongest wind of the day (race-week average)
18.1
Precip (mm)
Precipitation over the day (race-week average)
1.6mm
Humidity
Mean relative humidity (race-week average)
62.7%
Sunrise
Sunrise at the start line on May 16, 2027 (EDT)
Sunset
Sunset at the start line on May 16, 2027 (EDT)
Daylight
Hours between sunrise and sunset on race day
14h 21m

The sun rises at 5:53 AM and sets at 8:14 PM local time (EDT) in Columbia on May 16, 2027 — 14h 21m 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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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, 25 Columbia events

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