Directions & Parking* (Saturday events)

*Plan to arrive 1.5-2 hours before your scheduled race start.

Saturday Event Directions (PDF)

IMPORTANT: Parking gates open at 4:00 a.m. There will be no participant drop-off allowed at the museum the morning of the race (see below for more info). All three parking gates (see map) will be entry only until 7:30 a.m. Any car entering through the gates should plan on staying on the museum grounds until 7:30 a.m. or later when the gates will open to exiting traffic.

Parking is free and located about one mile from the start line in grass fields which will be wet early in the morning. Please take precautions to keep your socks and shoes dry.  Parking is open to registered participants, family members, friends, and spectators. Please be aware of the number on the nearest colored flag when exiting your vehicle. This will help you find your vehicle after the race.

All vehicles must be removed from the designated parking areas on Saturday after the event. Overnight parking is strictly prohibited.

Motorcycle Parking: There will be no designated motorcycle parking.

Handicapped Participants and Spectators: All handicapped participants and spectators enter through the main museum gate on Springfield Street. You must have a valid handicap placard or Air Force Marathon handicap parking pass to be allowed entry through this gate.

GPS Users:

Gate 22B – (39.7756300, -84.0914491)

Spinning Road Gate: (39.7717055, -84.1086365)

Woodman Gate: (39.7735532, -84.1225847)

PDF Download of 2023 Parking & Shuttle Map

Shuttle Service* (Saturday events)

*Shuttle buses are for REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS ONLY. Race bibs must be visible.

Pre-Race Shuttles Depart from: Wright State University Nutter Center (Gate 3)
When: 3:30-5:00 a.m. departing every 10 minutes
Arrive to: Start Line area at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

Registered participants may be dropped off at Wright State University Nutter Center between 3:30-5:00 a.m. Registered participants riding the shuttle must be in the Nutter Center parking lot by 5:00 a.m. in order to catch the very last shuttle which leaves by 5:30 a.m. Participants may then be picked up at the finish line or at Wright State University Nutter Center after 8:15 a.m. Family members and spectators may enter through the Springfield Street gate (museum gate) after 8:00 a.m. and park in the main museum parking lot (free). You can then meet your finisher at the family reunion area near the festival tent.

Post-Race Shuttles Depart from: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (Different location from where you were dropped off at. See map for details.)
When: 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. with departure times at various times
Arrive to: Wright State University Nutter Center

Participant Drop Off

Runner drop off will be available at Wright State University’s Nutter Center parking lot. There will be no runner drop off at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on race day. The parking gates are for parking only. There will be no exit until 7:30 a.m. from each of these parking gates. NOTE: Buses from the Nutter Center run from 3:30 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. and leave every 10 minutes. PLEASE ARRIVE AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE to ensure you get a seat. Buses are for participants only. BIBS ARE REQUIRED TO RIDE.

Participant Pick Up

To pick up participants, enter through the main museum gate on Springfield Street after 8:00 a.m. and meet your runner at the Family Reunion area at the Finish Line Festival. Participants who took the shuttle bus may be picked up at Wright State University’s Nutter Center after 8:15 a.m.

Directions & Parking (Thursday & Friday events)

Parking is free and open to registered participants, family members, friends, and spectators at Wright State University Nutter Center where the two-day Health & Fitness Expo, 5K, and Tailwind Trot 1K Kids’ Run is held.

Nutter Center Parking Lots 1-4 will close at 3:30 p.m. and will reopen in approximately 2 hours. During this time, attendees will park in Lots 5-9 behind the arena. Those parked in Lots 5-9 will be unable to exit between 6:15-7:00 p.m. while the 5K runners are running past these lots.

Wright State University’s Nutter Center
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton, OH 45435

Directions & Parking Map