Holiday Half - Half Marathon and 4 Miler

Holiday Half - Half Marathon and 4 Miler is held in Annandale, Virginia on December 12, 2026. The event pairs a half marathon with a shorter road race, and the format listed here is the 4 Miler, covering 6.4 kilometers with an 8:00 a.m. start. That early gun is worth planning around on a December morning: you'll want to arrive with enough time to warm up properly before the temperature has had any chance to climb.

Four miles is a distance that rewards restraint. It's too long to sprint from the gun and too short to settle into a comfortable rhythm, so the usual advice is to run the first mile at what feels like 10K effort and only commit fully once you're past halfway. It also works well as a supported hard workout inside a longer winter build rather than a goal race in itself. A month of consistent running with one weekly tempo effort of 20 to 25 minutes is enough preparation.