This Year's Newport Spirit Run Is Built Around Upper Newport Bay

At 7:15 a.m. on Sunday, October 18, the first runners in the new Upper Newport Bay Half Marathon will leave the parking lot at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina and head into the Back Bay. According to the organizers, it is the first half marathon course through the Bay in more than 20 years. For a race that used to be staged at Fashion Island, the new home changes nearly everything about the morning. Organizers built the 42nd Newport Spirit Run around the Bay. The water is the backdrop, the reason for the new beneficiary, the reason for the cup rules, and the reason parking is tight.

What Moved, and What Came With It

The Visit Newport Beach event listing spells out the 2026 changes. The race is moving from Fashion Island to Newport Dunes at 1131 Back Bay Drive, with courses that cross Upper Newport Bay. It adds the half marathon to the traditional 5K and mile, adds a Beach Dash on the sand for ages 4 to 6 and a Toddler Trot for ages 1 to 3, and brings in the Newport Bay Conservancy as a beneficiary.

Those changes all point the same way. Once the start line sat next to the Bay, the course, the charity and the race-day rules followed it. None of the sources explain why the race left Fashion Island. Fashion Island still appears on this year's sponsor list.

A PTA Race That Now Funds Wetland Education

The environmental focus is new. The race itself goes back decades. Stu News Newport reported on October 9 that the Spirit Run was created in 1983 by PTAs at elementary schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District's Corona del Mar zone, and that net proceeds supported those schools. In 2016 the beneficiary list opened up to any local school and to youth sports programs, and later to other youth organizations.

The 2026 list shows how far that expansion has gone. Proceeds go to schools, youth sports programs including Newport Beach Junior Lifeguards, Fostering Interest in Nature, CASA Orange County, and the youth education programs of the Newport Bay Conservancy. The race organizers say the Conservancy supports conservation, restoration and education around Upper Newport Bay and its watershed, including Big Canyon and the wider Back Bay.

The partnership also changes how water stations work. There are no plastic bottles. Stations are cup-less, so runners refill their own reusable cups, and participants are asked to carry their fuel in and pack it back out. Every half marathon and 5K participant gets a collapsible, reusable cup to use at the water stations and around the expo. Anyone planning to grab a paper cup at mile 6 should leave that cup clipped on.

The Course Passes the Back Bay's Best-Known Stops

Newport Spirit Run, Inc., the 501(c)(3) nonprofit run by a volunteer board that puts on the event, describes the half marathon as 13.1 miles that start and finish at Newport Dunes and run on Back Bay roads and paths through wetlands and nature reserve areas. The organizers list these sights along the course:

• Back Bay Science Center
• The Big Canyon restoration project
• Back Bay Lookout
• Juan Ramirez Memorial Drinking Fountain
• Muth Interpretive Center

Big Canyon shows up twice in this story. It is a stop on the course, and it is one of the places the Conservancy's work covers. So half marathon runners pass some of the ground their entry fee helps support.

The half marathon is open to walkers, with a 3.5-hour time limit, which works out to 16 minutes per mile or faster. The 5K is an out-and-back. The half marathon, 5K, Youth Mile and Family Mile all start and finish next to the Dunes parking lot.

The organizers call the course "a safe, traffic-free race environment." The event materials say the Spirit Run has partnered with Waze to help drivers get around road closures. As of October 10, they don't list which roads close, for how long, or how residents get access. The course maps page has downloadable maps and elevation profiles. If you live along the Back Bay, check those maps and Waze before a Sunday errand.

Sunday, Hour by Hour

The Stu News report sums up the timing: registration at 6 a.m., the first race one hour later, and everything wrapped up by 11 a.m. The published race-weekend schedule fills in the rest:

1. 6:00 a.m. Registration opens at Newport Dunes.
2. 7:00 a.m. The Adult Competitive Mile goes off first. Runners have to finish in 8 minutes or less, and the start is about a quarter mile from the corner of Back Bay Drive and Shellmaker Road.
3. 7:15 a.m. The Upper Newport Bay Half Marathon starts.
4. 7:30 a.m. The 5K race and walk start. The event guide lists the walk two minutes later, at 7:32.
5. 8:45 and 9:00 a.m. The Youth Mile starts at 8:45, with a 10-minute cutoff, and the Family Mile follows at 9:00. After that come the Beach Dash and the Toddler Trot, which runs between 10:00 and 10:30 a.m.
6. By 11:00 a.m. The event window ends, according to Visit Newport Beach.

The schedule page notes that times may change and will be "Finalized Oct 12th," so check it again early next week. Packet pickup is Saturday, October 17, from noon to 3 p.m.

The Youth & Fitness Expo runs all morning at the Dunes, next to the beach, with live music, a food truck, food vendors, booths and activities for kids. Steve Scott, the miler who holds the world record for most sub-4-minute miles, will be at the start to cheer on runners, high-five kids and lead the awards.

Parking Is Tight Because of Where the Race Is

Fashion Island had plenty of parking. Newport Dunes sits on the water, and the organizers say parking is limited, first-come, first-served, and that participants should carpool. The parking and directions page lists the options:

The event details and parking page don't mention a shuttle. Compare the overflow lot with the Dunes lots for a half marathon walker. A walker using most of the 3.5-hour limit, plus an hour before the start, spends about four and a half hours at the Hyatt. That comes to $12 plus four more hours at $4, or about $28, against the flat $15 at either Dunes lot. Arriving early is the cheapest way to park.

Signing Up With a Week to Go

There is still time to enter. On Race Space, adult standard entry is $159 for the half marathon and $59 for the 5K, before booking fees. Registration stays open on race morning from 6 a.m., and each race closes 15 to 30 minutes before it starts.

Every finisher gets a "Spirit" medal. Half marathoners get an exclusive half marathon shirt, and everyone else can pick the traditional event shirt. Elite runners in the half marathon, 5K and mile compete for a $6,000 prize purse from the Hyman Family Foundation and other elite athlete sponsors. Other adult and youth competitors can win prizes from Sgt. Pepperoni's and Balboa Candy. The sponsor list also includes the City of Newport Beach, the Exchange Club of Newport Harbor, the Daruty Family, Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment and Fletcher Jones Motor Cars.

Kids 7 and older can enter the Family Mile or the 5K. The Beach Dash and Toddler Trot are for younger children, and kids under 7 who want to join their family in the Family Mile or 5K walk don't have to register. Full details and registration are at newportspiritrun.org.

Whether you're walking the half, cheering at the Dunes, or just planning Sunday errands around the Back Bay, Cassie French loves this part of Newport Beach and would be happy to talk about homes near the water whenever it suits you. If race week has you thinking about your own place, request a free home valuation & staging plan.