Run Unicorn Run Brings Costumes and Community to Downtown Eureka Springs

If you have ever tried to parallel park in Downtown Eureka Springs, you already know these streets were not built for flat, easy anything. Once a year, those same hills and switchbacks turn into a race course, and you get to tackle them on foot instead of cursing them from behind a wheel.

THE DEETS

Pick Your Distance

Run Unicorn Run offers three ways to take on the course. The Magic Mile Fun Run runs $44, the 5K is $55, and the 10K, which loops the course twice, comes in at $66. You can register for any distance online.

Every Finisher Gets a Shirt and a Medal

Nobody wins this race by crossing first. Finish your distance, however you get there, and you take home a race shirt and a medal. Organizers care more about personal bests than podium spots.

Pack Weekend Plans Around Packet Pickup

Pick up your packet the day before the race, Saturday from 3 to 5 PM, right on Main Street at the same spot where you’ll start running Sunday. Mojo’s Records and B-Side Cafe sit next door and will be open with drinks, so grab something or flip through some vinyl while you’re downtown. Street parking runs through the Passport App if you need it.

Study the Course Before You Run It

Eureka Springs is not a grid, so a quick look at the maps ahead of time helps. You can preview the 1 Mile route and the 5K route online before you ever set foot downtown.

Registration for all three races closes the morning of the event. Don’t sleep on it. Every entry fee helps fund downtown infrastructure projects and a new microgrant program through Main Street Eureka Springs, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so the money you spend on race day helps build the town you’re running through.

Come in costume if you want. Unicorn horns and fairy wings show up all over the course, and a finish line celebration with music and snacks waits for every runner and walker no matter when they cross. All ages and abilities are invited, so bring whoever you can talk into it and claim your spot on the course.