Fresno's Flat Half Gets Faster Every November: A Field Guide to Two Cities 2026

Three years of data paint a consistent picture of the Two Cities Half Marathon: a genuinely flat, road-friendly course through Fresno where a field of roughly 1,200–1,500 runners settles into a comfortable early rhythm before the second half tests their patience. With a 2:15:31 median finish in 2025 and conditions on November 1 expected to mirror the race's best recent weather, this is a half marathon that rewards honest pacing from the gun.

By the numbers

The field has grown steadily — 1,154 finishers in 2023, 1,418 in 2024, and 1,470 in 2025 — suggesting word is spreading about a race that delivers a reliable experience. Women made up roughly half the field in 2025 (739 of 1,470), up from 574 in 2023, a gain that tracks the broader growth. Median times have held remarkably stable across all three editions: overall medians of 2:16:15, 2:16:54, and 2:15:31 tell you the field's composition isn't changing dramatically even as it expands.

How the course runs

The GPS profile is unambiguous: this is flat terrain, net -7 feet across 13.1 miles, with no sustained climb or descent of any consequence. What shapes your race here isn't elevation — it's pacing discipline on an out-and-back where the second half can feel longer than it looks on paper.

The 2025 fade curve shows a field that goes out a touch quick and gradually settles:

The pattern is orderly rather than dramatic — a 47-second-per-mile spread from the opening mile to the closing segment. The field isn't blowing up; it's simply doing what half marathon fields do on flat courses: easing off as the miles accumulate.

Pacing patterns

In both 2023 and 2024, 98% of finishers ran positive splits — faster first half than second — with an average second-half slowdown of 18% in 2023 and 16.9% in 2024. Only 14 runners went negative in 2023 and 22 in 2024. This is entirely normal for a mass-participation half marathon field; the majority of amateur runners slow over the back half at virtually every race of this distance. The data here simply confirms it. For runners targeting a specific time, the implication is clear: the field's median pace drifts from 10:07 at 10K to 10:36 at the finish, so banking even a modest cushion in the first six miles tends to pay off.

The weather question

Two Cities runs in early November in Fresno, and the historical range has been wide: 36–46°F in 2023, 61–71°F in 2024, and 64–74°F in 2025. The 2026 forecast of 62–72°F with haze and ~3 mph wind closely resembles 2025 conditions, which produced the field's best recent median (2:15:31) and the smallest recorded slowdown across the three editions. The cold 2023 morning correlated with a slightly larger average fade (18%) and a slower women's winning time (1:23:00 vs. 1:19:40 in 2024). A mild November morning appears to suit this field.

What it takes

Breaking 1:58:31 puts a runner in the top quarter of the field. Cracking 1:46:34 puts them in the top tenth.

What to watch

The field has grown by 316 finishers over three years — if that trajectory holds, 2026 could approach or exceed 1,600 finishers for the first time. Women's participation, which nearly doubled from 2023 to 2025, is a secondary storyline worth tracking. And with 2026 forecast conditions nearly identical to 2025's — the year that produced the fastest recent median — there's a reasonable case that the aggregate finishing times could improve again, particularly if the field continues to mature.