The River to River Relay

APRIL 18th 2026 — Watch for Runners! Use Caution

The River to River Relay will be held this weekend on Saturday, April 18, 2026. The course is 80 miles long beginning at the Mississippi River at the top of McGee Hill and finishing at the Ohio River in Golconda. The first wave of runners take off at 5:45 am. The finish line in Golconda closes at 8:00 pm. 

If you will be traveling through Union, Johnson or Pope Counties on Saturday please use caution. There will be runners on the road, team vans/vehicles, and volunteers at the Exchange Areas. The course includes portions of Highway 127, Route 51, and Route 37.

This will be the 37th running of the River to River Relay. 210 teams are expected to start for a total of 1,600+ runners from across 15 different states running through beautiful Southern Illinois! Additionally, there will be 400 volunteers across the course. Please help us keep everyone safe, and let’s all have a wonderful Saturday. Join us in Golconda to cheer on the runners as they cross the finish line. We expect the first teams to start arriving in Golconda around 2:30. There will be food vendors set up in Golconda and live music.

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/groups/r2rrelay/

WEB: https://r2rrelay.com/index.html