Marathon runners love good swag and meticulously designed finisher medals. At Tulsa’s Golden Driller Marathon, you can find both of these perks and more.
The event is named for the 76-foot statue of an oil field worker that represents Tulsa’s boomtown history. “It’s an iconic Tulsa image,” said Tim Dreiling, co-owner of Fleet Feet Tulsa, which puts on the marathon. “It’s ginormous.”
This year, I joined the Golden Driller event on April 20 and ran the 10K. The annual race, which started in 2015, has four distances: marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K. The 2024 Golden Driller hosted nearly 1,000 participants across all categories.
Learn more about the marathon and start planning for next year’s with this Golden Driller guide.
The Golden Driller course and conditions
As we gathered at the Golden Driller starting line, the sun was just coming up over Zink Lake. The lake itself is exciting, as it’s a new Tulsa attraction created by repairing an old dam. It opens to the public on Labor Day weekend 2024. But for now, only fish and birds use the lake, making it a peaceful place to start an early morning run.
The looped race course follows the paved trails of Tulsa’s Riverparks system along the banks of the Arkansas River. Runners start on the west side of the river, then cross a bridge to run along the east side. The marathon has one hill. Otherwise, the course is flat and fast — considered the fastest marathon course in Oklahoma.
Fleet Feet Tulsa hosted the Golden Driller, and the marathon is just one of the 18 races Fleet Feet puts on annually. According to Dreiling, the Golden Driller is more complicated to manage than most.
“There are four races in one, each with its own quirks,” said Dreiling. This year, Fleet Feet deployed a team of about 12 employees and 60 volunteers to keep everybody going in the right direction. “People do anything and everything you can imagine,” said Dreiling. “People change races, change distances, just assume that we’re going to know that. I’ve been doing this for over twenty years and I’ve seen everything. I just laugh about it.”
The weather cooperated for this year’s marathon. With temperatures in the 50s, it was neither too hot nor too cold. Heat can be a big problem in Oklahoma, especially for the longer race distances. “We sent no one to the hospital, to my knowledge,” Dreiling said of this year’s Golden Driller. “So that’s a win.”
Golden Driller 2024 winners
Out of the 134 people who finished the full marathon, Jon Day, 40, of Austin, Texas, finished first with a time of 2:46:40. The fastest female was Emily Wells of Wichita, Kansas, who finished in 3:32:20. Approximately nine people had times that qualify them to run the Boston Marathon.
The top three male and female finishers in each race and age group won a souvenir mug. I placed for the first time ever, coming third in my age group for the 10K. Every person I encountered that day was forced to admire my trophy mug.
Post-race things to do in Tulsa
Want to plan a Tulsa trip around running in the Golden Driller? If so, you’ll have plenty of nearby hotels to choose from. I stayed in the gorgeous Hotel Indigo Tulsa, which was perfect for this race. First, it’s right across the street from the Fleet Feet store in the Blue Dome neighborhood. This made pre-race packet pickup very easy. Second, the hotel’s oil theme pairs perfectly with the Golden Driller. The lobby features oil field artifacts, and my room had framed historic pictures of Tulsa’s oil boom.
Tulsa also has many interesting things to do and inviting places to relax post-race. You can spend time at the Gathering Place, an enormous public park that offers play structures for all ages, sports courts, free kayak rentals, and pretty places to sit and take in the tree-filled views.
Art appreciators can swing by the Philbrook Museum of Art, which resides in the 1920s villa of oilman Waite Phillips. Inside, you’ll find paintings and sculptures. Outside, there are gardens modeled after Versailles.
If you like to shop, Tulsa has a fun high-end sneaker boutique called Silhouette. Perfect for runners who appreciate chic shoes.
Still hungry after the Golden Driller’s finishing line pizza? Tulsa has excellent restaurants. Post-race, I ate a billion-calorie vegan cinnamon roll at Cinnaholic.
One of my other favorite places was the Mother Road Market on Route 66, a public food hall with a variety of micro-eateries. Up-and-coming chefs can do a residency in the Kitchen 66 Takeover Café, so it’s always a mystery what you’ll find cooking there.
For Dreiling, post-race dining choices are clear. “It’s got to be pizza or a greasy hamburger. And beer.” He recommends his favorite pub, McNellie’s, which has 100 different beers on tap.
Disclaimer: While this article was not sponsored, Outdoors Wire did visit Tulsa during a press trip with Tulsa Regional Chamber and its partners.. As always, Outdoors Wire operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.