The Mid South brings endurance festival to Block 34 for 2026
A year after wildfires canceled events, the iconic gravel race moves to Block 34 with a new finish line, Friday pro race, and stronger emergency communications
After 13 years at the same finish line, Stillwater's iconic endurance festival is embracing a new home — and its organizers say the change unlocks the full vision of what Mid South was always meant to become.
Mid South 2026, scheduled for March 12-15, will bring its finish line, expo, live music, and festival atmosphere to Block 34, the new downtown park on Husband Street between 8th and 9th avenues. The move ends more than a decade of hosting the event's centerpiece in front of District Bicycles on West 7th Avenue.
"Block 34 gives us the ability to just spread out and people can hang out for longer and really enjoy the entire festival that it's grown into as a whole," said Bobby Wintle, who co-directs the event with his wife, Crystal Wintle. "The hope is that more people feel connected to all the things and are exposed to music, art, movement, riding, food."
Cycling journalist Ben Delaney, of The Ride with Ben Delaney, has called Mid South the "Lollapalooza of Gravel" — a nod to its evolution from a niche race into a weekend endurance festival balancing elite competition with live music, parties, and community.
The event draws thousands of participants and spectators each year for its half-marathon, 50-kilometer ultra marathon, and 12-, 50-, and 100-mile gravel bike courses across Oklahoma's red dirt roads. Music, an expo featuring cycling and outdoor brands, and food trucks round out a weekend that Wintle describes as as much a festival as it is a race.
Coming back from 2025
The stakes for this year's event carry extra weight. On March 14, 2025, wildfires swept through southwest Stillwater during the final hours of last year's Mid South, forcing the cancellation of Saturday's bicycle events. The fires destroyed 98 homes and burned 26,301 acres. Bobby Wintle announced the cancellation in a video from District Bicycles that night — the finish line location the event is now leaving behind.
Stonecloud Brewing, which will play a central role in this year's event, became an impromptu community living room in the aftermath, hosting The Mid South participants, musicians, and residents displaced or shaken by the disaster.
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Organizers said the experience reshaped how they approach emergency communication. Crystal Wintle said the event registration platform allows them to send direct text alerts to participants for emergency or change-of-plans communications — a capability the event lacked last year.
"Direct, early, swift, very efficient communication is the biggest piece that we learned," Bobby Wintle said.
Crystal Wintle also cited the City of Stillwater's recently announced Integrated Public Alert and Warning System upgrades as an additional layer of preparedness. She said the working relationship between Mid South and city officials — including the police chief, fire chief, and emergency management — has only grown stronger.
"I am very confident in our team for making the decisions that we need to make and also the team at the City of Stillwater that we've been working with," she said. "We have a really good relationship and we'll all take care of each other."
A new venue for a new chapter
The move to Block 34 addresses both logistics and opportunity. With the previous location limiting access to the Payne County Courthouse parking lot, setup required closing streets earlier in the week — a recurring stress point, Wintle said, even though county officials had been supportive.
The new space keeps the music performances on the Kicker Soundstage visible from the finish line — something Wintle said is essential for the event.
"It's adjacent still, obviously, and you'll be able to see the finish line from the stage, which is really key for me to keep the whole entire thing feeling cohesive," he said.
Block 34, Stillwater's newest downtown park, will serve as the home of Mid South 2026. Clockwise from top left: a tactile map details the Block 34 layout along Husband Street; the park's monument sign at the corner of 8th Avenue and Husband Street; the Kicker Soundstage, where two days of free live music will be performed March 13-14; and Husband Street looking north toward 8th Avenue, where the new finish line corridor will run. – Photos by Chris Peters
Crystal Wintle, who oversees the expo, said the layout will preserve the intimate atmosphere vendors and attendees have come to expect.
"We'll still be able to keep that intimate vibe that it's always had, where everyone's super close and kind of forced to walk through the expo," she said. "But we have a little more space to spread out, which is also nice."
All music and expo access at Block 34 is free and open to the public.
Pro race moves to Friday
One of the most significant structural changes for 2026 is the separation of the professional 100 mile bicycle race from the mass-participation event. For the first time, pros will compete Friday, March 13, with a 1 p.m. start — the day before amateur riders take on the same course.
Wintle said the change was driven first by safety. In previous years, faster professional riders and their support vehicles would overlap with amateur participants on the course and at the finish line.
"The finish line shoot is by far the scariest piece of the puzzle — we have groups of pros, men, women, non-binary — that are literally fighting for a position [during the finish] that will impact their career," Wintle said.
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Moving the pro race to Friday also sets up what organizers hope will be a landmark spectator moment in U.S. gravel racing. With check-in, live music, and the rider's meeting all Friday afternoon, the crowd at the pro start and finish could exceed any comparable domestic event.
"What's cooler than getting stoked on watching a pro race the day before you go do the exact same course as an amateur rider?" Wintle said.
The rider's meeting and pro podium are scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Friday at Block 34.
Road closures
Drivers should plan alternate routes through downtown Stillwater beginning Thursday, March 12. The city of Stillwater and Mid South have coordinated the following road closures:
Thursday, March 12, from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Husband Street and surrounding streets near Block 34 will be closed for setup, including 8th Avenue from Irby Lane to Husband Street and 9th Avenue in the same corridor.
Thursday, March 12, beginning at 5 p.m.: Additional closures will take effect as the event footprint expands.
Friday through Sunday, March 13-15: Husband Street will be closed from 7th to 12th avenues. The section of Husband Street from 10th to 12th avenues will be limited to residential access only. All roads are expected to reopen by 2 p.m. Sunday, March 15.
New Mid South Beer
Stonecloud Brewing Co. will serve as The Mid South's official beer partner in 2026, releasing a custom dry-hopped pilsner branded simply as "Mid South Beer." The can design comes from artist Bryan Couchman.
"We wanted it to be really clean and classic and old school vibe and very simple," Wintle said. "We wanted the beer to be as crisp and refreshing and clean for a finish line beer as we've ever had before."
Stonecloud, located on Husband Street adjacent to Block 34, will be a natural gathering point for spectators watching riders come and go on the new out-and-back finish course. Riders will head south on Husband Street to 12th Avenue before returning directly back to the finish line — directly past Stonecloud's front patio.
For taproom manager Matt Sullins, the convergence of the new beer partnership and the relocated finish line represents a lot of firsts at once.
"This is the first year we're doing the beer. This is the first year that we've got the new location with the finish line essentially directly in front of the taproom," Sullins said. "There are so many things we're doing this year for the first time ever."
Stonecloud Brewing Co. (left) and Empire Slice House (right) sit at the intersection of 10th Avenue and Husband Street, where race finishers will turn back north toward the Block 34 finish line. Both front patios will offer prime viewing for spectators during Mid South 2026, March 13-15. – Photos by Chris Peters
Sullins said he has been restructuring his cooler inventory for weeks, adding a third and possibly fourth delivery from the Oklahoma City brewery during event week on top of his normal two. He said the weekend also carries weight as a community ambassador moment.
"A lot of the people that come down for this race, they're not gonna see a lot of the town beyond these three or four blocks," he said. "I want to make sure that we're representing and looking our best — not just Stonecloud, but the whole community."
Stonecloud has its own lineup of events surrounding The Mid South. Thursday, March 12, brings the official Mid South Beer release at 6 p.m., followed by a performance from Mike Hosty at 7 p.m., with All Bodies on Bikes also on hand that evening.
The annual Chamois Butt'r party returns Friday, March 14, with Nick Loux and Brahmulus — the first two acts from the Block 34 main stage that day — returning to perform at the taproom that evening.
On Sunday, March 15, Stonecloud launches a recurring brunch series with food by Audra Lee Carter, owner and chef of Small World Supper Club, who hosts pop-ups at the taproom and live music from The Heard beginning at 1 p.m.
The brewery will also carry the race's live stream on its screens throughout the weekend.
Mid South TV live stream
For the first time, Mid South will produce a live broadcast — called Mid South TV — available on YouTube and linked from MidSouthGravel.com. Coverage begins Friday at 1 p.m. with the pro race start. Commentators and camera operators will cover the course, Block 34 festival grounds, expo, and live music. An LED wall at the main stage will display the live stream so attendees can watch the race together rather than on their phones. Finnegan's Bar and Stonecloud will also carry the broadcast on their screens.
The Kicker Soundstage at Block 34 will host two days of live music, all free and open to the public.
Friday, March 13: Nick Loux (11:30 a.m.), Brahmulus (1 p.m.), Matthew Scott (2:30 p.m.), Johnny Mullenax (4:30 p.m.), and Tyler Siems (6 p.m.).
At 3 p.m. Friday, Nick Loux and Belle and the Vertigo Waves will perform an acoustic in-store set at Velvet Fudge record shop — a smaller, quieter alternative to the main stage activity down the street.
Saturday, March 14: Knipple (11 a.m.), Petty Fox (12:30 p.m.), Kalyn Fay (2 p.m.), Soup (3:30 p.m.), Dreamsickle (5 p.m.), and Belle and the Vertigo Waves (8 p.m.).
Bike raffle benefiting the Saville Center
The Mid South will again raffle a custom-painted gravel bike to benefit the Saville Center for Child Advocacy in Stillwater. This year's bike is a Salsa Flyway, fully equipped with Zipp and SRAM components and valued at more than $12,000 before the custom paint job. The bike will be unveiled March 12.
Last year's raffle — a hand-painted Salsa Stormchaser designed by Oklahoma City artist Amanda Weathers — raised $36,000 in ticket sales, with The Mid South adding $4,000 to deliver a $40,000 total donation to the center. District Bicycles simultaneously became the Saville Center's first corporate sponsor.
The Saville Center, which operates on an annual budget of approximately $600,000, has seen federal grant funding reduced by $212,000 over the past three years — $90,000 of that in the year before last's budget cycle alone. Executive Director Heather Houle has attributed the cuts to pandemic-era court closures that reduced the collection of fines and fees supporting the federal Victims of Crime Compensation grant program.
"When the pandemic ended for everybody, it just started for us," Houle said at the time of last year's donation. "We're seeing the lasting effects of when everybody was home — the mental health issues, the abuse, the drug endangerment."
Wintle said the partnership with the Saville Center will continue this year. "We want to do everything we can to fix that," he said.
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