In recent years the race has attracted over 3,000 participants, due in part to its special feature of running under the light of the midnight sun.
Temperatures ranging into the high 70s and sometimes even into the 80s in the dead of night can be a bit warm, especially for entrants from northerly latitudes, so to avoid overheating many runners are hosed down by residents along the race course.
In 1987, Scott Williams and Gary Fanelli, dressed impeccably as the Blues Brothers, firmly established themselves in the wacky lore of the Midnight Sun Run's costume division, finishing tied for second overall with a time of 32:50.
In 2006, some fifty United States Army soldiers, members of the 4th Battalion, 11th Field Artillery with the 172 Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Fort Wainwright, would not let their deployment in the Iraq War prevent them from participating in the Midnight Sun Run.
The soldiers wore official Midnight Sun Run bibs bearing the number 411, and received T-shirts donated and shipped from Fairbanks by race organizers.
Mike Styles said the idea of the costumed division was to create a Fairbanks version of San Francisco's Bay to Breakers race.