Valencia Marathon 2026

Sunday, 6 December 2026 · Valencia, Spain

The weekend at a glance

Everything here is from the 2026 regulations, which can change.

Your number

Expo 42K at Feria Valencia. Thursday 5 pm to 9 pm, Friday 9 am to 9 pm, Saturday 9 am to 7 pm. Nothing is handed out on Sunday

Start

8:15 for the first wave, 9:35 for the ninth, by the City of Arts and Sciences

Time limit

5 hours 30 minutes from the moment you cross the start line

Finish

The City of Arts and Sciences

Climb

The organiser gives no figure and calls the course the flattest in the world

Drinks

Liquids at about 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 32, 35, 37.5 and 40 km, plus liquid and solid at the finish

Weather

The last five race mornings ran from 6.0 °C to 14.4 °C at 8:00

Transit

In 2023 and 2025 registered runners got a four-trip metro and tram ticket in their bag

On this page

1. Getting to Valencia
2. Where to stay in Valencia
3. Collecting your number
4. Race morning
5. The course
6. Weather in Valencia in December
7. Afterwards
8. Other race weekends
9. Sources

Getting to Valencia

Valencia has its own airport, and the regional government's ticket for runners has covered trips to it. In 2023 it was a four-trip ticket for zones A, B and C, valid from the Friday before the race to the Monday after, and the 2025 race had the same arrangement. It came in the race bag. Nothing is announced for 2026 yet, so treat it as a likely extra, not something to plan around.

On race morning the operator ran extra trams. For the 2023 race, tram line 10 ran every five minutes from 6:30 to 9:00, and the press office named Amado Granell-Montolivet as the stop for the start. The same notice named Quatre Carreres and Ciutat Arts i Ciències-Justícia as the stops for the way back. The route crosses lines 4 and 6, which were cut for part of the morning. These are 2023 arrangements, so check Metrovalencia's notice in the last week before the race.

Where to stay in Valencia

Because the race starts and finishes in the same district, there's no shuttle to organise. Hotels booked through the organiser's trip site come with a breakfast from 6 am and a late check-out until 4 pm on race day, and those more than 2 km from the start have a transfer. A bed on a tram line makes the morning a single ride.

The expo is a separate trip, at Feria Valencia on the Avinguda de les Fires, so check how both fit before you book.

Collecting your number

You collect your bib, wristband and race bag at Expo 42K, at Feria Valencia, Avinguda de les Fires. Thursday is evening only, from 5 pm to 9 pm. Friday runs from 9 am to 9 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 7 pm. The regulations are explicit that nothing is given out on Sunday.

You must check your timing chip at the stand when you collect. If it fails, the organiser takes no responsibility, so don't leave finding out until the morning.

If you can't get there, someone else can collect for you. You authorise them in the runner's area of the registration site, after 7 November, and they bring your details.

Race morning

There are nine waves, set by the time you gave at registration and printed on your bib. The first goes at 8:15 and the last at 9:35.

Anyone aiming under 3:32 has to prove a recent time from the last three years. You can change your wave free until 6 November if you can show a faster result, and after that it costs €25 until 26 November.

The limit is 5:30 from your own start. Reaching 25 km after 12:57 in 2026 means handing in your bib, which is how the 5:30 limit is fitted to nine staggered starts. Fill in the back of your bib before you leave, with your emergency contact and blood group. The regulations make it compulsory.

The course

The course is a single loop through the city, starting and finishing at the City of Arts and Sciences. A downloadable map and a Google Maps version are on the organiser's course page, which gives no climb figure.

Liquids are about every 5 km up to 30, then at 32, 35, 37.5 and 40 km. There's a liquid and solid station at the finish. Live tracking runs on the official app. You choose whether anyone can see you, with a pin code if you want a few people only.

Weather in Valencia in December

Valencia in early December is cool at the start and mild by lunchtime. These are the last five race days at the City of Arts and Sciences, at 8:00 and at 13:00.

The 24 km/h in 2021 was the windiest start of the five. Last year it was 14 °C at the start and nearly 21 by one o'clock, which would have been warm for anyone in the later waves.

Afterwards

A Medal Party takes place on the Sunday afternoon. On the Saturday there's a paella party for runners and their companions, a 5K breakfast run in the Turia gardens and a children's race. If you're flying out on Monday, the 2025 transit ticket was valid until then.

Other race weekends

Close by, and with guides of their own, are Zurich Seville Marathon and Valencia Half Marathon.

The next races with a guide

Zurich Seville Marathon21 February 2027 · Seville, Spain Lisbon Half Marathon7 March 2027 · Lisbon, Portugal Rome Marathon14 March 2027 · Rome, Italy

All race weekend guides

Sources

Written from the organiser's published information and the app's own race data, checked on 1 October 2026.

If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us.