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Hannover Marathon

Start 10:0010:00 AM Hanover

The Hannover Marathon is a course of 42.2 km with 52.9 m of climbing. Its lowest point is 53 m and its highest 63 m above sea level. Next race: Sunday 11 April 2027, starting at 10:00.

Hanover
Hanover. Photograph by Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de via Wikimedia Commons . Course line © OpenStreetMap contributors

At a glance

Race day
The 2027 race
Start
10:0010:00 AM
Waves until 10:0510:05 AM
Distance
42.2 km26.2 mi
Marathon · Half marathon · 10K · Relay
Total climb
52.9 m174 ft
Highest point 10 m33 ft above lowest
Time limit
5 h 55 min
Finish closes 16:004:00 PM

The course

Pick a place, or drag along the profile

The ground along the course never sits lower than 52.6 m (km 0.4) or higher than 62.8 m (km 28.7); the race climbs 52.9 m in total.

Start, finish

© OpenStreetMap contributors

  4. Photo: The original uploader was Axel Hindemith at German Wikipedia., Public domain
  5. Photo: Flocci Nivis, CC BY 4.0
  6. Photo: Gerd Fahrenhorst, CC BY 4.0
  8. Photo: Flocci Nivis, CC BY 4.0
  9. Photo: Joachim Meyer - User: (WT-shared) HaJo at wts wikivoyage, Public domain

km 1.5mile 0.9

Niedersachsenstadion

The organiser lists the football stadium at km 1.6, on the right.

Height drawn many times taller than life · GEDTM30

Course elevation profile, 8× vertical exaggeration Elevation along the course from km 0 to km 42. The trace runs between 53 and 63 metres, a range of 10 metres, drawn at 8 times vertical exaggeration so the shape is legible. Smoothed over 1 km before this profile was derived. An unsmoothed urban surface carries the buildings and would assert a climb that is not there. The dashed stretches are bridge decks: Pasteurallee, km 18.7 to 18.8; Noltemeyerbrücke, km 19.7 to 19.8. A bare-earth model reads the ground or the water beneath a bridge, not the deck the runner is on, so those runs are interpolated between the ground either side rather than measured, and they under-report the real climb across a span.
0 10 20 30 40 km
0 10 20 26.2 mi

Dashed: bridge

Your 5 gels, at the orange marksFor a 4:00 finish, one every 40 minutes

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Get them on AmazonAmazon partner link

  • A spread of 10.5 m from lowest to highestLowest to highest point is 10.5 m, and about four fifths of the course lies within 5 m of the start's height.
  • The city in order, from the Maschsee to the WelfengartenFrom the Maschsee and the Döhrener Turm to the Eilenriede forest and the Welfengarten.
  • Six relay legs, 4.6 to 9.6 kmSix legs from 4.6 to 9.6 km; the last and longest one runs from Vahrenwalder Straße to the finish.
Course notes 3 short reads on the course
km 0 to 42.2GradientA spread of 10.5 m from lowest to highestLowest to highest point is 10.5 m, and about four fifths of the course lies within 5 m of the start's height.

The organiser counts the course among the flattest in Germany and puts the height difference at 19 m (“Mit nur 19 m Höhenunterschied sind Bestzeiten garantiert”). Along the streets themselves the spread reads smaller: 10.5 m between the lowest point near the start (52.6 m, km 0.4) and the highest (62.8 m, km 28.7).

The road starts at 53 m, rises about 8 m to 61 m by km 6, then stays between roughly 55 and 60 m through the middle of the race. It dips to 52.9 m around km 34 and finishes at 54.4 m, 1.4 m above where it started. The climbing comes to 52.9 m for the whole marathon, the sum of many gentle rises rather than a hill.

Measured

km 0 to 42.2LandmarkThe city in order, from the Maschsee to the WelfengartenFrom the Maschsee and the Döhrener Turm to the Eilenriede forest and the Welfengarten.

The organiser’s highlights page walks the course kilometre by kilometre and says on which side each sight stands. The start at the Friedrichswall is beside the August Kestner Museum (km 0). The list goes on to the Waterloo column (km 0.8, marked for the 10 km route only), the football stadium (km 1.6), the Sprengel Museum and the Maschsee (km 2), and the Döhrener Turm at km 8.3, a tower from 1382 that marked the southern edge of the old town.

Through the centre the course goes by the Theater am Aegi (km 11), the Kröpcke square (km 11.8) and the main station (km 12), then out to the Zoo (km 14.4) and through the Eilenriede forest on both sides of the road at km 15. Later come the Lister Turm (km 23.2), the Welfengarten (km 38.4), the Leibniz University (km 39.1) and the Landtag (km 41.9) before the finish at the Friedrichswall.

Sourced

km 0 to 42.2TacticsSix relay legs, 4.6 to 9.6 kmSix legs from 4.6 to 9.6 km; the last and longest one runs from Vahrenwalder Straße to the finish.

A relay team of two to six runners shares the marathon course, and the organiser’s table gives six sections: leg 1 from the Friedrichswall to Hildesheimer Straße (7.4 km), leg 2 to Waldchaussee at the Zoo (7.1 km, 14.5 on the course), leg 3 to Podbielskistraße (6.5 km, 20.8), leg 4 to Celler Straße (7.2 km, 28.0), leg 5 to Vahrenwalder Straße (4.6 km, 32.6) and leg 6 back to the Friedrichswall (9.6 km).

The relay has its own gun at 10:30 on the Friedrichswall and the same 16:00 finish limit as the marathon.

Sourced

Race weekend

Friday 9 April Bib pickup

  1. 12:0012:00 PM–19:007:00 PM

    Bib pickup at the expo Start documents are handed out against the entry confirmation.

Saturday 10 April Last bib day

  1. 10:0010:00 AM–19:007:00 PM

    Bib pickup at the expo Start documents are handed out against the entry confirmation.

Bib in hand?A number belt holds it without pins through your race top. Clip it on tonight.

Number belt on AmazonAmazon partner link

Sunday 11 April Race day

  1. 07:007:00 AM–08:308:30 AM

    Bib pickup at the expo (marathon) Start documents are handed out against the entry confirmation.

  2. 10:0010:00 AM

    Marathon start First wave: national championship field, elite and blocks B and C. Two waves in all.

  3. 10:0510:05 AM

    Marathon start, block D Second wave.

  4. 16:004:00 PM

    Finish limit Every runner must have reached the finish by 16:00. The same limit applies to the half marathon and the relay. 8:24/km from the 10:05 start to km 42.19513:32/mi from the 10:05 AM start to mile 26.2
Other races (3)

  1. 09:009:00 AM

    10K start The 10K opens the race-day programme in front of the New Town Hall. Finish limit 10:45.

  2. 10:3010:30 AM

    Relay start Friedrichswall. A separate gun for the relay marathon, teams of two to six.

  3. 11:3011:30 AM

    Half marathon start First of four wave starts; the exact time is on the entry confirmation. Nordic walkers start from 12:20.

Times as published by the organiser, in Hanover time, checked . Confirm on their site before you travel.

Add to calendar .ics file, times in Hanover time

Entry

Entry through the organiser

Entry details on the organiser’s site →

The organiser, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Hanover, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, the orange marks on the profile. Hanover stays within 10 m33 ft of height, so they go by the clock:

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side.

Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.

Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.

Anti-chafe
A small balm stick
Illustration · drag to turn

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.

Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.

Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Number belt
A race number belt
Illustration · drag to turn

Compressport Race Belt

Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.

Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.

Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Electrolytes
A tube of electrolyte tablets
Illustration · drag to turn

SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20

One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.

One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.

Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Blister plasters
A pack of blister plasters
Illustration · drag to turn

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.

Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.

Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Questions about the Hannover Marathon

Is the Hannover Marathon course flat?
Not entirely. It has 52.9 m of climbing over 42.2 km. The highest point is 10 m above the lowest.
When is the Hannover Marathon 2027?
Sunday 11 April 2027. The first wave starts at 10:00 and the last at 10:05.
What is the time limit at the Hannover Marathon?
Runners have 5 h 55 min to finish. The finish closes at 16:00.
Runner talk Questions, tips and race reports from other runners about the course and the city.

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