My marathons

Kuala Lumpur Marathon

Run on 4 October 2026. Next race: date not out yet. Kuala Lumpur
Petronas Towers
© OpenStreetMap Petronas Towers. Photograph by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons . Course line © OpenStreetMap contributors

The course

Pick a place, or drag along the profile

A climb of 34 m to km 4, downhill from km 26 to km 29, then flat home.

Start, finish

© OpenStreetMap contributors

  1. Photo: Ahmad Rithauddin from Ampang, malaysia, CC BY 2.0

km 10.3mile 6.4

Petronas Towers

The course passes about 200 m from the towers, around 10 km in.

Height drawn many times taller than life. Heights: GEDTM30.

Course elevation profile, 8× vertical exaggeration Elevation along the course from km 0 to km 42. The trace runs between 34 and 85 metres, a range of 52 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: Lebuhraya Bertingkat Ampang - Kuala Lumpur, km 13.5 to 22.9; Jalan Lingkaran Tengah 2, km 24.6 to 25.3; Lebuhraya DUKE, km 27.6 to 28.1; Lebuhraya DUKE, km 28.9 to 29.1; Lebuhraya DUKE, km 29.6 to 29.7; Lebuhraya DUKE, km 30.9 to 31.6; Lebuhraya DUKE, km 31.9 to 32.1; Lebuhraya DUKE, km 32.5 to 34.1; Jalan Kuching, km 35.7 to 35.8; Jalan Kuching, km 35.9 to 36; Jalan Kuching, km 40.6 to 40.9. 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

  • climb to 4
  • downhill to 29
  • flat home

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

The course in short 3 lines
  • Low ground, with one rise near 26 kmMostly 40 to 50 m, with one rise to about 86 m near km 26.
  • A third of the course is on elevated roadEleven bridged stretches, the longest 9.5 km, between km 13.5 and 34.
  • A 3:30 am flag-off at Dataran MerdekaA pre-dawn start from Dataran Merdeka, with a request to be in the start area 20 minutes early.
Course notes 3 short reads on the course
km 0 to 42.2GradientLow ground, with one rise near 26 kmMostly 40 to 50 m, with one rise to about 86 m near km 26.

On the 2026 course the road starts at about 34 m and finishes at about 37 m. The lowest ground, 33 m, is near km 39.7. Between km 3 and 12 the road sits around 40 to 68 m, and from km 12 to 24 it stays within 41 to 50 m.

The one real rise comes after that: from about 49 m at km 24 to 86 m near km 26, then back down to about 45 m by km 30. The last 12 km are low again, between 33 and 50 m.

Measured

km 13.5 to 34.1LandmarkA third of the course is on elevated roadEleven bridged stretches, the longest 9.5 km, between km 13.5 and 34.

Along the 2026 route, the longest bridged stretch is the elevated Ampang to Kuala Lumpur highway, which the course follows from km 13.5 to km 22.9. Later come shorter stretches on another elevated expressway between km 27.6 and 34.1, then two short ones on Jalan Kuching near km 36 and one just after km 40.6.

In all, eleven stretches add up to about 14 km.

Measured

Whole courseConditionsA 3:30 am flag-off at Dataran MerdekaA pre-dawn start from Dataran Merdeka, with a request to be in the start area 20 minutes early.

For 2026 the organiser listed the full marathon flag-off at 3:30 am on Sunday 4 October, with the half marathon following at 4:45 am. Start and finish for every category are at Dataran Merdeka.

The schedule recommends arriving at the start area at least 20 minutes before flag-off and says a runner who is not there when the gun fires may not be allowed to start. The marathon prize presentations began at 8:45 am.

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Kuala Lumpur, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, the orange marks on the profile, 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
Compeed Anti-blister stick
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

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.

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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
Compeed Blister plasters, medium, 6
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

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.
distance
42.2 km26.2 mi
climb
147.4 m484 ft
first held
1989

A loop through Kuala Lumpur starting and finishing at Dataran Merdeka, the square where Malaysian independence was declared.

The Kuala Lumpur Marathon is a hilly loop of 42.2 km with 147.4 m of climbing. Its lowest point is 34 m and its highest 85 m above sea level.

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Questions about the Kuala Lumpur Marathon

Is the Kuala Lumpur Marathon course flat?

No, it is a hilly course: 147.4 m of climbing over 42.2 km. The highest point is 52 m above the lowest.

How do I enter the Kuala Lumpur Marathon?

Entry is through the organiser. Entry fee: MYR 150 (MYR 430 from abroad, for the 2026 race). Entry details on the organiser’s site

In the news

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Sources and licence

Last checked.

Course line matched onto OpenStreetMap road geometry: (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License 1.0 (ODbL). Elevation sampled from GEDTM30, Global Ensemble Digital Terrain Model at 30 m (v1.2): Elevation: GEDTM30 (Ho & Hengl, OpenGeoHub), CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Elevation gain computed by us from that line, smoothed over 1 kmsmoothed over 0.6 mi.

The line follows the road down its middle, so it measures 0.71% longer than the certified distance, which is measured on the shortest legal line through every bend.

Date and entry information from Dirigo Events Sdn. Bhd..

Every source and licence behind them →

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