Melbourne Marathon 2027 : course, race week and travel

The short answer: an October Sunday, a field capped at 20,000, and almost nothing to climb. On the 2026 course the whole 42.2 km stays within 14.1 m of one height, and the hill that used to wait at 36 km is gone. What makes Melbourne hard is everything around the running: a 06:15 start, three U-turns, and getting a place at all, since general entry goes by ballot and the 2026 draw had more than 52,000 names in it for the marathon and half together.

The organiser rebuilt the race for 2026 and has not yet published a 2027 date or course, so the details that follow are the 2026 ones.

The 2026 course turned the old route round. In the organiser’s words, the marathon “now runs in reverse direction to Beach Rd”, with up to 20% less elevation gain, about 30% fewer turns, and the climb from Birdwood Avenue to Domain Road at 36 km taken out. The result is a loop with three out-and-backs: south along the bay to Brighton, north-west to Port Melbourne, and a hairpin inside Albert Park, before St Kilda Road brings you home.

Km 0 to 5.5: Batman Avenue to St Kilda Junction

The start is on Batman Avenue, near the MCG and Rod Laver Arena, at 9.0 m. The first kilometre crosses the railway on a deck, turns west along Flinders Street past Federation Square (km 0.4 to 0.9), drops down Swanston Street and crosses the Yarra on Princes Bridge at km 1.0. Then St Kilda Road runs straight south for 4.4 km on its east carriageway, past the Shrine, easing down from 12.7 m at km 1 to about 10 m at km 4. Straight and slightly downhill, it is an easy place to go out too fast in a mass start.

Km 5.5 to 7.4: the rise, then down to the water

At St Kilda Junction the course bears south-west onto Fitzroy Street. Just after the turn the profile peaks at 16.2 m at km 5.8, the highest the course gets until the last two kilometres. Then Fitzroy Street runs down to the bay, and by km 7.4 the road is at 4.3 m. The first cut-off checkpoint sits here, at 6.5 km, and in 2026 it closed at 07:48.

Km 6.6 to 19.4: south to Brighton and back

The bay road heads south: Jacka Boulevard past Luna Park (km 6.6 to 7.4), Marine Parade, Ormond Esplanade, then St Kilda Street into Brighton from km 10.4, and the Esplanade at Brighton to a U-turn at about km 13. The same roads bring you back north, past Luna Park again at km 19.4. All of it lies between about 4 and 5.5 m, the longest truly flat stretch of the race, and with the field running both ways on the same roads it is where you meet the runners ahead of you coming back.

Km 19.4 to 26.7: Port Melbourne and halfway

Beaconsfield Parade runs north-west along the foreshore to Beach Street in Port Melbourne, where a U-turn at km 23 sends you back the way you came. Halfway, km 21.1, falls on this stretch at 2.9 m, and the turn itself is the lowest point of the course: 2.4 m at km 22.9. From km 8 to km 35 the road never leaves a band between 2.4 m and 10.9 m.

Km 26.7 to 35.5: Albert Park Lake

Fitzroy Street climbs away from the beach, from 7.8 m at km 26.7 to 10.9 m at km 27.4, and Lakeside Drive takes the course into Albert Park. This is the fiddliest part of the race: Ross Gregory Drive, then Aughtie Drive out to a hairpin at about km 29.3 and back, north on the link road beside the lake, up the west side, across the top on Albert Road Drive and Aquatic Drive (km 32.0 to 32.5), and south down the east side on Lakeside Drive to km 35.2. Most of the lake loop sits between 4 and 5 m; the course climbs 10.7 m in all between km 26.7 and the park exit, where it reaches 11.4 m. Fitzroy Street then returns you to St Kilda Junction.

Km 35.5 to 42.2: St Kilda Road home and into the MCG

This is where the old course hurt, with its climb up from Birdwood Avenue at about 36 km. The 2026 route stays on St Kilda Road instead, heading north on the west carriageway. It dips to 8.5 m at km 37.2 and rises gently to 12.1 m at km 39, then crosses Princes Bridge at km 39.8 and turns east on Flinders Street past Federation Square. The high point of the whole course, 16.5 m, comes at km 40.6 near the end of Flinders Street. The last 7 km add 13.1 m of climb: noticeable on tired legs, never a hill.

Wellington Parade South, Jolimont Road and Barassi Way lead to the stadium. The course enters through the stand and finishes on the arena of the Melbourne Cricket Ground at 11.3 m. The last checkpoint, at 41.1 km, closed at 13:49 in 2026.

Bib pick-up and the expo

Race week centres on the MCG. In 2026 the Race Week Office opened on the stadium’s external concourse on Wednesday 7 October from 11:00 to 18:00, then from 08:00 to 18:00 on Thursday and Friday and from 08:00 to 16:00 on Saturday. There were three separate offices, one for the marathon, one for the half and one for the shorter races, so go to the one for your distance. Marathon bibs had to be collected by Saturday, and there is no bib collection on race day. If you land late, a friend or family member may collect your bib by showing the QR code from your registration email, as long as you completed the participant waiver when you registered.

The Runners Expo sat on the same concourse between Gates 2 and 3, with the same hours plus Sunday from 07:30 to 15:00. A partner expo ran in the MCG precinct and Yarra Park from Thursday to Sunday.

Since 2026 the festival runs over two days, with the finish inside the MCG on both. Saturday brings the 10 km at 07:00, the 5 km at 08:30, the 3 km at 09:15 and the children’s Mini Marathon from 11:00, so the stadium is busy that morning and the roads around the start close from 04:00 to about 11:00.

Race morning

The marathon starts at 06:15 on Batman Avenue as one mass start, with runners released in rolling order from allocated start zones; Preferred Start runners line up directly behind the elite field. Your chip time begins when you cross the start arch. The organiser asks you to arrive at least an hour before your start, which puts you near the MCG by about 05:15. Pacers in 2026 covered finish times from 2:48 to 5:30.

Bag drop is at Run Lab in the Melbourne Park precinct, opposite Garden Square: from the MCG, cross Rod Laver Bridge and turn right. It opened at 04:45 on race morning and takes bags only on the morning of your own race, never the day before. Tie the Warm Clothing tag from the bottom of your bib to your bag, and collect it before 14:30. In 2026 Gate 1 of the MCG opened for toilets only, from 04:45 to 06:30. Personal drink drop-off has been discontinued.

The cut-off

The limit is 7 hours 45 minutes from the gun, and every runner must reach the MCG course entry by 14:00 so the roads can reopen. Along the way there are 18 checkpoints, from 6.5 km (07:48) to 41.1 km (13:49). The organiser advises runners at the back of the field to plan on about 7 hours 20 minutes of net time.

For the people watching

Supporters can walk into the MCG for free to see the finish: in 2026 through Gates 3, 4 and 5 from 07:30 to 14:00. The organiser suggests agreeing a meeting point in Yarra Park rather than waiting at the finish. Out on the course, its spectator hub points people to Federation Square, which runners pass in the first kilometre and again just after km 40, and to Anzac Station, at the other end of a tram-free race corridor that runs from there to Federation Square.