My marathons

Paris Marathon

Paris
Ballot closed
A frame from the Paris Marathon course film Watch the course 3:56

Imagery: Google Earth and its imagery providers

The course

Pick a place, or drag along the profile

Downhill from km 17 to km 31, a climb of 44 m from km 34 to km 39, then downhill home.

StartFinish

© OpenStreetMap contributors

  1. Photo: Wilfredor, CC0
  2. Photo: Jebulon, CC0
  3. Photo: Des Racines et des Ailes, CC BY 3.0
  4. Photo: Peter Rivera, CC BY 2.0
  7. Photo: Vassil, Public domain
  8. Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Tokyo, Japan, CC BY 2.0
  12. Photo: Pierre Blaché from Paris, France, CC0
  13. Photo: Jebulon, CC0
  14. Photo: Benh LIEU SONG, Public domain

km 1.5mile 1

Luxor Obelisk

The bottom of the Champs-Élysées: the 2026 course crossed the Place de la Concorde past the obelisk in its second kilometre.

Photo: Jebulon, CC0

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 27 and 74 metres, a range of 47 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.
0 10 20 30 40 km
0 10 20 26.2 mi

  • downhill to 31
  • climb to 39
  • downhill 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
  • The start on the Champs-ÉlyséesThe gun goes on the Champs-Élysées, the avenue the organiser calls the world's most beautiful.
  • The finish on Avenue FochThe finish is set on Avenue Foch, the widest avenue in Paris by the organiser's account.
  • The 2026 course, until 2027's is outThe line is the 2026 course; the 2027 one is revealed a few weeks before race day.
Course notes 4 short reads on the course
Whole courseLandmarkThe start on the Champs-ÉlyséesThe gun goes on the Champs-Élysées, the avenue the organiser calls the world's most beautiful.

The organiser’s course page opens with the Champs-Élysées: the race starts there, on what it calls the world’s most beautiful avenue.

Sourced

Whole courseFinishThe finish on Avenue FochThe finish is set on Avenue Foch, the widest avenue in Paris by the organiser's account.

The organiser’s course page sets the finish on Avenue Foch and describes it as the widest avenue in Paris. The Champs-Élysées start and the Avenue Foch finish are the two places on the route the organiser names.

Sourced

Whole courseGeometryThe 2026 course, until 2027's is outThe line is the 2026 course; the 2027 one is revealed a few weeks before race day.

In 2026 the race left the Champs-Élysées for the Concorde, the Opéra and the Rue de Rivoli, went out east past the Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes, came back along the Seine and out west through the Bois de Boulogne, and finished on Avenue Foch. The organiser keeps the 2027 start and finish on the same two avenues and says the rest will be revealed a few weeks before race day, with new features along the way.

Sourced

km 25 to 30.5GradientDown to the river and under itKm 25 to 30 of 2026 on the river road, through tunnels with short drops and climbs.

After the Bastille the 2026 course dropped to the Seine and stayed at water level, below the street, past Notre-Dame and the Louvre. The longest tunnel, under the Tuileries quai, is about 860 metres; each one goes down and comes back up, which is what runners remember of this stretch.

Sourced

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Paris, 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
distance
42.2 km26.2 mi
climb
142 m466 ft
first held
1976

The 2026 course: from the Champs-Élysées out east to the Bois de Vincennes, back along the Seine and through its riverside tunnels, out west through the Bois de Boulogne to a finish on Avenue Foch.

The Paris Marathon is a hilly loop of 42.2 km with 142 m of climbing. Its lowest point is 27 m and its highest 74 m above sea level. Next race: Sunday 4 April 2027.

  • 2:04:21 Men Elisha Rotich, 2021
  • 2:18:34 Women Shure Demise, 2026

Trip

Getting a place

Ballot closed for the 2027 race As read 22 October 2026.

Past years and every way in
Every way in, year by year →
Entry details on the organiser’s site →

Cadence Running United, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

Make your postcard

Keep exploring

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A course like this

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Questions about the Paris Marathon

Is the Paris Marathon course flat?

No, it is a hilly course: 142 m of climbing over 42.2 km. The highest point is 47 m above the lowest.

When is the Paris Marathon 2027?

Sunday 4 April 2027.

How do I enter the Paris Marathon?

Entry is by a free online ballot that opened 8 September 2026 and closed 30 September 2026, with results emailed from 1 October 2026. Entry details on the organiser’s site

2 more questions
What are the course records at the Paris Marathon?

Men: 2:04:21, Elisha Rotich, 2021. Women: 2:18:34, Shure Demise, 2026.

Is there a video of the Paris Marathon course?

Yes. A 3D flyover film of the whole course, start to finish (3:56), plays at the top of this page.

In the news

All race news →

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 2.95% longer than the certified distance, which is measured on the shortest legal line through every bend.

Date and entry information from Cadence Running United.

Film built from Google Earth imagery, credited on screen.

Rendered from GEDTM30, Global Ensemble Digital Terrain Model at 30 m (v1.2) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)), OpenStreetMap (Open Database License 1.0 (ODbL)).

Every source and licence behind them →

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