Rome Marathon 2027 : the course km by km, race week and travel

Rome hardly climbs. On the 2026 course the road never leaves a band 22.4 m deep, from 14.0 m by the Tiber at km 7.4 to 36.4 m on the Via del Tritone at km 38.4, and the climbing comes to 87 m over the whole distance. What makes it harder than those numbers is where the hard parts sit. About 8.1 km of the course is on sampietrini, the small basalt setts of Rome’s old streets, and 3.45 km of that stone comes in the last 7.2 km, on the same stretch as the course’s only real hill. A runner who has the legs for cobbles and a climb at km 36 will run well here; one who has spent them on the flat Lungotevere will feel every stone of the Via del Corso.

The kilometres and heights below are for the 2026 course, walked along the organiser’s full street list for that edition, with surfaces from OpenStreetMap. No 2027 course map is published yet, though the organiser’s course page describes it through the same places. Check it before you plan your pacing.

Km 0 to 3: the Fori Imperiali to the Pyramid

The start is on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, in the organiser’s words “with the Colosseo behind you”, at 21.9 m. The first 1.3 km are on stone: the Fori Imperiali, Piazza Venezia, where the Vittoriano stands at about km 0.5, and the Via del Teatro di Marcello to the theatre at about km 1.1. The Bocca della Verità comes at about km 1.4, and the course runs along the Lungotevere Aventino and up the Via Marmorata to the Pyramid of Cestius at about km 3.

Km 3 to 7.4: Ostiense and the first rise

From the Piazzale Ostiense the course climbs about 11 m on the Viale Marco Polo and the Via Cristoforo Colombo, from 17.0 m at km 3.0 to 28.1 m at km 4.1. It is the only rise of its kind before km 36, and it is gone by km 5.5. The Circonvallazione Ostiense takes the course over the Ponte Settimia Spizzichino at about km 5.8, a bridge over the railway rather than the river, then past the Gazometro to the Ponte dell’Industria. That is the first of six crossings of the Tiber, at about km 7.4, and the lowest point of the race, 14.0 m.

Km 7.4 to 12.8: Testaccio and the Lungotevere

A short loop on the far bank brings the course back over the Ponte Testaccio at about km 8.4 and through the streets of Testaccio to the Lungotevere Aventino at about km 9.9. From there to the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, km 9.8 to 12.9, the course runs beside the river the whole way, its longest stretch on the embankments, passing Tiber Island at about km 11.1.

Km 12.8 to 17.5: the Vatican and Prati

Across the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, the course runs up the Via della Conciliazione from about km 13.0 with St Peter’s ahead, and turns at Piazza Pio XII, at the foot of St Peter’s Square, at about km 13.3. It does not enter the square. Back through the Borgo, past Castel Sant’Angelo at about km 13.9, it heads into Prati along the Via Crescenzio to Piazza Cavour, crosses the Ponte Cavour at about km 15.3 and comes straight back over the Ponte Regina Margherita at about km 16.0, then runs the Via Cola di Rienzo to Piazza del Risorgimento. The Borgo, the Conciliazione and these Prati streets are the second stretch of stone.

Km 17.5 to 24: north to Piazza Mazzini

The long avenues north of the Vatican follow: the Viale Giulio Cesare, the Viale delle Milizie and the Circonvallazione Trionfale, where halfway falls just before Piazzale Clodio, then the Viale Mazzini and the Viale Carso to Piazza Monte Grappa at about km 23.9. Through this whole middle section the road stays between 14 m and 26 m.

Km 24 to 28.4: the Foro Italico

The Lungotevere della Vittoria leads to the Foro Italico, where the course runs a loop by Piazza Lauro de Bosis and the Piazzale della Farnesina before crossing back over the Tiber on the Ponte della Musica at about km 28.4, the sixth and last crossing.

Km 28.4 to 35.9: Flaminio and back down the river

On the other bank the course runs north along the Lungotevere and passes the foot of the Ponte Milvio at about km 29.7. The organiser’s course page says the race crosses it; its 2026 street list does not. It continues to the Lungotevere dell’Acqua Acetosa at about km 30, turns along the Viale XVII Olimpiade and the Via Flaminia, and from about km 33.7 comes back down the Lungotevere Flaminio towards the centre, flat at around 20 m. This is the place to hold back; the climb starts where the river road ends.

Km 35.9 to 38.4: the climb

The road leaves the river at the Passeggiata di Ripetta and climbs about 16 m in 2.5 km: past Piazza Augusto Imperatore, along the Via del Corso to Piazza del Popolo at about km 37.1, down the Via del Babuino to Piazza di Spagna at about km 37.8, and up the Via del Tritone to the high point, 36.4 m, at about km 38.4, much of it on setts.

Km 38.4 to the finish: the centre and the Circus Maximus

The road gives about 12 m back by km 39.9, along the Via del Corso again and past Piazza Borghese, then runs the Corso del Rinascimento past Piazza Navona at about km 40.1. It rises about 3.5 m along the Corso Vittorio Emanuele past Largo di Torre Argentina, then drops about 11 m over the last 1.7 km. In the organiser’s words: “In the final 2 km, you’ll face the Vittoriano again, then pass the iconic Bocca della Verità before your triumphant finish inside the Circo Massimo!” The line is at 17.7 m, 4.1 m below the start.

The expo, the start-area scheme, the bag drop and the intermediate cut-offs for 2027 are still to be published. What follows is from the organiser’s 2026 race information and event guide, unless it says 2027.

The Expo Village and your bib

For 2027 the bib and race pack must be collected in person at the Expo Village, and the rules say they will not be posted under any circumstances. The place and hours are still to come. In 2026 the Expo Village was at the Circo Massimo, beside the finish, open on the Thursday and Friday from 9am to 8pm and on the Saturday from 9am to 6pm. It is on Metro B at the Circo Massimo stop, two stops from Termini. The 2026 pack included a personal sponge for the course.

On the Saturday, 13 March 2027, a non-competitive 5 km fun run starts at 9am from the Via dei Fori Imperiali to the Circo Massimo, with its own entry.

Getting into the start

In 2026 every marathon runner had to enter the start area from Piazza di Porta Capena, on the Via di San Gregorio, between 6am and 7:30am at the latest. From about 7am runners were led along a fenced route on the Via di San Gregorio to their grids, and once inside a grid you could not leave without being disqualified. The organiser recommended Metro B to the Circo Massimo stop, as the Colosseo stops were closed, and the metro started at 5:30am.

Waves, grids and pacers

For 2027 your start area depends on the personal best you declare by 17 February 2027, set in the last four years, and is printed on your bib. The 2026 waves went off from 8am:

• Wheelchairs and pushers: 8:00am
• Wave 1, corrals TOP and A (orange bibs): 8:10am
• Wave 2, corral B (green): 8:20am
• Wave 3, corral C (blue): 8:30am
• Wave 4, corral D (white): 8:45am
• Wave 5, corral E (red): 9:00am
• Relay: 9:15am

With the 2027 start at approximately 8:30am, expect the wave times to move. In 2026 pacers carried balloons with their target time: wave A from 2:50 to 3:45 in 5-minute steps, wave B from 3:05 to 4:00, wave C from 3:30 to 4:15, and fitwalking and run-walk pacers from 4:15 to 6:30, all from wave E.

The bag drop

Only the official backpack from the race pack was accepted in 2026. It had to be handed in by 7:30am at the lorries on the Viale delle Terme di Caracalla and the Via Valle delle Camene, and it was collected after the finish on the Viale delle Terme di Caracalla.

Aid, cut-offs and the finish

There were 16 refreshment points on the 2026 course, at km 5.3, 9.9, 15.0, 16.4, 17.45, 17.9, 20.3, 22.4, 25.0, 30.0, 31.6, 33.8, 35.5, 38.6, 39.6 and 40.25, and one more at the finish. All had water, mineral salts were handed out from km 15.5, and solid food at km 15.5 and the finish. Twelve sponge stations ran from km 7.4 to km 39.8. At the finish runners got a pack of water, mineral salts and food, and there was a separate coeliac refreshment area.

The 2027 limit is seven hours, with intermediate gates still to come. In 2026 the limit was 6 hours 30 minutes counted from the start of the last wave, with gates at km 14 by 10:40am, halfway by 11:50am, km 25 by 12:20pm, km 30 by 1pm and km 35 by 1:50pm, and sweep buses at Piazza Monte Grappa and on the Lungotevere dell’Acqua Acetosa. The 2027 rules do not yet say which start the seven hours run from.