Men’s course record
2:06:38
Tadesse Abraham · 2022
- Average pace
- 3:00 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +0.11 %
Zurich Marathon
Zurich, Switzerland April, set by the organiser each year Founded 2003
From the Quaibrücke down the lake's eastern shore to Meilen and back, with a loop through the city at each end.
Overview
The start is on the Quaibrücke, where the Limmat leaves the lake, and on a clear morning the Alps stand at the far end of the water. The finish is a few hundred metres away, on the Sechseläutenplatz beside the opera house.
The first 8.3 km are a loop through the city. It runs out along the Utoquai towards the Zürichhorn and back, over the bridge and up the Bahnhofstrasse, then round through Enge to the Mythenquai. After that the course takes the Seestrasse down the east shore of the lake, through Zollikon, Küsnacht and Erlenbach, and turns in Meilen at 22.4 km. It comes home the same way and finishes with a shorter loop through the centre, past the Fraumünster.
The 2027 race is on 11 April. On 25 September 2026 places were still on sale, at CHF 159.
The first 8.3 km are a loop through the city. It runs out along the Utoquai towards the Zürichhorn and back, over the bridge and up the Bahnhofstrasse, then round through Enge to the Mythenquai. After that the course takes the Seestrasse down the east shore of the lake, through Zollikon, Küsnacht and Erlenbach, and turns in Meilen at 22.4 km. It comes home the same way and finishes with a shorter loop through the centre, past the Fraumünster.
The 2027 race is on 11 April. On 25 September 2026 places were still on sale, at CHF 159.
- When
- The 2027 Zurich Marathon is on Sunday, 11 April 2027, starting at 8:00am local time on Quaibrücke.
- Course
- Zurich's course climbs 114 m in all, with its lowest point at 406 m and its highest at 417 m.
- Entry
- Entry to Zurich is first come, first served (open for 2027), and costs CHF 159 for 2027.
- Field
- The 2026 Zurich Marathon had a marathon field of 5,411.
- Weather
- Across 29 years, Zurich's race-day temperature has a median of 8.4 °C.
- Records
- The Zurich Marathon course records are 2:06:38 (Tadesse Abraham, 2022) and 2:24:14 (Helen Bekele, 2023).
- Time limit
- Zurich's time limit is 5 hours 30 minutes.
Marathon Course · every marathon course, measured the same way
Zurich Marathon
From the Quaibrücke down the lake's eastern shore to Meilen and back, with a loop through the city at each end. Quaibrücke → Sechseläutenplatz, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Distance
- 42.2 km
- Ascent
- 114 m
- Descent
- 112 m
- Net
- +2 m
Course map and elevation
5 km splits marked · hover or drag the profile below to move along the courseElevation · a 2025 GPX within 20 m of the organiser's course file, which is still the one linked for 2027 · Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0 · smoothed 100 m 406–417 m
—
0.08.416.925.333.842.2
kmmi — elev — grade — hover or drag the profile
The lake sets the level, and the course hardly leaves it. All of it lies within 11 m, from the water's edge on the Quaibrücke to a short rise at the turn in Meilen.
The city loop at the start stays within 6 m, highest in Seefeld at 2.5 km, and a metre lower on the Sihlstrasse at 5.4 km. Out along the shore the Seestrasse rises and falls a few metres at a time. It's highest between Erlenbach and Herrliberg at 17.4 km, 10 m above the start.
The steepest climbing kilometre is the approach to the turn, 8 m from 21.3 km, and nearly all of it comes in the last few hundred metres. The high point, 417 m, is the turn itself, at 22.4 km. The way back down loses 8 m in the next kilometre.
From there the return retraces the outward leg, and the last 6.1 km through the city stay within 5 m. The finish, at 408 m, is 2 m above the start. The model adds all this up to 114 m of climbing, but its raw-to-smoothed ratio of 2.12 says that total carries real noise. The range is the figure to go by. Add up the energy cost of every gradient and the course comes out about level with a flat 42.195 km.
Take it with you
Course GPX Organiser's course map
The GPX is ours: our resampled line, a point every 25 m, carrying Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0 elevation rather than the GPS noise a watch file usually holds.
Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0, a 2025 GPX within 20 m of the organiser's course file, which is still the one linked for 2027, smoothed 100 m · marathoncourse.com/marathons/zurich/ · checked 2026-09-25
How to enter: dates and fees
The price rises in tiers as places sell. CHF 139 and CHF 149 have gone, and it's now CHF 159, first come, first served, until the places run out. The marathon, the half and the 10 km share 23,000 places, and in 2026 every distance sold out.
A place can't be passed to another runner, and there's no waitlist or exchange. You can move to the half or the 10 km until the numbers are printed in March, if there's room, but the difference isn't refunded. Cancellation cover is sold with the entry, and it returns the fee if you're ill or injured and send a medical certificate.
A place can't be passed to another runner, and there's no waitlist or exchange. You can move to the half or the 10 km until the numbers are printed in March, if there's room, but the difference isn't refunded. Cancellation cover is sold with the entry, and it returns the fee if you're ill or injured and send a medical certificate.
History
Zurich had a marathon in the 1980s, run six times from 1984 to 1989. The present race began in 2003, revived by the runner Bruno Lafranchi, and 4,667 finished the first one. The next year Viktor Röthlin won at home, and in 2007 he came back and set a Swiss record.
For years the finish was on the Mythenquai, by the lake south of the centre. In 2025 it moved to the Sechseläutenplatz beside the opera house, and the last kilometre now runs through the Münsterhof, between its baroque façades. The rest of the course kept its shape, out along the east shore to Meilen and back.
Tadesse Abraham was 39 when he won here for the third time, in 2022. His 2:06:38 was a Swiss record by two seconds. Mark Kiptoo won the next three races, the last of them at 48, in 2:09:16. In 2026 the winner was Davis Kiplangat, a 13:07 runner over 5,000 m.
For years the finish was on the Mythenquai, by the lake south of the centre. In 2025 it moved to the Sechseläutenplatz beside the opera house, and the last kilometre now runs through the Münsterhof, between its baroque façades. The rest of the course kept its shape, out along the east shore to Meilen and back.
Tadesse Abraham was 39 when he won here for the third time, in 2022. His 2:06:38 was a Swiss record by two seconds. Mark Kiptoo won the next three races, the last of them at 48, in 2:09:16. In 2026 the winner was Davis Kiplangat, a 13:07 runner over 5,000 m.
- 198415 April: the first Zurich marathon, won by Bruno Filipponi. That race runs until 1989
- 200313 April: the race is revived, and 4,667 finish
- 2004Viktor Röthlin wins, and 5,761 finish, still the most in one year
- 2007Röthlin wins again, in a Swiss record
- 2012A 10 km race joins the programme, run then over the marathon's first ten kilometres
- 2013Tadesse Abraham wins. Lisa Christina Stublić sets a women's record of 2:25:44 that lasts ten years
- 2016Yuki Kawauchi wins in 2:12:03
- 2020Cancelled in the pandemic
- 2021Run virtually on 25 April, through an app with audio of the course and the city
- 2022Abraham, 39, wins for the third time, in 2:06:38, a Swiss record by two seconds
- 2023Mark Kiptoo wins in 2:09:12, a world best for a man over 45, and Helen Bekele runs 2:24:14
- 2025The finish moves to the Sechseläutenplatz. Kiptoo, now 48, wins for the third year running
- 2026A record 18,197 start across the three races. Davis Kiplangat wins in 2:09:03
- 202711 April, with 23,000 places across three races
20052010201520202025
Course records
Pace is derived from the certified distance. Terrain-adjusted figures come from the same model that ranks every course on this site.
Women’s course record
2:24:14
Helen Bekele · 2023
- Average pace
- 3:25 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +0.11 %
Race day: start times and cut-offs
- 8:00am
- 1:45pm
- Time limit
- 5h 30m
- Twelve, each with toilets and first aid
Numbers are collected in the week before the race, Tuesday to Saturday, at the title sponsor's store on Lagerstrasse, 300 m from the main station. They aren't posted. On race morning the only collection is from 6:00 to 7:30am, from a container on Europaplatz, and there's no shuttle to the start.
Your entry includes a second-class return by train to Zurich from anywhere in Switzerland, with promo codes sent in the race email about a week before. Stadelhofen and Enge stations are each about ten minutes' walk from the start. Bags go to the Sechseläutenplatz from 6:30am, and only in the official starter bag.
It's a mass start with the blocks released in turn, and some blocks form up as much as 2 km from the line, so leave time. There are twelve refreshment points with water, sports drink and energy food. Pacers run to ten targets from 3:00 to 5:30.
Your entry includes a second-class return by train to Zurich from anywhere in Switzerland, with promo codes sent in the race email about a week before. Stadelhofen and Enge stations are each about ten minutes' walk from the start. Bags go to the Sechseläutenplatz from 6:30am, and only in the official starter bag.
It's a mass start with the blocks released in turn, and some blocks form up as much as 2 km from the line, so leave time. There are twelve refreshment points with water, sports drink and energy food. Pacers run to ten targets from 3:00 to 5:30.
The morning, hour by hour
- 6:00am
- Race-morning number collection opens, Europaplatz
- 6:30am
- Bag drop opens, Sechseläutenplatz
- 7:30am
- Race-morning number collection closes
- 7:40am
- Be in your start block
- 8:00am
- Start, Quaibrücke
- 11:10am
- Cut-off at the Meilen turn
- 1:45pm
- Finish closes
- 2:00pm
- Bag drop closes
Cut-offs
- Turn in Meilen · 22.4 km
- 11:10am
The organiser's 2027 pages. Switzerland's clocks go forward on 28 March 2027, a fortnight before the race. If you haven't reached the turn in Meilen by 11:10am, you hand in your number there. A sweeper vehicle follows the back of the field from Meilen. The overall limit is five and a half hours of net time, and the finish closes at 1:45pm.
Race-day weather, 1995–2025
- Median
- 8.4 °C
- Warm years
- 1 of 29
- Wet years
- 7 of 29
Race-day mean temperature, 1995-2025. Lime marks the hottest edition; the coldest and wettest carry a label only, so the colour still means one thing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Zurich a flat course?
Yes. The whole course lies within 11 m, and the organiser's own course file gives a similar range. The only rise that shows on the chart is a short one at the turn in Meilen, at 22.4 km.
Sonny's LiDAR DTM of Europe, sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m. Raw-to-smoothed ratio 2.12, so the range is the figure to trust, not the total climb. The organiser's course file.
Is Zurich 2027 still open?
Yes, on 25 September 2026. The marathon was on its third price tier, CHF 159, and places go until they're gone. In 2026 every distance sold out.
The organiser's 2027 marathon page; the organiser's release for 2026.
Can I transfer my place?
No. A place can't be passed to another runner, and there's no waitlist or exchange. You can switch to the half or the 10 km until the numbers are printed in March, if there's room, without a refund of the difference.
The organiser's FAQ and 2027 rules.
Where does the race start and finish?
It starts on the Quaibrücke at 8:00am and finishes on the Sechseläutenplatz, beside the opera house, a few hundred metres away. Stadelhofen and Enge stations are each about ten minutes' walk from the start.
The organiser's 2027 start-and-finish and travel pages.
Is there a cut-off?
Yes. You have to reach the turn in Meilen, at 22.4 km, by 11:10am, or hand in your number. The overall limit is five and a half hours of net time, and the finish closes at 1:45pm.
The organiser's 2027 marathon page.
Is it a fast course?
Yes. Tadesse Abraham ran 2:06:38 here in 2022, the fastest marathon yet run in Switzerland. The morning is usually cool too: the median temperature across the race hours is 8.4 °C.
The organiser's results page; ERA5 race-day climatology.
Is public transport included?
Yes, for marathon runners. The entry includes a second-class return by train to Zurich from anywhere in Switzerland, booked with promo codes sent in the race email about a week before.
The organiser's 2027 travel page.
Will I run past the Grossmünster?
Not right past it. In the last kilometre the course runs along the Stadthausquai, with the Grossmünster's twin towers across the Limmat, about 160 m away. It goes through the Münsterhof, beside the Fraumünster.
This site's course line.
Does Zurich meet the rules for a record?
Yes. It's about 200 m from start to finish, and the finish is 2 m higher, both well inside the World Athletics limits.
Quaibrücke and Sechseläutenplatz from this site's course line, measured against World Athletics Competition Rule 31.21.
How many people run it?
5,411 started the 2026 marathon, which sold out. Across the marathon, the half and the 10 km, a record 18,197 started.
Organiser figures for the 2026 edition.
What is the weather like on race day?
About 8.4 °C during a typical race: that's the median across 29 years, which have run from 2.5 °C to 18.4 °C. 7 of the 29 were wet.
ERA5 reanalysis for the race date, 1995-2025.
Can I use a time here to qualify for Boston?
Zurich's course is measured to World Athletics standards, and it finishes 2 m above its start, so the B.A.A.'s downhill adjustment, which begins at 1,500 ft of net loss, has nothing to act on. The only rise that shows on the chart is the turn in Meilen at 22.4 km, and it's over in a few hundred metres. Everything else is lake-level running.
Net drop +2 m from this site's course line; 2027 adjustment None. Certification measured: Measured to World Athletics standards, according to the organiser; last measured in January 2025.
How accurate is the elevation figure?
It comes from Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0, sampled every 25 m along the course line and smoothed over 100 m. The raw-to-smoothed ratio here is 2.12. Around 1.3 means the model is reading the ground, not rooftops; above about 2.0 the total climb carries real noise, and the net change is the sturdier number.
0 missing samples · 0 bridge spans corrected.
Sources
Every fact on this page, its source, and the date it was checked · 8
| Fact | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Course line | Third-party GPX for the 2025 edition. It follows the organiser's own course file, which is still the one linked for 2027, to within 20 m everywhere, and the organiser's street list for 2027 describes the same route. The file measures 42.428 km, 0.55 % long, from 872 points; our resampled line measures 42.243 km. The organiser warns that building work in the city may bring small changes, to be announced. Archived with its hash in data/raw/sources. | 2026-09-25 |
| Elevation | Sonny's LiDAR DTM of Europe (CC BY 4.0), sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m. Raw-to-smoothed gain ratio 2.12, above the 2.0 at which the total climb carries real noise, so the range and the high and low points are the sturdier figures. Eight spans were straightened between their ends, five of them crossings of the Quaibrücke. | 2026-09-25 |
| Elevation, independent check | The organiser's own course file, from Switzerland's national mapping, carries heights from 407.3 m to 417.0 m, a range of 9.7 m, with its high point at the same turn in Meilen. We measure 406.0 m to 417.2 m, a range of 11.2 m. | 2026-09-25 |
| Race-day weather | ERA5 reanalysis via the Open-Meteo archive, 1995–2025 at the start, 08:00–14:00 local, sampled on the second Sunday in April. That reproduces 2025, 2026 and 2027, but the date has moved between 1 and 28 April over the years: the race was on 23 April in 2023 and 21 April in 2024. 2020 and 2021, with no race on the road, are excluded. | 2026-09-25 |
| Course records | Tadesse Abraham 2:06:38 (2022) and Helen Bekele 2:24:14 (2023), from the organiser's results page, which lists every winner. The Swiss record is from SRF's report of the 2022 race, and Mark Kiptoo's over-45 world best from HDsports' report of 2025. That 2:06:38 is the fastest marathon run in Switzerland, per the German Wikipedia's race article. | 2026-09-25 |
| Entry and field | The organiser's 2027 marathon page and FAQ: CHF 159 after two cheaper tiers sold out, 23,000 places across three races, no transfers and no waitlist. In 2026, 5,411 started the marathon and 18,197 the three races, from the organiser's release after the race. | 2026-09-25 |
| Race day | The organiser's 2027 marathon, start-and-finish and runners' week pages: start 8:00am, the Meilen turn closing at 11:10am, the finish at 1:45pm, and twelve refreshment points. | 2026-09-25 |
| Record eligibility | World Athletics Competition Rules, Book C, Part III — Competition Rule 31.21: a record course may lose no more than 1 m per kilometre, and its start and finish may be no more than 21.098 km apart. Zurich finishes 1.8 m above its start, and its start and finish are 195 m apart. Inside both. | 2026-09-25 |
Until the Zurich Marathon · 11 Apr 2027
— days
— hrs— min— sec
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