Abalone Marathon de Nantes 2027

The Abalone Marathon de Nantes is an April race weekend in Nantes, with a full marathon, half marathon, 10 km, and a marathon relay. The main race covers 42.195 km on a fully urban course, starting at the Nefs of the Machines de l'Ile, beside the city's famous mechanical creations. It has been run annually since 1981 and was called Marathon Val Nantais until its current era. The marathon route uses the city center as its playground, running by the Loire, the Château des Ducs de Bretagne, Canal Saint-Felix, Place Royale, the Cathedral, Jardin des Plantes, Place Graslin, the Opera, the Cité des Congrès, the Erdre quays, and the Machines de l'Ile. A new organizing team brought the race back downtown after the old Val Nantais period, and runner numbers climbed from roughly 1,600 starters to around 3,000 within a few editions. The event also includes pace setters in each marathon corral, a bib-pickup village, music on the course, cooling stations, and aid tables with dried fruit, sugar, and gingerbread.