Köln Marathon 2026

The Köln Marathon guides runners from Deutz to a finish near Cologne Cathedral. Cologne treats race day as a blend of road race, carnival, and city festival. Since 1997, held in early October, it features a marathon, half marathon, relay marathon, and children’s and school runs. The marathon ranks as Germany’s fourth-largest by participants, with about 5,000 marathon runners. The half marathon attracts more, exceeding 10,000 finishers. Recent events have seen over 37,000 participants across all races. The course is flat and fast, beginning on the right bank in Deutz and proceeding through Cologne neighborhoods including Rodenkirchen, Lindenthal, Ehrenfeld, and Nippes. The marathon route includes 11 aid stations, and the half marathon has 6. Spectators in the tens of thousands line the course regardless of weather, and significant portions of the city are closed to traffic for the day. Alfred Kering of Kenya set the men’s marathon course record at 2:07:37. Esther Pfeiffer set a women’s half marathon course record of 1:07:28, paced by her husband, Olympic runner Hendrik Pfeiffer. Following the first 25 editions, 45 runners had participated in every Cologne Marathon, completing a total of 1,055 kilometers in the event.