Taking part in a marathon motivates runners to train intensively over a longer period of time. For many, the marathon is considered the ultimate challenge. And not without reason. Over the 42.195 kilometers, physical and mental demands come together. Enduring them requires, among other things, concentration, discipline, and willpower.

None of this puts you off? In the list below, you can find out where you can take part in a marathon. We continuously optimize and update the list.

The distance of 42.195 kilometers, which is considered the official length of a marathon today, was first run at the Olympic Games in London in 1908. Until that historic day, the length of a marathon had varied depending on the venue and was always between 40 and 43 kilometers. But that was about to change. At the London Games, the distance was originally intended to be set at 42 kilometers, covering the route from Windsor Castle to the Olympic Stadium. However, Queen Alexandra is said to have insisted that the race should not finish inside the Olympic Stadium, but directly in front of her royal box. This route resulted in an exact distance of 42.195 kilometers. 

Subsequently, the international athletics federation (IAAF) officially established the distance of 42.195 kilometers as the standard course length for a marathon.

• January 1, 10th Northeimer New Year Marathon, Northeim (Lower Saxony)
• January 2, 43rd Fuldaufer Marathon, Kassel (Hesse)
• January 4, 4th Hülskens Marathon, Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• January 8, 65th Fuldapromenade Marathon, Kassel (Hesse)
• January 17, 17th Winter! Marathon, Leipzig (Saxony)
• January 18, Marathon Relay Mörfelden, Mörfelden (Hesse)

• February 1, Winter Relay Pulheim, Pulheim (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• February 1, 31st Johannesbad Therme Marathon, Bad Füssing (Bavaria)
• February 8, 18th Merkers Crystal Marathon, Merkers (Thuringia)
• February 16, 11th Rose Monday Marathon, Bremen
• February 22, Bertlich Road Runs, Herten-Bertlich (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• February 22, Treßsee Marathon, Munkwolstrup (Schleswig-Holstein)
• February 28, Lahntal Run, Marburg (Hesse)

• March 8, 51st Bienwald Marathon, Kandel (Rhineland-Palatinate)
• March 14, 5th Wickerstedt Marathon, Bad Sulza (Thuringia)
• March 15, Königsforst Marathon, Bensberg (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• March 15, Werdersee Marathon, Bremen
• March 15, Winterstein Run, Friedberg (Hesse)
• March 21, 48th Springe-Deister Marathon, Springe (Lower Saxony)
• March 28, 41st Ueckermünde Haff Marathon, Ueckermünde (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)

• April 11, 16th Saaletal Marathon, Ramsthal (Bavaria)
• April 11, 57th Göltzschtal Marathon, Lengenfeld (Saxony)

• April 12, 20th Obermain Marathon, Bad Staffelstein (Bavaria)
• April 12, 16th Tangermünde Elbdeich Marathon, Tangermünde (Saxony-Anhalt)
• April 12, Bilstein Marathon, Kleinalmerode (Hesse)
• April 12, 59th North-South Marathon, Erzhausen (Hesse)
• April 12, 34th ADAC Marathon Hannover, Hannover (Lower Saxony)
• April 12, 14th Marathon German Wine Route, Bockenheim (Rhineland-Palatinate)
• April 19, Deutsche Post Marathon Bonn, Bonn (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• April 19, Leipzig Marathon, Leipzig (Saxony)
• April 19, LIWA Run Event: 9th Schurwald Marathon, Lichtenwald (Baden-Württemberg)
• April 25, Vinothon Genuss Marathon, Wiesbaden (Hesse)
• April 25–26, 21st Darß Marathon, Wieck a. Darß (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
• April 26, uniper Marathon Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• April 26, 40th Haspa Marathon Hamburg, Hamburg
• April 26, 27th VVP Oberelbe Marathon, Königstein (Saxony)
• April 26, Amper Marathon, Olching (Bavaria)
• April 26, 18th Globus Marathon, St. Wendel (Saarland)

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• May 1, 7th Werratal Marathon, Mihla (Thuringia)
• May 3, Goitzsche Marathon, Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Saxony-Anhalt)
• May 9, 27th Gerolsteiner Helgoland Marathon, Helgoland (Schleswig-Holstein)
• May 10, 43rd schauinsland-reisen Rhein-Ruhr Marathon, Duisburg (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• May 10, 24th Heilbronn Trollinger Marathon, Heilbronn (Baden-Württemberg)
• May 10, 24th WVV Würzburg Marathon, Würzburg (Bavaria)
• May 10, 20th Cuxhaven Stadtsparkassen Marathon, Cuxhaven (Lower Saxony)
• May 17, 34th Regensburg Marathon, Regensburg (Bavaria)

• June 7, 17th Klingenthal Salzkotten Marathon, Salzkotten (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• June 7, 21st Europamarathon, Görlitz (Saxony)
• June 13, 27th Drebber Marathon, Drebber (Lower Saxony)
• June 13, 16th Skatstadt Marathon Altenburg, Altenburg (Thuringia)
• June 13, Tollenseelauf 2026, Neubrandenburg (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
• June 13, AHRathon, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler (Rhineland-Palatinate)
• June 13, 13th Himmelsweglauf, Nebra (Saxony-Anhalt)
• June 13–14, Sparkassen Metropolmarathon, Fürth (Bavaria)
• June 14, Gorch-Fock Run, Wilhelmshaven (Lower Saxony)
• June 14, Eifel Marathon, Waxweiler (Rhineland-Palatinate)
• June 20, City Marathon Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden (Hesse)
• June 20, Marathoncross Messepokal, Bad Liebenstein (Thuringia)
• June 27, 24th Remmers-Hasetal Marathon, Löningen (Lower Saxony)
• June 27–28, run&fun Tuttlingen, Tuttlingen (Baden-Württemberg)

Not only is the marathon distance still booming, but the half marathon distance is also a popular challenge. 

Do you want to run 21.0975 kilometers instead of 42.195 kilometers? Then we have just the thing for you: a training plan for advanced runners. This half marathon training plan prepares you perfectly for your run in 16 weeks. 

You can find an overview of all half marathons in Germany in 2026 here.

• July 3, Magdeburg Night Marathon, Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt)
• July 4, Fichtelgebirge Marathon, Bad Alexandersbad (Bavaria)
• July 5–6, Lausitzer Seenland Marathon, Senftenberg (Brandenburg)
• July 12, 16th Ermstal Marathon, Metzingen (Baden-Württemberg)
• July 25, Königschlösser Romantic Marathon, Füssen (Bavaria)

• August 1, hella Marathon Rostock, Rostock (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
• August 2, Marathon around Wellen, Wellen/Beverstedt (Lower Saxony)
• August 7–9, Monschau Marathon, Monschau (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• August 9, 19th Allgäu Panorama Marathon, Sonthofen (Bavaria)
• August 30, Burgwald Fairy Tale Marathon, Rauschenberg (Hesse)

• September 5, Fehmarn Marathon, Fehmarn (Schleswig-Holstein)
• September 5, 46th Usedom Marathon, Wolgast (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
• September 6, 25th Franconian Switzerland Marathon, Ebermannstadt (Bavaria)
• September 6, 22nd GLOMB City Marathon Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven (Bremen)
• September 6, Flensburg Loves You Marathon, Flensburg (Schleswig-Holstein)
• September 12, 10 Teiche Marathon, Hahnenklee (Lower Saxony)
• September 11–12, 20th Palatinate Forest Marathon, Pirmasens (Rhineland-Palatinate)
• September 13, Volksbank Münster Marathon, Münster (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• September 13, 21st swb Marathon Bremen, Bremen
• September 13, ebm-papst Marathon, Hohenlohe (Baden-Württemberg)
• September 13, wepLAUF, Hückelhoven (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• September 19, 52nd Lake Constance Marathon, Kressbronn (Baden-Württemberg)
• September 19, 31st Three Dams Marathon, Eibenstock (Saxony)
• September 19–20, Seenland Marathon, Pleinfeld (Bavaria)
• September 18–20, Kassel Marathon, Kassel (Hesse)
• September 20, Kieler Förde Marathon, Kiel (Schleswig-Holstein)
• September 20, Sparkassen Coastal Marathon, Otterndorf (Lower Saxony)
• September 20, 42nd Baden Marathon, Karlsruhe (Baden-Württemberg)
• September 27, BMW Berlin Marathon, Berlin
  The Berlin Marathon is by far the largest marathon in Germany, attracting over 50,000 participants annually. The 42.195 km course runs through the city and past its major landmarks.
• September 27, Einstein Marathon, Ulm (Baden-Württemberg)

The world record holder for men is Kelvin Kiptum from Kenya. Kiptum crossed the finish line at the Chicago Marathon in October 2023 in 2:00:35 hours. With this, the Kenyan broke the previous record held by his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge, who completed the 42.195 kilometers at the 2022 Berlin Marathon in 2:01:09. Back in 2018, Kipchoge had already run 2:01:39 in Berlin – which was also a world record at the time.

Tragic: Only four months after his record-breaking run, Kiptum died in a traffic accident. He was just 24 years old.

For women, the world record is held by Ruth Chepngetich. The Kenyan also set a historic mark at the Chicago Marathon (2024): with a time of 2:09:56 hours, she became the first woman to complete the 42.195-kilometer distance in under 2:10 hours. Chepngetich succeeded Tigst Assefa, who ran 2:11:53 at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, as record holder.

• October 4, 22nd Central Germany Marathon, Halle (Saxony-Anhalt)
• October 4, 22nd Magdeburg Marathon, Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt)
• October 4, Generali Cologne Marathon, Cologne (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• October 10, 18th Sparkassen Rügen Bridges Marathon, Stralsund (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania)
• October 10–11, 58th Black Forest Marathon, Bräunlingen (Baden-Württemberg)
• October 11, Munich Marathon by Brooks, Munich (Bavaria)
• October 11, 64th Westenergie Marathon, Essen (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• October 11, Sparkassen-SAARathon, Saarbrücken (Saarland)
• October 17–18, Bottwartal Marathon, Steinheim (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• October 18, Stadtwerke Lübeck Marathon, Lübeck (Schleswig-Holstein)
• October 25, 24th Röntgenlauf Remscheid, Remscheid (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• October 25, 26th Dresden Marathon, Dresden (Saxony)
• October 25, Mainova Marathon Frankfurt, Frankfurt (Hesse)
• October 25, Oldenburg Marathon, Oldenburg (Lower Saxony)

• November 11, Carnival Marathon, Cologne (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• November 21, 13th Marienburg Castle Marathon, Adensen (Lower Saxony)
• November 21, Ring Running Series at Hockenheimring, Hockenheim (Baden-Württemberg)
• November 29, Bertlich Road Runs, Herten/Bertlich (North Rhine-Westphalia)

• As soon as a running event is confirmed, we will add it.