RacesIndependent race preparation guide

Würzburg, Germany · 42.195 km road marathon

Würzburg Marathon 2027

Sunday 23 May 2027

Two flat laps along both banks of the Main, starting and finishing on the Kranenkai, with a 5 h 30 limit.

Würzburg Marathon at a glance

Start: 09:10 to 09:25 in four blocks by expected time, Kranenkai
Finish: Kranenkai, beside the Congress Centrum
Course: Two laps of about 21.1 km, flat, on both banks of the Main
Elevation: Between 167 and 185 m above sea level
Time limit: 5 h 30 of running time; the finish closes at 15:00
Cut-offs: None published
Entry: Open; 74 euro until 31 December 2026, rising in steps to 89 euro
Bib pickup: Saturday 22 May, 10:00 to 19:00, or race morning 06:30 to 08:30
Aid stations: Full station every 5 km, water in between

Checked against the organizer's pages on 23 September 2026. Facts for the next edition can still change; the organizer's page is the final word.

Compare it with other races; no account needed.

Build my race-day sheet View my training plan Official race information

Würzburg Marathon course map and elevation

Two laps of about 21.1 km, flat, on both banks of the Main. Map, elevation profile and 3D flyover.

Loading topographic map…

running direction two lines: out and back on the same road race kilometresCourse: TrailSplits reconstruction; map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Flat (<5%)

Route drawn by TrailSplits from published race information; approximate. For illustration, not navigation.

What to expect on the course

Two river crossings per lap: the Brücke der Deutschen Einheit and the Konrad-Adenauer-Brücke
Turnaround on the Mainaustraße riverside at km 5
Past the Residenz between km 16 and 17
Stopping at the finish after lap one counts as a half-marathon finish

The map follows the organizer's own 2026 two-lap route, which its 2027 pages still show; recheck it for changes before race day.

Read the full course description

Two laps of a loop of about 21.1 km from the Kranenkai beside the Congress Centrum Wuerzburg, on a course the organizer says is measured to DLV rules and describes as flat and fast. Each lap heads north on the right bank of the Main, crosses the Bruecke der Deutschen Einheit at about km 1 and zigzags west through the streets of the Zellerau to a turnaround on the Mainaustrasse riverside at km 5; on lap two the turnaround sits about 30 m further out to balance the offset between start and finish. The return follows the river east to the Mainviertel near km 7, then runs south on the left bank past the Alte Mainbruecke and down the Mergentheimer Strasse past the Dallenbergbad to the far point near km 12, where the route turns onto the Konrad-Adenauer-Bruecke and crosses to the right bank. From there it comes back north along the Theodor-Heuss-Damm and the Ludwigkai with a short zigzag through the Sanderau around km 14, enters the Altstadt at about km 15, passes in front of the Residenz between km 16 and 17, reaches the station side of the old town near km 18 and returns by the Juliuspromenade and the Dom quarter to the Oberer Mainkai around km 20 and the Kranenkai, where marathon runners pass the finish and begin lap two. The organizer publishes no climb figure; the terrain model keeps the whole line within a band of about 18 m. The organizer lists a full station every 5 km with water, apple spritzer, a cola drink, an isotonic drink and bananas, water-only points in between, toilets about every 2.5 km and pacers from 3:30 to 5:00.

Source, licence and file

TrailSplits reconstruction of the published route. Course: TrailSplits reconstruction; map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL · original source · Download reference GPX (43.2 km in the file). Approximate terrain-model heights added by TrailSplits, sampled and smoothed at roughly 100 m intervals. Buildings, bridges and small road gradients are not surveyed road elevations.Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018 provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved.

Three decisions to make before race day

Collect your bib on Saturday 22 May at the CCW

Race-morning pickup ends at 08:30, 40 minutes before block A starts; the organizer advises Saturday.

More detail
The race-morning desk runs only from 06:30 to 08:30, 40 minutes before block A leaves at 09:10, and the organizer strongly recommends the Saturday expo from 10:00 to 19:00 to avoid long Sunday waits. Bring the barcode confirmation emailed on the Wednesday before, or send a proxy with it and the signed authorisation form. The bib doubles as a free ticket on the whole NVM bus and rail network on race Sunday, and the clothing drop in the CCW basement opens at 07:30.
Enter before the next price step and decide on cancellation cover at entry

The fee rises after 31 December 2026, and a withdrawal earns no refund unless you add cancellation cover at entry.

More detail
The fee moves from 74 euro to 79 euro after 31 December 2026, to 84 euro after 31 March 2027 and to 89 euro in race week. A start place cannot be transferred to another runner and personal withdrawal earns no refund, so the cancellation cover offered during Datasport entry, on its own conditions, is the only way to protect the fee.
Settle your halfway rule and start block before race day

Decide before the race whether you would stop at halfway: a first lap much slower than 2 h 45 leaves no margin.

More detail
After lap one the marathon passes the finish on the Kranenkai, and the organizer scores anyone who stops there after 21.1 km as a half-marathon finisher, while a marathon entrant who stops anywhere else is left out of the rankings and listed only as a drop-out with split times. With a 5 h 30 cap, a 15:00 finish closure and the slowest pacer at 5:00, a first lap much slower than 2 h 45 leaves no margin, so decide in advance whether you would switch to the half there. Blocks are self-selected by expected time, from A under 3:20 at 09:10 to D over 4:20 at 09:25; placings use gun time and results also show net time.

Your race-day sheet

Even elapsed splits for 42.195 km. All clocks are local to Würzburg.

Target finish time, including stops

HoursMinutes

Total stopped minutes Your start time (local)

The initial value is the first published start, not your assigned wave. Europe/Berlin.

Time limit: 5 h 30 of running time; the finish closes at 15:00

How this sheet applies the limit

The organizer closes the finish at 15:00 and caps the marathon at 5 h 30 of running time, without saying whether the 5 h 30 counts from the gun or from each runner's own start crossing; placings use gun time and results show both gun and net time. This sheet applies both rules, so every block is held to 5 h 30: 14:40 for block A leaving at 09:10 and 14:55 for block D leaving at 09:25, with the 15:00 closure never the tighter of the two. No intermediate cut-offs are published. Runners still out after the official time may carry on along the pavement, away from the closed roads; whether they are still timed is not stated.

A timing comparison, not a fitness assessment. Intermediate cutoffs, queues, weather and terrain are not modelled. Stops are spread evenly in the illustration; actual checkpoint times will differ.

ESTIMATED FINISH

13:10:00

MOVING PACE BUDGET

5:34/ km

ELAPSED PACE

5:41/ km

90 min below the modelled finish limit

Distance markers, not aid stations or guaranteed arrival times.
Distance	Elapsed	Local clock
5 km	00:28:26	09:38:26
10 km	00:56:53	10:06:53
15 km	01:25:19	10:35:19
20 km	01:53:45	11:03:45
Halfway	02:00:00	11:10:00
25 km	02:22:12	11:32:12
30 km	02:50:38	12:00:38
35 km	03:19:05	12:29:05
40 km	03:47:31	12:57:31
Finish	04:00:00	13:10:00

Training plan for Würzburg Marathon 2027

A free week-by-week plan dated to this race. It starts from a stated default (weekly distance, longest recent run, days a week) that you can change; nothing is read from your watch or training history. It does not use the finish-time target above.

View my training plan

No account required. Keep a fixed copy, download the calendar or get a subscription URL for Google or Apple Calendar.

Entry, bib pickup and rules

Entry:: Open; 74 euro until 31 December 2026, rising in steps to 89 euro
Bib pickup:: Saturday 22 May, 10:00 to 19:00, or race morning 06:30 to 08:30

Read the full entry and pickup rules

Entry for the 23 May 2027 race has been open since July 2026 through the organizer's Datasport portal, with no ballot mentioned and a fee that rises in steps: 74 euro to 31 December 2026, 79 euro to 31 March 2027, 84 euro to 16 May 2027 and 89 euro for online late entry in race week up to 21 May; the Saturday programme also lists late entry at the CCW. No field cap or sold-out notice was shown on the check date. Runners must be 18, a start place cannot be passed to another person and withdrawing for personal reasons earns no refund, although a cancellation cover can be added during entry. Bibs are handed out at the marathon expo in the Congress Centrum Wuerzburg on Saturday 22 May 2027 from 10:00 to 19:00 and on race morning from 06:30 to 08:30, against the barcode confirmation emailed on the Wednesday before, or photo identification plus the bib number from the online entry list. A proxy may collect with that confirmation and a signed authorisation, and the organizer strongly advises Saturday because Sunday queues can be long.

Sources

Checked 23 September 2026; next review due 2026-11-19. Event facts come from the organizer; the pacing sheet, decisions and plan are TrailSplits' own. Independently prepared by TrailSplits, not endorsed by the organizer.

What each source confirms

Marathon page: The start from 09:10 at the Congress Centrum Wuerzburg, the 15:00 finish closure with a 5 h 30 maximum running time, the DLV-measured course, the four fee steps up to 21 May 2027 (in the page's price script), the switch to the half by finishing after 21.1 km, the drop-out list, gun-time placings and Boston qualifier status.
Event information page: The 23 May 2027 programme, blocks A to D at 09:10 to 09:25 by expected time, the Kranenkai start and finish, bib pickup on Saturday 22 May and Sunday 06:30 to 08:30 with the Saturday recommendation, proxy collection, the 07:30 clothing drop, stations every 5 km with water points and toilets between, pacers 3:30 to 5:00, the 15:00 closure and pavement rule, the NVM ticket, the minimum age of 18 and the organizer course map, which is labelled 2026.
Entry page and 2027 entry news: Entry open for the 25th edition on 23 May 2027 through Datasport, the Wednesday barcode email, pickup against it or identification, and proxy collection with a signed authorisation. The news post at /start-frei-fuer-2027-die-anmeldung-ist-geoeffnet/ of 5 July 2026 confirms the date and the early price steps.
Participation terms: No transfer of start places, no refund for personal withdrawal and the optional cancellation cover booked at entry.
Traffic and closures page: The organizer-linked Google My Maps with both lap lines and the separate half-marathon and second-lap turnaround points behind the map line, and the closure plans. The closure dates on this page are still the 2026 ones.