Almaty Marathon
The Lowdown
The Almaty Marathon is Central Asia's largest running event, held annually since 2012 at the foot of the picturesque Zailiyskiy Alatau mountains. The course starts and finishes at Republic Square on Satpayev Street and loops through the main streets of Almaty, offering stunning mountain views along with long climbs and steep descents; the full marathon covers the half-marathon loop twice. The event is AIMS-certified (member since 2013) with tracks certified to World Athletics standards, and is part of the TAN Series (Turkic Alliance of long-distance races). A record 17,000 participants took part across all distances in 2019. Charity is central to the event's mission: a portion of entry fees funds projects supporting children with special needs, with more than 30 charitable projects completed in Almaty, Shymkent, and the Almaty and Turkistan regions.
Race Day
Weather Forecast
Elevation
Terrain Profile
Relatively flat course
Participants
Field Size
Major marathon
Crowd Rating
Spectator Support
Excellent spectator turnout
Republic Square
Zailiyskiy Alatau mountain views (Tian Shan foothills)
Satpayev Street
Other distances available during the event weekend:
Republic Square, Satpayev Street, Almaty, Kazakhstan
KZ
Average rate for 3-star accommodations near the start line
Eligibility
- Marathon (42.2 km): minimum age 18
- Half Marathon (21.1 km): minimum age 18
- 10K: ages 15-17 and 18+
- Nordic Walking 10K: minimum age 15
- Ekiden relay: minimum age 15, at least one female team member mandatory
Required Documents
- Photo ID
- Health acknowledgement form (official PDF)
- Health status declaration for under-18 participants, where applicable
Entry Methods
- Online registration via almaty-marathon.kz
Cancellation & Refund Policy
Review the official public offer / contract terms on almaty-marathon.kz before registering; no specific refund policy was published on the event page at time of research
Founded in 2012 as the charity 'Courage to be the First' marathon with 2,500 participants; now organized by the Courage to be the First Corporate Fund, founded by businessman Galimzhan Yessenov.
Member of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) since 2013; course certified to World Athletics standards since 2018.
Part of the TAN Series, the first international running series of the Turkic peoples.
llm_estimate (medium): hotelEstimatedCost of $70/night is a rough estimate for a 3-star Almaty hotel during the event, not sourced from the official site.
llm_estimate (low): crowdRating of 8/10 reflects the event's description as Central Asia's largest running event with strong spectator turnout; not independently verified.
llm_estimate (medium): weatherAvgTempValue/weatherFeel derived from third-party seasonal averages (8-22C / 46-72F range in late September), not the official race site.
netElevationGainValue set to 0 as an estimate since the course is a there-and-back/loop style route without a stated net elevation change; totalElevationGainValue of ~400m (marathon, two loops of the ~200m half-marathon course) is sourced from third-party course descriptions, not the official site.
bostonQualifier set to false: no evidence this course is a Boston Marathon qualifier.
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