Groningen Marathon

The Groningen Marathon returns for its second edition on April 18, 2027, running as the Marathon Groningen powered by Campus Groningen under a title partnership with the Zernike-campus innovation district that hosts the start and finish. The event grew out of the long-running Halve Marathon Groningen (Half Marathon Groningen), which added a full 42.195K distance for the first time in its 2026 debut after roughly two decades without a city marathon, alongside the existing half marathon, a 10K, and a 2.5K Kids Run. The single-loop course starts and finishes on Zernike Campus and winds through Groningen's historic city center, past canal-side streets and university buildings, before looping through the flat countryside on the city's northern and southern outskirts. Organizers moved the 2027 date about six weeks earlier than the inaugural late-May running to cut the risk of race-day heat, after seven half marathon runners fell ill from high temperatures in 2026 (two hospitalized). Demand for the debut was immediate: all 2,500 marathon bibs sold out by February 17, 2026, and about 12,500 runners took part across all distances. Registration for 2027 opens on September 17, 2026; entry prices for the new cycle have not yet been published.