Waterford Viking Marathon

The Waterford Viking Marathon is Ireland's oldest-city marathon, held each June in Waterford -- founded by the Vikings in 914 AD -- and organised as the Waterford Viking Marathon Running Festival since 2012. The 2027 edition, the event's 15th, runs across the weekend of Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 June 2027, pairing the Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, and Marathon Relay with a Children's Run, the Waterford Viking Run for All (an inclusive, roughly 8.5K disability-friendly event), and a Virtual Marathon. Entries for 2027 are open with an early-bird offer, and organisers have frozen entry prices at 2026 levels. The AIMS-certified, Boston-qualifying course starts on The Mall in Waterford city centre, between Waterford Crystal and the Bishop's Palace, and crosses the historic Rice Bridge and the Thomas Francis Meagher Bridge -- the only toll bridge in Ireland crossed on foot during a race. From there the route follows the River Suir along the Waterford Greenway and detours through the walled garden and woodlands of Mount Congreve Gardens before returning to the city for a finish on O'Connell Street. Organisers describe the course as reasonably flat and fast, and the Marathon Relay pairs two runners over a half-marathon leg each, linked by a shuttle bus between handover points. The 2026 edition drew roughly 300 marathon finishers, 900 half-marathon finishers, and 700 in the 10K, with marathon roads reopening to traffic at 3pm.