Men’s course record
1:02:06
Elias Maiyo · 2025
- Average pace
- 2:57 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +0.1 %
Zurich Half Marathon
Zurich, Switzerland April, set by the organiser each year Founded 2021
Down the lake's east shore to Küsnacht and back, then a loop of the city to a finish beside the opera house.
Overview
The half starts at 1:15pm on the Quaibrücke, more than five hours after the marathon, and runs south-east along the lake's east shore through Zollikon to a turn at Küsnacht, about 7.5 km out. It comes back the same way to Bellevue, crosses the bridge and finishes with a loop of the city: out along the west shore, up Talstrasse, down Bahnhofstrasse and through the Münsterhof to Sechseläutenplatz, beside the opera house.
It's about as level as a half gets. The whole course stays within 6 m of height.
It's quick at the front, too: both records fell in 2025. The 2027 race has already sold out.
It's about as level as a half gets. The whole course stays within 6 m of height.
It's quick at the front, too: both records fell in 2025. The 2027 race has already sold out.
- When
- The 2027 Zurich Half Marathon is on Sunday, 11 April 2027, starting at 1:15pm local time on Quaibrücke.
- Course
- The Zurich half's course climbs 44 m in all, with its lowest point at 406 m and its highest at 412 m.
- Entry
- Entry to the Zurich half is first come, first served (open for 2027), and costs CHF 99–129 for 2027.
- Field
- The 2026 Zurich Half Marathon had a half-marathon field of 7,059.
- Weather
- Across 29 years, the Zurich half's race-day temperature has a median of 11.4 °C.
- Records
- The Zurich Half Marathon course records are 1:02:06 (Elias Maiyo, 2025) and 1:08:59 (Winnie Jeptarus, 2025).
- Time limit
- The Zurich half's time limit is 2 hours 45 minutes.
Marathon Course · every marathon course, measured the same way
Zurich Half Marathon
Down the lake's east shore to Küsnacht and back, then a loop of the city to a finish beside the opera house. Quaibrücke → Sechseläutenplatz, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Distance
- 21.1 km
- Ascent
- 44 m
- Descent
- 42 m
- Net
- +2 m
Course map and elevation
5 km splits marked · the dashed line is the marathon, which runs on the same roads but turns further down the lake · hover or drag the profile below to move along the courseElevation · measured on the organiser's course file, drawn for 2025 and still linked for 2027 · Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0 · smoothed 100 m 406–412 m
—
0.04.28.512.717.021.2
kmmi — elev — grade — hover or drag the profile
The whole course sits between 406 m and 412 m, and the highest point is the lakeside road just past the Küsnacht turn. The steepest climbing and descending kilometres are both on Seestrasse, and neither changes by more than 4 m. On a model this coarse, the small rises add up to more climbing than the course really has; the range is the figure to trust. Add up the energy cost of every gradient and the course comes out about level with a flat 21.1 km.
Take it with you
Course GPX Organiser's course map
The GPX is ours: our resampled line, a point every 25 m, carrying Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0 elevation rather than the GPS noise a watch file usually holds.
Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0, measured on the organiser's course file, drawn for 2025 and still linked for 2027, smoothed 100 m · marathoncourse.com/half-marathons/zurich/ · checked 2026-10-17
How to enter: dates and fees
The 2027 half has sold out, and there's no waiting list. Places went in three tiers: 500 at CHF 99, then 4,500 at CHF 119, then the rest at CHF 129. In 2024 and 2025 the half and the marathon both sold out months before race day.
A place can't be passed to someone else. You can move from the half to another distance while that distance has places, but nobody can move into the half, and there's no refund for switching to a cheaper race. Entry works the same way for every distance, and the marathon page has the rest.
A place can't be passed to someone else. You can move from the half to another distance while that distance has places, but nobody can move into the half, and there's no refund for switching to a cheaper race. Entry works the same way for every distance, and the marathon page has the rest.
History
The half is the newest part of the Zurich Marathon. It began as a virtual run in April 2021, when the team relay couldn't go ahead, and was first run on the road in 2022, by nearly 4,000 people. In 2024 it was run in snow, at just above freezing.
The finish moved to Sechseläutenplatz in 2025, and both records fell that day: Elias Maiyo ran 1:02:06 and Winnie Jeptarus 1:08:59. The race's full history is on the marathon page.
The finish moved to Sechseläutenplatz in 2025, and both records fell that day: Elias Maiyo ran 1:02:06 and Winnie Jeptarus 1:08:59. The race's full history is on the marathon page.
- 2021The first half, a virtual run in April in place of the team relay
- 2022First run on the road, by nearly 4,000
- 2024Run in snow, just above freezing
- 2025The finish moves to Sechseläutenplatz, and both records fall: 1:02:06 and 1:08:59
- 2026Brian Kipchumba, second the year before, wins in 1:02:22
- 202711 April, starting at 1:15pm on the Quaibrücke
2025
Course records
Pace is derived from the certified distance. Terrain-adjusted figures come from the same model that ranks every course on this site.
Women’s course record
1:08:59
Winnie Jeptarus · 2025
- Average pace
- 3:16 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +0.1 %
Race day: start times and cut-offs
- 1:15pm
- 4:20pm
- Time limit
- 2h 45m
The half has its own bag drop, on the Utoquai promenade rather than at Sechseläutenplatz, open from 10:30am; only the official starter bag is taken. Be in your start block twenty minutes before the gun. Bellevue tram stop is beside the start and Stadelhofen station beside the finish.
The organiser doesn't publish a count of aid stations. On its course map, drinks are on Bellerivestrasse and at Goldbach, each passed twice, then on the Mythenquai and Talstrasse in the city loop. Pacers run for 1:30 to 2:30.
The organiser doesn't publish a count of aid stations. On its course map, drinks are on Bellerivestrasse and at Goldbach, each passed twice, then on the Mythenquai and Talstrasse in the city loop. Pacers run for 1:30 to 2:30.
The morning, hour by hour
- 8:00am
- Marathon start
- 10:30am
- Half-marathon bag drop opens on the Utoquai
- 1:15pm
- Half marathon start, Quaibrücke
- 4:00pm
- 10 km start
- 4:20pm
- Finish closes
The limit is two hours 45 minutes, net, and the finish closes at 4:20pm. There are no intermediate cut-offs.
Race-day weather, 1995–2025
- Median
- 11.4 °C
- Warm years
- 6 of 29
- Wet years
- 5 of 29
Race-day mean temperature, 1995-2025. Lime marks the hottest edition; the coldest and wettest carry a label only, so the colour still means one thing.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Zurich half flat?
Yes. The whole course stays within 6 m of height, along the lake and through the city.
Sonny 1" terrain model, sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m.
Is it a fast course?
Elias Maiyo ran 1:02:06 here in 2025 and Winnie Jeptarus 1:08:59, both records. The start is at 1:15pm, though, and the afternoon can be warm.
Organiser results; ERA5 climatology.
Can I still enter for 2027?
No. The half has sold out, there's no waiting list, and places can't be transferred.
Organiser half-marathon page, checked 2026-10-17.
What time does it start?
1:15pm on the Quaibrücke. The marathon starts at 8:00am, so the roads are already busy. Be in your start block twenty minutes before.
Organiser start and finish page, 2027.
What is the cut-off?
Two hours 45 minutes, net, with the finish closing at 4:20pm. There are no intermediate cut-offs.
Organiser start and finish page, 2027.
Does the half run on the marathon's course?
On the same roads, but shorter. It turns at Küsnacht, about 7.5 km out, where the marathon goes on to Meilen, and both finish at Sechseläutenplatz.
Organiser course files, compared.
What's the weather like in April?
Mild, but it varies. Across 29 race days the median temperature during the half was 11.4 °C; the range runs from 3.6 °C to 24 °C, and 2024's race was run in snow.
ERA5 climatology, 13:00 to 16:00, 1995 to 2025, without 2020 and 2021.
Where do I leave my bag?
At the half's own bag drop on the Utoquai promenade, open from 10:30am, in the official starter bag.
Organiser race information, 2027.
Can I switch to the half from another distance?
No. You can move from the half to another distance while it has places, but not into the half.
Organiser rules.
Is it a good first half?
A kind one: it's level, the limit is two hours 45 minutes, and pacers run from 1:30 to 2:30. Getting a place is the hard part.
Organiser race information; measured profile.
How many people run it?
7,059 finished the half in 2026, after 7,297 in 2025 and 5,782 in 2024.
Organiser figures for the 2026 edition.
What is the weather like on race day?
About 11.4 °C during a typical race: that's the median across 29 years, which have run from 3.6 °C to 24 °C. 5 of the 29 were wet.
ERA5 reanalysis for the race date, 1995-2025.
How accurate is the elevation figure?
It comes from Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0, sampled every 25 m along the course line and smoothed over 100 m. The raw-to-smoothed ratio here is 2.2. Around 1.3 means the model is reading the ground, not rooftops; above about 2.0 the total climb carries real noise, and the net change is the sturdier number.
0 missing samples · 0 bridge spans corrected.
Sources
Every fact on this page, its source, and the date it was checked · 9
| Fact | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Course line | The organiser's GPX, drawn in a route planner for 2025 and still linked from the 2027 half page. It measures 21.43 km, 1.6 % long, with some long straight segments on the lakeside road | 2026-10-17 |
| Elevation | Sonny 1" .hgt tiles (CC BY 4.0), the model the marathon is measured on; bridges from OpenStreetMap | 2026-10-17 |
| Race-day weather | ERA5 via Open-Meteo archive, 13:00 to 16:00 on race day | 2026-10-17 |
| Course records | Organiser results page and 2025 race report | 2026-10-17 |
| Field size | German Wikipedia's table of results by year, against the organiser's results | 2026-10-17 |
| Start, finish and limit | Organiser start and finish page, 2027 | 2026-10-17 |
| Entry | Organiser half-marathon page and rules | 2026-10-17 |
| History | Organiser results archive and race reports, 2021 to 2026 | 2026-10-17 |
| Photography | Unsplash: Claudio Schwarz (the Grossmünster), Henrique Ferreira (the Limmat and the lake from the air), Bryan Dijkhuizen (the Fraumünster), Florian Schmid (the Münsterbrücke), B NW (the Limmat at first light) | 2026-10-17 |
Until the Zurich Half Marathon · 11 Apr 2027
— days
— hrs— min— sec
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