Königsforst Marathon: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The event runs one DLV-measured 21.1 kilometre loop, which the marathon covers twice, counter-clockwise since the 2024 redesign. From the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Bensberg the course drops gently into the forest until the first real climb starts at kilometre 2.9: a good 600 metres averaging four and a half percent with ramps up to eight percent, topping out at Monte Troodelöh, the highest point of Cologne. The loop then descends over several kilometres to its lowest point around kilometre 10.

The second half of the lap carries the real difficulty. From kilometre 15 the course climbs a good 25 metres in 500 metres at the Kneipp water-treading station (with ramps to 13 percent the steepest sustained section of the route), and the highest point follows shortly after. From there it runs flat along a former railway embankment back towards Bensberg, until the Schloßfeldweg kicks up briefly 400 metres before the line. In the marathon that final rise comes twice, the first time as the turn into lap two.

The race is organised by TV Refrath and sold out in 2026 with more than 3,000 entries. There is no mass start: because the loop crosses an FFH conservation area, many small groups are released between 08:45 and 14:00 according to the personal best each runner declares. The tracks are marked with sawdust, Kettners Weiher is deliberately left out to protect nesting birds, and the finish is in the inner courtyard of the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium, where a bell hangs for personal records.

Pacing Strategy

The course is rolling rather than hilly: close to half of it is flat, almost a third descends, and only the two ramps are genuinely steep uphill. That tempts runners into a first lap well above target, because the first ten kilometres of each lap lose height overall. A marathon here is decided by how evenly the two laps are run, not by a fast opening.

The race-deciding section is the climb at the water-treading station, kilometre 36 to 36.7 on the second lap. Anyone still strong there wins several minutes back on the flat railway embankment that follows; anyone who went out too hard loses them in exactly that spot. The Monte Troodelöh climb early in each lap is shorter but steep enough at eight percent maximum to punish an over-quick start immediately.

The second trap is the start format. With many small waves you spend long stretches running alone or being passed by faster runners, and both invite unplanned surges. On the first and last kilometre ultra runners come the other way as well. In March the forest tracks are often soft and slippery, and braking hard on the descents costs more than the seconds it saves.

Training plan for Königsforst Marathon: 12-week build

For a typical age-group runner the Königsforst Marathon takes roughly three to four and a half hours. The effort is aerobic throughout but never uniform: the loop tilts up and down almost constantly, and the only genuinely long flat section is the railway embankment in the final third of each lap. Training exclusively on level ground builds a rhythm this course never lets you use.

The two climbs per lap and their repetition are what matters. Monte Troodelöh and the ramp at the water-treading station each come twice, the second time at kilometre 24 and 36 with tired legs. The opposite direction counts just as much: with almost a third of the route descending, this course loads the quadriceps hard, and the soreness afterwards does not come from the uphills.

Conditions belong in the plan. Mid-March in the Bergisches Land is cold and often wet, and the forest tracks are soft, locally muddy and marked with sawdust rather than paved. Trail shoes are unnecessary, but a road shoe with grip and a few sessions on wet forest ground are not. Because the start waves are small, you also need to be able to hold race pace without a group around you.

In practice: long runs beyond 30 kilometres on undulating forest terrain rather than flat roads, tempo blocks placed in the last third of those long runs, deliberate downhill running to prepare the eccentric load, and repeated short, firm climbs of 25 to 40 vertical metres. Simulating the second half of the lap, a climb followed immediately by fast flat running, targets this course more precisely than anything else.