Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The gun goes at eight on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, about 500 metres from the Hyatt Regency Palais de la Méditerranée. The route follows the coast west: Saint-Laurent-du-Var at kilometre 8.7, Cagnes-sur-Mer at 11.7, Villeneuve-Loubet and the Marina Baie des Anges at 16.8. To that point the course is effectively level and runs within sight of the sea.

The only climb of the race arrives at kilometre 27.5, just past Antibes Juan-les-Pins: a good 500 metres at close to four percent with a pitch around six and a half, 21 metres of gain to the course's high point at 32 metres. From there it falls away again, passes Vallauris Golfe-Juan at kilometre 36.3 and finishes on the Boulevard de la Croisette in Cannes, roughly 300 metres short of the Palais des Festivals. The ledger: 125 metres of ascent, 83.8 percent of the course flat, net zero.

The surface is tarmac throughout, mostly the coast roads between palms, beaches and the bays of the Riviera, on a November Sunday the organiser sells as an Indian summer. Since it was founded in 2008 around 210,000 people from some 90 nations have taken part; the 2026 field is capped at 22,000 entries, 15,000 of them on the marathon, and sold out six months ahead. Roughly half the starters are running their first marathon. The course records belong to Millaw Abrha at 2:07:25 and Zenebu Fikadu at 2:28:15.

Pacing Strategy

The first half of this marathon gives you nothing you do not ration yourself. Between Nice and Villeneuve-Loubet there is neither climb nor descent, the coast road is wide, and in a field of 15,000 marathon runners almost every group pulls you along faster than your plan allows. Set your target pace two to three seconds per kilometre slower here on purpose, and accept that it feels too easy.

The race is decided on the short rise at kilometre 27.5. Twenty-one metres is nothing, but it arrives exactly where most runners first meet the edge of their glycogen stores, and 14 unstructured kilometres follow in which an over-high heart rate never comes back down. Run it at even effort, not even pace.

The course's trap is its own monotony. A marathon without climbs, without changes of direction and with a constant view of the sea invites you to forget your race pace until your legs demand it back. Use the town crossings and the relay points as fixed checkpoints, verify pace and fuelling at each of them, and plan the last stretch from Vallauris Golfe-Juan at kilometre 36.3 as a race of its own.

Training plan for Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes: 12-week build

Expect an effort of 2:40 to 5:30; the cut-off is six hours. The demand is a continuously even aerobic load with no strength component: there is no gradient to recover on or hide behind, and nothing technical to break the rhythm. That evenness is the real requirement.

Training should therefore emphasise pace durability. Long runs of 28 to 32 kilometres with extended blocks at goal pace matter more than classic intervals here, and they belong on flat tarmac, because that is exactly what you will race on. Half the field is running its first marathon; if that is you, get at least two runs over three hours in before committing to a target pace.

The race-deciding phase starts at kilometre 27.5 and never really ends. Train it with long runs that add a short moderate rise after two and a half hours and then another twenty to thirty minutes at race pace. That models the demand better than any hill session, because those 21 metres cost you rhythm rather than strength.

On conditions: early November on the Côte d'Azur is mild, often sunny and completely unshaded on the open coast road, with an eight o'clock start and a finish many runners will not reach before midday. Rehearse four to five hours of fuelling, test clothing for a cool start and distinctly warmer closing kilometres, and get used to unrelieved hard tarmac.