Maratona Internazionale Città di Palermo: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The gun goes at 08:30 on Piazza Ruggero Settimo in front of the Teatro Politeama, after a jury and competitors' meeting at 07:30. The course first heads north up Via della Libertà, the broad 19th-century boulevard axis, and reaches the Parco della Favorita, the former royal hunting park at the foot of Monte Pellegrino and now the city's largest green space.

That is where the high point of the lap lies. Viale Diana runs past the Ippodromo towards Villa Niscemi, with a spur out to the Palazzina Cinese, the Bourbon chinoiserie pavilion, where the course turns. Viale Ercole and Viale del Fante lead back to Via della Libertà, and from there the park run becomes a tour of the old town: Via Roma, Via Cavour, Piazza Verdi in front of the Teatro Massimo, Via Maqueda down to Piazza Giulio Cesare by the station, then Via Vittorio Emanuele up to the Palazzo dei Normanni and back through the Quattro Canti to the Politeama.

That is a lap of a little over 21 kilometres, and the marathon runs it twice. At 362 metres of ascent over the measured 41.9 kilometres the profile counts as rolling: only 31 percent of the course is flat, a good third climbs and a good third descends, without any single climb being long enough to be categorised. The organizer prints an elevation band of 10 to 79 metres for the lap, which the modelled series confirms. 2026 is the 31st edition, the race carries a FIDAL bronze label, the limit is 5:30, and more than 3,000 athletes from 50 nations started the 2025 edition.

Pacing Strategy

Two identical laps allow an honest plan: the first is reconnaissance, the second is the decision. Use that and run the first lap at the easy end of your target range, above all on the climb to the Favorita, which you will face again afterwards.

That climb on the second pass, between kilometre 21 and 27, is what decides the race. Via della Libertà rises steadily but for a long way, and the park adds more undulation on top; anyone who spent too much there on the first lap loses minutes rather than seconds here. Keep the climbs deliberately at the same effort as the flat instead of forcing the pace.

The trap is the return into the old town. After the park the course falls, the pace seems to come for free, and the lanes between the Teatro Massimo, Via Maqueda and the Quattro Canti are narrow, twisting and partly paved. On tired legs that costs more than the descent returns. Run short and quick there, watch the surface, and save the kick for the last hundred metres to Piazza Ruggero Settimo. Note too the 5:30 limit, which is tight for a rolling course.

Training plan for Maratona Internazionale Città di Palermo: 12-week build

For age-group runners the Maratona di Palermo means roughly three and a half to five and a half hours on the road, and the 5:30 limit is tight for a rolling marathon, which belongs in your target-setting. The demand is not that of a flat city marathon: 362 metres of climbing, only 31 percent flat terrain and a constant rise and fall call for repeatable strength endurance rather than pure pace tolerance.

The first training emphasis is undulating long runs. Do the long sessions deliberately on rolling ground rather than a flat loop, build them to 30-35 km and place 8-12 km at race pace at the end, because the second climb to the Favorita comes after more than twenty kilometres and that is exactly what needs rehearsing.

The second emphasis is running downhill relaxed. On each lap the long climb is followed by an equally long descent back into the city, four times in all, and braking there fatigues the quads early. Short, fast downhill blocks in training build cadence and eccentric tolerance.

On conditions: mid-November in Palermo is mild, appreciably milder than mainland Italy at the same time of year, and the 08:30 start is already in sun once it clears the slopes. Plan a drinking strategy for mild to warm conditions rather than for a November marathon in the north. The surface alternates between wide boulevard asphalt and historic paving in the old town, so put part of your key sessions on hard and uneven ground.