Christchurch Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Christchurch Marathon is a road marathon through central Christchurch, New Zealand, held on a Sunday in April. A half marathon, a 10 km, a Youth 3K and a Kids Mile run on the same day. The marathon is four laps of a city circuit based at the Hagley Park Special Events Area, with the start line on Park Terrace. Landmarks on the course include Hagley Park, the Christchurch Town Hall, Canterbury Museum and the Avon River. The event began in 1978 as the Sedley Wells Midwinter Marathon, held on Queen's Birthday weekend over the 1974 Commonwealth Games course, and it became the City of Christchurch International Marathon in 1981. After the Canterbury earthquakes the race moved to Lincoln and then Christchurch Airport, returned to the central city in 2015, went back to its Town Hall base in 2019 and to the traditional route in 2021, when it also moved to April. The race record is 2:15:12, set by Tom Birnie in 1985. More than 8,200 people entered the 2026 events.