Inca Trail Half Marathon

Course & Elevation

The Incathon is the half-marathon option of the Inca Trail Marathon, an adventure race organised by the tour operator Erik's Adventures in the Andes near Cusco, Peru. It is entered as part of a nine-day tour that includes days in Cusco, a camp in the high Andes the night before the race and a visit to Machu Picchu afterwards. The 2027 race is on 8 November, with the marathon starting at 5:50 am and the half marathon at 6:30 am. Since 2023 the race has been held on the Salkantay section of the Inca trail network, passing between Salkantay and Humantay mountains, and it finishes at Lucmabamba, a village near Machu Picchu in the national park, not at Machu Picchu itself. The organisers say the marathon course goes over two high mountain passes, reaches 15,290 feet (about 4,660 m) and descends into high Amazon rainforest, and that it takes a typical hiker 3.5 days. There is an enforced cut-off at mile 16 at 2 pm. The first race was organised in 2012 with 41 runners, as the first official 26.2-mile marathon on the Classic Inca Trail. The best marathon times on the current course are 6:25:11 for men (Ben Lewis, 2024) and 6:48:22 for women (Jin Zhu, 2023).