Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon 2027: course, date and entry

Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon 2027: date, venue, entry

Date: the official website lists the 2027 race for Sunday 31 October 2027. The 2026 edition was on Sunday 25 October.

Venue: the website gives Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi, as the race location for 2027. In 2026 all races assembled and started on the Southern Bypass near Carnivore, and the 42 km, 21 km, 10 km and wheelchair races finished at Uhuru Gardens.

Races on the day: the website lists a 42 km full marathon, a 21 km half marathon, a 10 km road race, a 5 km family fun run and a 21 km wheelchair half marathon. In 2026 there was also a CEO Challenge and a Corporate Challenge, and a satellite run was held in Mombasa.

Entry fees and registration dates: not yet published for 2027. In 2026 individual entry was KES 2,500 for every distance, the same for Kenyan and international runners, and the CEO Challenge cost KES 20,000. All entries were taken online, and the proceeds went to the Standard Chartered Foundation.

Official website: www.nairobimarathon.com

Checked on 8 November 2026 against the official race website; confirm details there before you enter.

The course

The race is built around the Southern Bypass, which runs beside Nairobi National Park, the only national park inside a capital city. In 2026 the start was on the bypass near Carnivore, and the finish was in Uhuru Gardens.

The full marathon uses a long stretch of the bypass. The 2026 road closure notice covered the interchanges at Dagoretti Road, Ngong Road, Lang'ata Road and Mombasa Road, with a turning point near the ICD.

Nairobi sits at about 1,795 m above sea level. On our map the course covers about 41.9 km with roughly 402 m of climbing, more than the Nairobi City Marathon on the Expressway.

What the race is known for

The marathon was first held in 2003 and has grown into Kenya's largest single-day sporting event. The 2026 race had a record 30,700 registered runners. The 2020 race was cancelled because of the pandemic, and in 2021 the start and finish moved from Nyayo National Stadium to the Carnivore grounds and Uhuru Gardens.

Every entry raises money for charity. Until 2019 the cause was Standard Chartered's Seeing is Believing programme; it was then replaced by Futuremakers. Today the money goes to the Standard Chartered Foundation's work on jobs and small businesses for young people, women and people with disabilities. The race has raised about KES 520 million since 2003.

Running it

A few things help on the day:

• Collect your kit early: in 2026 it was handed out at Uhuru Gardens from Wednesday to Saturday, with no collection on race day.
• Start slower than your usual pace: at Nairobi's altitude runners from the coast or abroad feel the thinner air.
• Use the water stations: there were twenty on the route and in the marathon village in 2026, with water, fruit and oral rehydration salts.
• Keep an eye on the clock: once the roads reopen, runners still on the course are left out of the official results.

Frame your Nairobi finish

We print the Standard Chartered Nairobi Marathon as a framed 3D map: the Southern Bypass and Nairobi National Park in relief, the route raised in colour, and your name, date, finish time and pace on the card under the glass. Pick 42K, 21K, 10K or 5K, or upload your own GPX and we print your exact line.