La Rochelle Marathon 2026: Route, Cut-Off Times and How to Track a Runner

The 35th La Rochelle Marathon Serge Vigot takes place on Sunday, November 29, 2026 at 9:00 am, on two almost flat laps that come back through the old harbour. The race is full, capped at 10,000 runners. If someone you love is running it, here is how to follow their race, where to see them twice from the same spot, what the cut-off times really mean and which kilometres a voice message helps most.

The 2026 La Rochelle Marathon at a glance

• Date: Sunday, November 29, 2026 (35th edition)
• Start: 9:00 am, double start on Quai Maubec and Quai Louis Durand, the two groups merging after about 600 metres
• Finish: Esplanade Saint-Jean-d'Acre, at the foot of the old harbour towers
• Course: 42.195 km on two laps of 21.0975 km, certified by the FFA and AIMS
• Elevation: about 120 m of cumulative gain, an almost flat course
• Time limit: 5 h 30, with a check at km 30 at 4 hours
• Pacers: from 2:45 to 4:30 in 15-minute steps, with one pacer on each start
• Aid stations: km 4.5, 9.5, 14.5, 19, 25, 30.5, 35, 40.5 and at the finish

The 10 km starts at 8:45 am on Avenue du Général Leclerc. Marathon runners are expected on the start lines at 8:45 am, and the organisers advise being ready in your pen 15 minutes before the start.

How do you track a runner live at the La Rochelle Marathon?

The chip on the bib records a passing time every 5 km. To follow a runner, you type their name into the live tracking on the marathon's website or in the free Imagina app. The organisers say live tracking goes online one week before the race. The same tracking shows provisional results, ahead of the final results online shortly after the finish.

Between two mats you only see the last reading. At marathon pace that is 25 to 35 minutes without news: 5 km at 5 min/km is 25 minutes, at 7 min/km it is 35. If you want to see where your runner is at any moment, they have to share their phone's location. We cover the options and their limits in our guide on how to track a runner during a race. Write down their bib number, their goal time and their start (Quai Maubec or Quai Louis Durand).

The course: two laps around La Rochelle

The course is designed in two laps, to keep spectators concentrated. Each lap is about 21 km. Here is the route, with approximate kilometres for the first lap (the second one uses the same streets):

Km 0 to 5: from the old harbour to Les Minimes. After the start, the course heads south through the Espace Encan to the Minimes campus, around km 5.

Km 5 to 10: back along the Minimes marina. It comes back up along the marina on Avenue Michel-Crépeau and crosses the centre to Place de Verdun, around km 9.

Km 10 to 15: heading west. Avenue du Général Leclerc and then Avenue Edmond Grasset lead to Saint-Maurice, Mireuil and Vaugouin.

Km 15 to 21: back via the sports ground and the seafront. The route goes through the plaine des sports (km 15), Port-Neuf, the seafront and the Allée du Mail, then Avenue du Général Leclerc (km 20) to the old harbour, at halfway.

Second lap. It passes the Minimes around km 25, Place de Verdun around km 30 and Vaugouin around km 35. After the Allée du Mail, the last three kilometres go through the Parc Charruyer (km 40) before the finish on Esplanade Saint-Jean-d'Acre.

The highest point of the course is about twenty metres above sea level: there is no hill. The difficulty is somewhere else. At halfway your runner comes back near the old harbour, sees the finish, and has to set off for the same 21 km again.

La Rochelle Marathon cut-off times

The time limit is 5 hours 30. After that, safety is no longer guaranteed and participants are taken out of the race. A check is carried out from km 30, with a passing time limit of 4 hours.

A runner holding an even pace to finish in 5:30 reaches km 30 in about 3:55, so they have a few minutes of margin on the check. But a runner who reaches km 30 at exactly 4:00 has already held 8 min/km and still has 12.195 km to run in 1 h 30 at most, about 7 min 23 s per kilometre. They have to speed up. If your runner is aiming for a time close to the limit, watch their km 30 reading rather than their final time: that is where their race is decided.

With a 9:00 am start, that means 1:00 pm for km 30, and 2:30 pm at the end of 5 h 30 if you count from the gun. The rules don't say whether times are counted from the gun or from the moment a runner crosses the line. For an exact cut-off, check with the organisers.

To compare these times with those of other major races, we explain how the limits work and the minimum paces in our guide to marathon cut-off times.

Where to cheer a runner in La Rochelle

Because the course comes back to the same places, one spot lets you see your runner twice: once on each lap. Here is what the organisers announce:

• The old harbour and the finish area. A free 500-seat grandstand is set up in the finish area (Saint-Jean-d'Acre car park), reached only through the Tour de la Chaîne. Two giant screens show the races in real time: one next to the Duperré statue (near the Grosse Horloge), the other in the finish area.
• The FanZone on Quai de la Georgette, with a DJ and entertainment, in partnership with Décathlon.
• Bands, spread along the course.

It isn't possible to accompany a runner on the course, on foot or by bike. After the finish, meet on Rue de la Monnaie, at the exit of the finish area: columns with the names of the islands of Ré, Oléron and Aix serve as meeting points. Clothes are collected at the cloakroom tent in the Saint-Jean-d'Acre car park.

La Rochelle station is 500 metres from the Espace Encan, the start and the finish. Three free shuttles link the park-and-ride car parks to the city centre in the morning before the race and in the afternoon after it, with timetables announced in mid-November.

Before the race: bibs and village

Bib collection is at the Marathon Village, Espace Encan (Quai Louis Prunier), on Friday, November 27 from 3 to 8 pm and Saturday, November 28 from 9 am to 8 pm. No bib is handed out on Sunday morning or sent by post. You need the collection voucher (to download from mid-November) and ID. A friend can collect them for you with these two documents.

The pasta party takes place on Saturday evening and brings 900 guests together. It costs 14 € for an adult and 8 € for a child under 12.

Voice messages at the right kilometre

With Cobbr, your friends and family record voice messages ahead of time and choose the kilometre where your runner will hear them in their headphones. They can also react live from home, through the same link. The rules allow a single earbud or bone-conduction headphones, which lets you hear a familiar voice without shutting out the road.

On a two-lap course, the good kilometres come round twice. These are the ones that matter:

• Km 10: a reminder not to go out too fast, before the western part of the lap.
• Km 21, the old harbour: the hardest moment at halfway, with the finish right there. A message that says "one more lap and you're home".
• Km 28 to 29: just before the km 30 check, a message not to slow down.
• Km 35, Vaugouin: when the body asks to slow down.
• Km 40, Parc Charruyer: only 2 kilometres to go.
• Km 41: the last words before the line.

For words that work, browse our encouragement messages for runners and read how live messages while you run work. To compare options, our comparison of voice-message apps for marathon runners puts them side by side.

More marathons this month

If you are following other marathons, we also published guides to the Nice-Cannes Marathon and the Athens Marathon. And if your runner is training for this marathon alone, these tips for running a marathon solo will help.

FAQ

What time does the 2026 La Rochelle Marathon start?

At 9:00 am on Sunday, November 29, 2026, with a double start on Quai Maubec and Quai Louis Durand. The 10 km starts at 8:45 am.

What are the cut-off times at the La Rochelle Marathon?

The time limit is 5 h 30, with a check at km 30 at 4 hours. Beyond that, the runner is taken out of the race.

How can I track a La Rochelle Marathon runner live?

With the live tracking on the marathon's website or in the free Imagina app, which shows your runner's reading at each timing mat, every 5 km.

Is the La Rochelle Marathon course flat?

Yes. It has about 120 m of cumulative gain, with two almost flat laps and a high point of about twenty metres.

Where can I watch the finish of the La Rochelle Marathon?

On Esplanade Saint-Jean-d'Acre, at the foot of the towers. A free 500-seat grandstand is reached through the Tour de la Chaîne, and the meeting point after the race is Rue de la Monnaie.

Cover photo and body photo: Jebulon / Wikimedia Commons, public domain (CC0).