Marathon de La Rochelle Serge Vigot 2026

Sunday, 29 November 2026 · La Rochelle, France

In the RunningChecked 5 October 2026Read the sources

Planning the trip? See how In the Running helps make it easier.

Collecting your number 2026 details

Collect at the Village Marathon in the Espace Encan on Friday 27 November from 15:00 to 20:00 or Saturday 28 November from 9:00 to 20:00. You need the collection voucher, which you download from the website from mid-November, and your identity document or a copy. A friend can collect for you with both. The organiser suggests avoiding Saturday afternoon, because of the queue, and says there is a prize draw for bibs on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

No number is handed out on Sunday morning or posted. The regulations make one exception, for runners who took the bib pack with a coach from Rochefort, Saintes, Niort or Luçon. The organiser runs paid coaches, at 19 euros return for the nearer trips and 29 euros return for the farther ones.

Race morning 2026 details

The first 600 m are eased by a double start. Start 1 on Quai Maubec is for seniors, masters 0 and 1 and handisport runners, in four blocks. Start 2 on Quai Louis Durand is for masters 2 to 10, the duo marathon and the company challenge, in four blocks. You can change your target time, which sets your block, until 15 October through your online file. The organiser publishes a start areas map in early November. Each pace time has two pacers, one at each start, for 2:45, 3:00, 3:15, 3:30, 3:45, 4:00, 4:15 and 4:30.

A changing truck is at the end of the start area, and you collect your things at the cloakroom marquee at the exit of the finish zone. The organiser's pages we read do not give a bag size or a closing time. Free showers are at the Camping du Soleil after the race, reached by the passeur boat near the Tour de la Chaîne, which is free for runners on Sunday.

The course 2026 details

The organiser says the course is efficient and accessible and ends at the foot of the towers of La Rochelle. It has 9 stations at 4.5, 9.5, 14.5, 19, 25, 30.5, 35 and 40.5 km and at the finish. They offer water in cardboard cups and 50 cl bottles, Décathlon ISO+ isotonic drink, bananas, oranges and gingerbread, except at 40.5 km, which has water only. Timing checks are every 5 km, and timing uses a B-Tag on the back of your bib.

The time limit is 5 hours 30 minutes, set by the organiser. After that safety is no longer guaranteed and runners are taken out of the race. The pages we read do not say whether that is counted from the gun or from your own start.

Entering 2026 details

Registration is open, and the organiser says the marathon price is unchanged. The regulations give 58 euros, with 5 percent off for FFA licence holders, and a cap of 10,000 runners. A cancellation guarantee costs 7 euros and is the only way to get a refund, and you can pass your bib to someone else until 29 October 2026. You need an FFA licence or a PPS certificate from pps.athle.fr.

Getting to La Rochelle 2026 details

The organiser points runners to SNCF for TGV and Intercités trains and to TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine for regional trains from Bordeaux, Poitiers, Saintes and Nantes. It does not give travel times, so check them with SNCF. The station is 500 metres from the Espace Encan, where you collect your number, and from the start and finish zones, so you can walk from the platform.

On Sunday 29 November the organiser runs three free shuttles from park and ride sites. The south shuttle runs between the Simone Veil park and ride and the station, which the organiser calls Gare Jean Moulin. A north shuttle runs from Les Greffières and Vieljeux to Place de Verdun, and another from the Beaulieu shopping centre car park to Place de Verdun. The organiser says it will publish the shuttle times in mid-November. The city's transport operator, Yélo, lists Vieljeux as closed from 7 April 2026 until early 2027 for building work, so check which north site the shuttle uses.

If you drive, the organiser names the Salines car park, 5 minutes' walk from the marathon start. Yélo's park and rides are free to park in. Yélo gives these bus times to the centre. ILLICO 3 takes 6 minutes from Simone Veil and 14 minutes from Les Greffières to the centre, and ILLICO 4 takes 22 minutes from Beaulieu. The organiser says a free passeur boat crosses to the Tour de la Chaîne for runners on Sunday, and a Bus de Mer also runs. The organiser has not published how the shuttles run after the finish. We'll add it here when they do.

Where to stay in La Rochelle

The station is 500 metres from the Espace Encan and from the start and finish zones. On the Sunday the organiser runs three free shuttles from the park and ride sites to the station and the centre. Parking at the Salines car park is 5 minutes' walk from the marathon start.

Weather in La Rochelle in November

The race has been run on a Sunday between 24 and 30 November in the last five editions. These are the last five completed race days at Quai Maubec, at 9:00 and at 13:00. The hour is the one the marathon starts in. They are model estimates for the start area, not readings from a weather station.

The 2024 start was the warmest and the windiest, at 13.5 °C and 40 km/h.

Afterwards 2026 details

Finishers get a medal, a white Kiprun windbreaker in the colours of the 35th edition and a basket of Marennes-Oléron oysters. Spectators can use a free 500-seat stand at the finish. A medical marquee beside the ramparts has podiatrists, physios and a Red Cross team. To meet friends, the columns named Île de Ré, Oléron and Aix are at the exit of the finish zone on rue de la Monnaie.

Other race weekends

The next races with a guide

Valencia Marathon6 December 2026 · Valencia, Spain Barcelona Half Marathon14 February 2027 · Barcelona, Spain Zurich Seville Marathon21 February 2027 · Seville, Spain

All race weekend guides

Sources

Written from the organiser's published information and the app's own race data, checked on 5 October 2026.

If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us.