Valencia Marathon 2026 weather: what race day usually feels like

The Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso Zurich is on Sunday 6 December 2026, its 46th edition: 42.2 km on a flat course through the city, from Plaça de la Marató out to the sea, through the old city and back to the City of Arts and Sciences. Here's what race day has usually felt like, section by section, for a runner in the middle of the field.

What will the weather be like at the 2026 Valencia Marathon?

Cool and fairly dry, with a light, steady wind. In the records, a runner from the 09:25 wave started at about 12° and finished at about 15°, with a dew point of 8–9°, so the air rarely felt humid. RunFast's engine rated race day Good on 5 days in 10 and Fair on 5, and almost never Tough.

The heat stress (WBGT, the number race medical teams use) started at about 12°, inside the range where marathon times are fastest, and rose to about 16° by the finish. It reached Moderate on about 3 days in 10, mostly in the last 10 km. The warmest race day in the records reached 22°.

Where does the weather usually cost runners time?

Mostly the wind. On the middle day of the records, the weather cost a 5:40-per-km runner about 3 minutes over the whole race, and 7 minutes or more on 1 day in 10. The wind was the main cause on about 7 of those days in 10.

Start and finish · City of Arts and SciencesEl CabanyalCiutat VellaCampanar123456Historic

The wind usually comes from the west at 10 to 12 km/h, from about the same direction every morning. So it's behind you on the run east to the port, and in your face as the course heads back west through the old city and out to Campanar. The orange is where the westerly and the warmest part of the morning meet.

What is each section likely to feel like?

Each section with its usual race morning, hour by hour, timed for the 09:25 wave at a steady 5:40 per km.

1. The City of Arts and Sciences to the port

The easiest start you could ask for: about 12°, and the wind behind you on about 7 days in 10 as the course heads east to the port. It was rated Good on 9 days in 10.

2. Algirós and Benimaclet

North through the university district at about 13°, with the wind mostly across the course. The heat stress stayed Low on almost every day.

3. Back to the sea and El Cabanyal

Back east to the seafront and through El Cabanyal at about 14°. Rated Good on 8 days in 10, this is the last section where the weather rarely gets in the way.

4. Through the old city

The likeliest headwind of the race. Heading west through the historic centre, the westerly was in the runners' faces on about 5 days in 10, and this section had Tough days on about 1 in 10.

5. Campanar and Patraix

Out to the north-west and round through Patraix at about 15°, now with the sun higher. The heat stress reached Moderate on about 2 days in 10, and this section had the fewest Good days, about 4 in 10.

6. The city centre to the finish

Back through the centre, with the wind behind you again on about 4 days in 10, to the finish on the water at the City of Arts and Sciences. It's as warm as the race gets, about 15°, and the heat stress reached Moderate on about 3 days in 10.

What should runners wear and pack for race day?

Light kit for 12–16°, a layer for the wait, and a plan for the old city. The organiser's marathon page has the waves, the start area and the rules. From the weather records:

• A throwaway layer for the start. It was about 12° during the wait, and 9° or colder on 1 morning in 10.
• Shorts and a light top. Expect 12° at the start and about 15° by a four-hour finish.
• A pacing plan for km 23 to 31. The westerly is usually in your face there, so tuck in behind other runners.
• A cap on wet or sunny days. Rain fell during the run on about 1 day in 10.

Supporters at the finish can expect about 15° in the early afternoon, so a light jacket is enough.

When does the real forecast open?

Ten days before the race, in the RunFast app: on 26 November. Load the course with your own pace and start wave, and RunFast shows the heat and the wind at each stretch as you get there. From then on, trust the forecast over this preview.

How did we work this out?

The course was run again on every day from a week before to a week after 6 December, in each year from 2015 to 2024: 150 days. Each run followed the organiser's official route map from the 09:25 wave at a steady 5:40 per km, on that day's hourly Copernicus ERA5 weather, with its dew point and sunshine. RunFast's engine, the same one the app uses, worked out the heat stress and the weather's toll, and rated the run and each section. The start-area wait is the lowest temperature between 7:00 and the start, and a wet day has 1 mm of rain or more.

ERA5's grid cells are about 25 km across, and two cover this course, one of them partly over the sea. Sea breezes, shelter and the city's own warmth don't show. The section names come from the streets the route follows, in OpenStreetMap. Historic weather, not a forecast.

Sources: the organiser's marathon page and 2026 regulations (the date, the 46th edition, the waves and their start times, the course closing time), and its official route page with the route map; ERA5 hourly time series (Hersbach et al., 2020). Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information (2026). Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains.