BOKA MARATHON
A MARATHON ALONG A FJORD, in the last month of the year.
I have not run this one. This guide was written before I go — every figure checked against the official race site and confirmed by email with the organisers in Tivat. It gets a first-hand rewrite when I have run it.
Boka is the race British runners keep almost hearing about. It runs point to point along the Bay of Kotor, from Tivat to Kotor old town: forty-two kilometres between mountain and water, beside a drowned river valley that is often mistaken for a fjord. It is AIMS certified, almost flat, and counts toward the AbbottWMM age-group ranking for runners aged 40 and over — a sentence you don't expect for a field of a few hundred.
The catch is the date. This is a December race in the wettest month of one of the wettest corners of Europe, and by then Tivat is not a reliable direct-UK option. Both are solvable. Neither is mentioned anywhere obvious, which is most of the reason this guide exists.
Photo: Boka Marathon
FIVE PAGES, in the order you'll need them.
Every figure below is checked against the official race site and confirmed with the organisers, with one honest catch on every recommendation. Start anywhere — but if you are planning the trip rather than browsing it, go in order.
THE COURSE
Forty-two kilometres between a mountain and the water, with 86 metres of climb in the whole thing. Where it is fast and where the wind finds you.
REGISTRATION
No ballot, but four price tiers and a hard cap of 700 on the marathon. What each distance costs and when to commit.
COSTS & GETTING THERE
£330–590 all in — and the December flight problem nobody warns you about, with the airport that actually works.
THE BAY & STAY
Kotor or Tivat, and why the answer depends on which race you have entered. Four places to eat, one of them on the course.
TIPS & FAQ
Bib collection rules that catch foreign runners out, the bus and boat, and what to pack for a wet 2–10°C.
THE RACE ITSELF.
Boka Marathon is run by the Kotor and Tivat triathlon clubs across a full weekend in December. The 10K and 5K go Saturday afternoon; the marathon and half start together at nine Sunday morning from Pine in Tivat and finish inside the old town walls at Kotor.
The course is the reason to come. It follows the shore of the Bay of Kotor almost the whole way — a drowned river canyon with mountains falling into the sea on both sides. The marathon climbs 86 metres in total. The half climbs 52. Less climbing across a full marathon than most people do on a Tuesday evening in Britain.
It is also, unusually for a field this size, a qualifying race for the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Rankings — the same system that feeds into the age-group world championship.
| Dates | Sat–Sun 12–13 December 2026 |
| Marathon & half | Sunday 13 Dec, 09:00 |
| 10K & 5K | Saturday 12 Dec, 15:00 |
| Start / finish | Pine, Tivat → Old Town, Kotor |
| Course | Point to point, flat, AIMS certified |
| Total climb | Marathon 86m · half 52m |
| Cut-off | Marathon 6 hrs · half 3 hrs |
| Field cap | Marathon 700 · half 3,400 |
| Entry from | Marathon £43 · half £34 |
| Minimum age | Marathon 18 · half 16 · 10K 14 · 5K 12 |
Sources: bokamarathon.com race pages and FAQ, checked August 2026; marathon field cap of 700 confirmed by email with the organisers.
THREE THINGS THAT WILL SURPRISE a British runner.
HOW FLAT IT ACTUALLY IS
Eighty-six metres across a marathon, beside mountains that go up over a thousand. The road stays at sea level because it has nowhere else to go — the cliffs take the height instead.
THAT MONTENEGRO USES THE EURO
Without being in the eurozone, or the EU. It simply adopted the currency and kept it. No exchange, no conversion, no working out what a coffee costs.
HOW EMPTY DECEMBER IS
The bay in summer is a cruise-ship queue. In December it belongs to the people who live there, and you run through villages rather than past selfie sticks.
WHO IT'S FOR, and who it isn't.
Go if
You want a genuinely flat marathon and you are chasing a time.
You want a December race that isn't a muddy field in Kent.
You like the idea of finishing inside a medieval walled town.
You are aged 40 or over and want to collect AbbottWMM age-group ranking points without paying World Marathon Major prices.
Skip it if
You need crowd support. There are villages, not grandstands.
You want certainty about weather. December here is properly wet.
You want a simple flight. In December it is a connection or a transfer.
You want a warm-weather escape. It is 2–10°C, which is great for running and less great for sitting outside.