BELGRADE MARATHON
MY CITY IS HOSTING EUROPE, and you can be on the start line.
Every other guide on this site starts with a disclosure, so here is this one's: Belgrade is my city — not by birth, but by heart. I was born in the Vojvodina flatlands an hour or so north; Belgrade is where I studied, where I lived, and where I grew up in every way that matters after eighteen. The streets this race runs down are the streets I walked to lectures. I cannot pretend to be neutral about this city, so I won't — what I can promise is that every number below is checked against the organisers directly, and every recommendation carries its honest catch, the same as everywhere else on this site.
Here is what is happening in April 2027, plainly. The Belgrade Marathon turns forty, and for its birthday it is hosting the 2nd European Running Championships — elite athletes representing their countries, on the same weekend, on the same course, in the same field as you. You enter online like any race. No ballot, no qualifying time. And because of how the team scoring works, your finishing time can literally count toward Great Britain's result.
There is no other race in Europe next year where an ordinary runner gets that. That it happens to be in the city where I learned to run — loud, warm, stubborn, and more hospitable than anywhere I have lived since — is, I admit, a bonus I take personally.
Photo: Belgrade Marathon
SIX PAGES, in the order you'll need them.
Every figure checked against the official championships site and confirmed with the Belgrade Marathon organisation directly. Start with the championships page — it is the reason this race is different from every other one on this site.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
What the championships actually are, how the team scoring works, and why your net time can count for Great Britain. The page this guide exists for.
THE COURSE
Flat and fast through the heart of the city — the rivers, the bridges, Kalemegdan above you. Three races, three routes, one weekend.
REGISTRATION
Seven price waves between now and race week. What each race costs today, and what waiting until the expo costs you.
COSTS & GETTING THERE
£340–560 all in, direct flights from three London airports, and the airport taxi rule that saves you being overcharged.
THE CITY & STAY
My Belgrade: where to sleep, the kafana with live music, the oldest inn in the city, and where this town actually runs.
TIPS & FAQ
April weather, bib collection at the expo, the evening 10K, and every practical question answered plainly.
THE RACE ITSELF.
The Belgrade Marathon has been run since 1988, which makes 2027 the fortieth edition — and the organisers have marked it by winning the right to host the 2nd European Running Championships. It is the biggest race in Serbia and one of the biggest sporting weekends in the region: across the last three editions, between 3,200 and 3,600 runners came from abroad, and with the championships attached the organisation expects that number to rise significantly.
The weekend splits across two days. Saturday belongs to the half marathon and the relay in the morning and — unusually, and rather wonderfully — a 10K at six in the evening, run as the light goes down over the rivers. Sunday morning is the marathon.
| Race weekend | Sat–Sun 17–18 April 2027 |
| Marathon | Sunday 18 April, 08:00 |
| Half marathon & relay | Saturday 17 April, 09:00 |
| 10K | Saturday 17 April, 18:00 — an evening race |
| Status | 2nd European Running Championships, all three distances |
| Entry today | Marathon £52 (€60) · half £43 (€50) · 10K £39 (€45) — rises 1 September |
| How you enter | Open online registration — no ballot, no qualifying time |
| Foreign field | 3,200–3,600 at the last three editions, expected higher for 2027 |
Sources: europeanrunningchampionships.com, checked August 2026; participation figures and championships details confirmed directly with the Belgrade Marathon organisation.
THREE THINGS THAT WILL SURPRISE a British runner.
HOW LOUD THE SUPPORT IS
Belgrade does not do polite applause. It does grandmothers on balconies, car horns, and strangers who will feed you afterwards whether you have asked or not. Hospitality here is not a service — it is a reflex.
A 10K AT SIX IN THE EVENING
The Saturday 10K starts at 18:00, as the light drops over the two rivers. Almost no major European race runs its 10K in the evening, and it changes the entire feel — more festival than time trial.
HOW MUCH CITY YOU GET FOR THE MONEY
A proper kafana dinner with live music and wine costs less than a London main course. The city rewards staying an extra day better than almost anywhere on this site.
WHO IT'S FOR, and who it isn't.
Go if
You want to run a European Championships course in the same field as the elites — there is nowhere else to get this in 2027.
You want a flat spring marathon with a real city behind it.
You're bringing non-marathoners — the half, the evening 10K and the four-person relay mean everyone races.
You want a race weekend that is also, honestly, one of Europe's great nights out.
Skip if
You want a small, quiet race. This is the region's biggest running weekend, with championships attached.
You want guaranteed cool weather. April in Belgrade is usually ideal, but it can throw a warm day.
You're chasing a Major medal specifically — this is not one, however good the course.