Nicosia Marathon

The Race

History

The Bank of Cyprus Nicosia Marathon is the current title-sponsor name for Cyprus’s capital-city marathon, run annually across marathon, half marathon, 10 km, 5 km, a corporate 5 km and a kids’ 1 km race, all organised by Eleven Blue Events, a Limassol-based events company. The race has changed sponsor branding before: the same event ran as the Quantum Nicosia Marathon as recently as December 2024, and each individual distance carries its own sponsor name today.

The race carries AIMS race-listing status, and the organiser’s own FAQ states that every distance except the 1 km kids’ race is measured by an official World Athletics measurer. Results archives on the official site extend back to 2010, suggesting a race history considerably longer than its current sponsor name implies.

The event runs as a single-morning, six-race festival rather than a marathon with side events bolted on: the marathon starts first at 06:45, followed by the half marathon 25 minutes later, then the shorter distances through the late morning.

The course

The Bank of Cyprus Nicosia Marathon starts at Solomou Square and finishes at Eleftheria Square, two points in central Nicosia around 250m apart on foot, at the intersection of Ledra and Onasagorou streets with several converging avenues. Between the two, the organiser’s own race page names a landmark sequence: the Nicosia Municipal Theatre, Griva Digeni Avenue, the Municipal Gardens, the historic Famagusta Gate, one of three surviving gates set into the city’s 16th-century Venetian walls, and the Liberty Monument. The course also passes through the linear park of Synergasias Street, known locally as “Sidirodromos,” built along the route of a former railway line that once connected communities across Cyprus.

The organiser’s route description calls the course moderately hilly; some race listings call it flat. The elevation chart sits between the two: a gently rolling course inside a band of about 60m, with no steep gradients but long, steady drags of 25 to 30m. The course is built from two laps of a western loop along Griva Digeni Avenue into Strovolos, followed by a single eastern section past Famagusta Gate into Kaimakli and back. No official elevation-gain figure has been published.

Km 0-14: Solomou Square, the Municipal Theatre and the first western loop. The marathon starts at 06:45 from Solomou Square, at the junction of Rigenis Street and Omirou Avenue in central Nicosia, close enough to Eleftheria Square that the two act almost as a single start-finish precinct for a runner staying nearby. The route passes the Nicosia Municipal Theatre and heads south-west along Griva Digeni Avenue, one of the city’s principal arteries, climbing about 28m over 6km into Strovolos, the high point of the course at about 180m near 5km. It comes back along Griva Digeni, runs west to a turn at about 10km, and returns gently downhill to Omirou Avenue.

Km 14-28: The second western loop. The same loop again, with the same 27m drag up to Strovolos between 15 and 20km and the same easy return. Knowing what is coming makes this lap a good place to settle into goal effort.

Km 28-36: Famagusta Gate, the Liberty Monument and down to Kaimakli. From Omirou the course runs along Stasinou Avenue outside the Venetian walls, past the Liberty Monument and Famagusta Gate, a 16th-century Venetian gatehouse and one of three surviving gates set into the walls, at about 30km. It then heads north-east up Archbishop Makarios III Avenue into Kaimakli, losing height steadily, about 48m from 26km to the low point of about 120m near 35.5km.

Km 36-42.195: Sidirodromos and the climb to Eleftheria Square. On the way back the course runs through the linear park of Synergasias Street, known locally as Sidirodromos and built along the route of a former railway line that once linked communities across the island, at about 38km. The closing kilometres climb about 32m, gradually, past the walls again to the finish at Eleftheria Square, a redeveloped civic square that has become one of the city’s more prominent modern public spaces. That climb comes when it hurts most, so a cautious early pace is the sensible default.

Course Map

The map shows the course: two laps west from Solomou Square along Griva Digeni Avenue into Strovolos, then east past Famagusta Gate into Kaimakli and through the Sidirodromos linear park to the Eleftheria Square finish. Tap a marker for details, and scrub the slider or press play to move the orange marker along the course with the elevation profile beneath it.

What to wear

January is Nicosia’s coldest and generally wettest month, and a 06:45 start puts the marathon field on the road well before sunrise, so a throwaway layer for the start-line wait is a sensible general call regardless of the exact overnight low on any given year. Given the course’s disputed hilliness, runners unfamiliar with the route should treat any pacing plan as provisional until they have checked the current year’s course profile.

Entry

Entry is direct online registration through Race Roster, with no ballot and no Good For Age route: minimum age is 18 for the marathon and half marathon on race day. Registration includes a race pack, bib number and safety pins, energy gels, a sponsors’ giveaways bag and sponsor discounts; race day itself adds electronic chip timing, mobile app live tracking, the pace team, aid stations and toilet facilities, on-course medical care, traffic-free roads, recovery massage, free beer at the finish, and a finisher medal, with a finisher’s diploma and free finisher photos issued afterwards.

Runners unable to complete their registered distance can downgrade to a shorter race by emailing the organiser, and upgrades are possible by paying the price difference; both changes must be requested at least 30 days before the race. Registration is non-transferable to another person and non-refundable, though a runner unable to attend may transfer their entry to the following year’s event. The event supports charity fundraising through a dedicated GivenGain page rather than offering guaranteed-entry charity places directly.

Fast Runner / GFA Standards

Not applicable. No evidence of a GFA or fast-runner entry pathway was found. Age-category awards run in five-year bands from 18-34 through to 75+, with trophies reserved for the overall top three men and women.

Race Weekend

Expo

Race pack collection runs at a Registration Centre at CYENS Centre of Excellence, Lellou Demetriades, Plateia Dimarchou 1, in Nicosia’s old town, on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 January 2027, both days 09:00 to 18:00. There is no race-day collection window confirmed for this event, so travelling runners need to plan to collect before Saturday evening.

Participants collect their registration number, timing bib tag and the remainder of their race materials in person, or can arrange ACS courier delivery to a pickup point of their choice during registration, for an additional fee if not selected at the time of entry.

Race Morning

Runners are advised to arrive at least one hour before their race’s start time to allow time to store personal items, warm up and use the toilets; the marathon starts at 06:45, meaning a realistic arrival around 05:45 in late-January pre-dawn conditions. Baggage facilities are available near the start line at Solomou Square, with full bag-drop procedure detail issued in a Race Guide emailed and published on the website in the weeks before the event.

The half marathon starts 25 minutes after the marathon at 07:10, followed by the 10 km at 10:45, the 5 km at 11:25, the corporate 5 km at 11:30 and the kids’ 1 km at 13:00, so the morning runs as a staggered festival across six separate races rather than a single event with side races.

Nutrition on Course

Water stations and toilets are positioned every 2.5 to 3 km along the route, offering water, electrolyte drinks, soft drinks, fruit and energy gels; bananas are available at specific stations along the way. A specific sports-nutrition sponsor brand and cup type have not been published.

Spectating

Because the course starts and finishes within a few hundred metres of each other in the old town, a spectator staying centrally can reasonably expect to see the field near Solomou Square at the start and again at Eleftheria Square for the finish without needing to travel far between the two. Nicosia’s old town is compact enough on foot that a car or bus itinerary may be less relevant here than on courses with a wider geographic spread. An Info Desk operates near the finish line on race day for non-medical assistance, useful for a spectator trying to find a lost runner or ask a logistics question.

Post-Race Food

Free beer is confirmed as part of the finish-line provision itself, per the official race inclusions list. Eleftheria Square sits at the edge of Nicosia’s old town and Ledra Street, one of the city’s densest concentrations of cafés and restaurants, but this page will not name a specific venue without a direct source.

Where to Stay

Because the course starts at Solomou Square and finishes at Eleftheria Square, both inside Nicosia’s old town and around 250m apart on foot, a hotel anywhere in the old town serves both ends of the race with minimal walking either way.

Around Eleftheria Square and Ledra Street

The most practical base: this puts a runner within walking distance of the finish, Ledra Street’s restaurants, and the Registration Centre at CYENS.

Around Solomou Square

Equally practical for the start specifically, and close enough to Eleftheria Square that the distinction between the two areas matters less here than the start-versus-finish choice matters on a genuinely point-to-point course elsewhere.

The wider old town, inside the Venetian walls

A short walk from either square, with a more traditional streetscape and generally lower room rates than the immediate square-front properties, at the cost of slightly longer walks in both directions on race morning.

The modern business district, south of the old city

The Semeli Hotel, around 2 km south of the old town near the Central Bank of Cyprus, represents this option: a quieter, more contemporary base for a visitor who prioritises modern amenities over walking distance.

Recommended hotels

Booking timeline

Entry is open registration with no ballot results date, so hotel booking can begin as soon as a runner has entered. January sits outside Cyprus’s peak summer tourist season, which may reduce competition for old-town hotel stock compared with a summer weekend.

See & Do

These sit at or close to the finish, or directly on the course’s own route.

Ledra Street and the Green Line Crossing

0.1 km (0.06 miles) from Eleftheria Square. Nicosia’s main pedestrian shopping street runs directly from Eleftheria Square into the old town, ending at a pedestrian crossing point through the UN-patrolled buffer zone that has divided the city since 1974. The crossing itself is a routine, well-used tourist route, and it sits directly on the course’s own finish-area doorstep.

Famagusta Gate

Directly on the marathon course, within the old town walls. One of three surviving gates in the city’s 16th-century Venetian walls, and a landmark the marathon course itself passes in its closing kilometres, now used as a cultural venue for exhibitions and events.

Cyprus Museum

Within easy walking distance of the old town. The island’s principal archaeological collection, covering Cypriot history from the Neolithic period through Roman rule, a manageable single museum visit for a runner without unlimited post-marathon museum-going energy.

Leventis Municipal Museum

Within the old town, a short walk from Eleftheria Square. A compact museum tracing Nicosia’s own municipal and social history, a useful counterpoint to the Cyprus Museum’s broader island-wide scope.

Laiki Geitonia and the old-town café quarter

Adjacent to Ledra Street, within the old town. A restored traditional quarter of narrow lanes, small squares and café terraces, a low-effort, flat walking option for a first day back on foot after the marathon.

Reading recommendation

Bitter Lemons by Lawrence Durrell. Durrell’s account of the years he spent living in Cyprus in the mid-1950s, based mainly in Bellapais near Kyrenia rather than Nicosia itself, but written against the same build-up to the island’s 1955-59 independence conflict that shaped the divided capital a runner crosses today. Won the 1957 Duff Cooper Prize.

After the Race

Nicosia Marathon runs in January. These itineraries reach the coast, the Troodos Mountains, or further afield across the island.