Tunis-Carthage Marathon

The Race

History

COMAR, a Tunisian insurance company, founded the marathon in 1986, and the first race ran on 15 October that year. Houcine Makni won it in 2:46:48. COMAR has organised the event every year since, under the Ministry of Youth and Sports and in partnership with the Tunisian Athletics Federation, which treats the men’s and women’s races as the national 42.195 km championship.

The inaugural edition ran in October. Recent in-person editions have fallen between the end of November and the first week of December. The 2020 and 2021 races went virtual because of the pandemic, and the live event returned in December 2022. The race joined the World Athletics international calendar in 2019 and appears in the federation’s Bronze Label results for 1 December that year. It is a full member of AIMS, and the course was measured by an expert recognised by AIMS and World Athletics using the calibrated bicycle method.

Elite fields come mostly from East Africa. Kelvin Kimutai of Kenya won in 2025 in 2:13:06 and Tsehay Gebre Getiso of Ethiopia won the women’s race in 2:30:01. Francis Cheruiyot and Flomena Chepkiach Ngurasia won in 2023, and Amos Kiplagat and Mildred Chepkemei Kinyanja in 2024.

The marathon is the smallest of four races on the programme. Registrations across the marathon, half marathon, 5 km and children’s race rose from 6,041 in 2023 to more than 9,600 in 2025, and almost all of that growth sits in the half marathon and the 5 km. About 1,000 runners had entered the marathon in the days before the 2025 race.

The course

The marathon starts at 08:00 on Avenue Mohamed V in central Tunis and finishes on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, 229 m from the start. It runs clockwise round Lake Tunis with the water on the runner’s right, with one long out-and-back arm into Carthage folded into the lap.

The route leaves the centre northwards, reaches the lake around km 5 and follows the northern shore through Berges du Lac to km 15. It then turns north-east through Sidi Omar and Sidi Daoud into Carthage, climbs to the half-marathon mat at km 21.1, turns at km 22.8 beside Amilcar and comes back through Carthage along the Route Nationale Tunis-Carthage. The lake roads resume at km 29, and the final 11 km run along the Route de La Goulette on the southern shore.

The roads are asphalt. The first 17 km sit between 0 and 3 m above sea level, the climb into Carthage adds 38 m between km 17 and km 22, and the last 15 km are flat again. Timing mats and refreshment stations sit every 5 km.

Km 0–6: City streets and the road to the lake. The marathon leaves Avenue Mohamed V at 08:00, five minutes before the half marathon and ten before the 5 km. About 1,000 marathon runners share these opening streets with roughly 8,000 in the shorter races, and the faster half-marathon runners catch the back of the marathon field on the shared roads. Line up near the front if clear road matters. The course runs north through Lafayette and Khéréddine Pacha on flat ground at 2 to 5 m, then joins Avenue Abdelaziz Kamel at km 3 and reaches the lake district by km 6.

Km 6–15: Berges du Lac. The route follows the northern shore through the business district of Berges du Lac 1 and 2, along Sheikh Zayed Avenue and the lake-named streets, then through Cité des Pins. The boulevards are wide, the asphalt is smooth and the ground sits at 0 to 2 m for 9 km. Nothing shelters the road from wind or rain, and December brings rain on about eight days. Refreshment stations stand at km 5, 10 and 15 with bottled water, sugar cubes and pieces of orange and lemon. Sports drink and gels are not listed, so carry your own.

Km 15–22: Sidi Omar, Sidi Daoud and Carthage. At about km 16 the course leaves the lake on Avenue de la Qualité de la Vie and heads north-east. The road is at 3 m at km 17 and begins to climb through Sidi Daoud, reaching Carthage Byrsa at km 19 and 11 m. From there it climbs 30 m in three kilometres, with the steepest stretch, about 3%, around km 21.4 to 21.6, and the half-marathon mat at km 21.1 on Rue Roosevelt. The climb is long and gradual and tops out near 41 m at km 22. Spread the effort.

Km 22–27: The turn and the drop.The turn comes at km 22.8 beside Amilcar, close to the coast. The road rises to the course’s high point, 47 m at km 24.6, then falls 27 m in the kilometre from km 25 to km 26 on the Route Nationale Tunis-Carthage, about 3% at its steepest, and reaches 4 m by km 27. This is the one place where the quadriceps take a hit: hold back through km 25 and 26 for what follows.

Km 27–31: Back to the lake. The course returns through Sidi Daoud at km 26 and Sidi Omar at km 27 and 28, rejoins Avenue de la Qualité de la Vie at km 29 and reaches the Route de La Goulette at km 31. The ground is flat at sea level. This is where an even-paced runner finds out whether the hill took more than the descent gave back.

Km 31–42.2: The southern shore. The final 11 km run west along the Route de La Goulette on the southern edge of the lake, flat at 0 to 2 m and exposed to the wind. The course passes close to the port town of La Goulette around km 31 and 32. It passes Tunis Marine TGM station at about km 41.8 and finishes 400 m later on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, with the Marathon Village and the podium in the last few hundred metres.

No racing line is marked, so on the wide lakeside boulevards the shortest route is the one you choose: hold the inside of each bend. Chip mats sit every 5 km and at the half-marathon point, with the finish mat on Avenue Habib Bourguiba.

Course highlights

Carthage. From km 19 the course runs through the Carthage Byrsa district, the hillside that holds the Punic and Roman remains, and it returns through the same district between km 24 and 26. The Carthage Museum and the Antonine Baths are a short TGM ride from the finish, so the ground you ran can be walked slowly the next day.

The Route de La Goulette. Eleven kilometres of straight, flat road beside the water close the race. The port town of La Goulette sits beside it around km 31 and 32.

The finish avenue.The race ends on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, the capital’s ceremonial street, with the Marathon Village on the central reservation and the podium in the last few hundred metres.

Course Map

The map shows the course from Avenue Mohamed V through Berges du Lac to the turn beside Amilcar and back along the Route de La Goulette, with the start, finish, half-marathon mat and the TGM stations used by spectators.

Pacers

No pace groups are listed in the race programme or the regulations. Email the organiser at marathon@comar.tn before planning around a group, and plan to run your own race.

What to wear

Early December starts have been between 10°C and 13°C at 08:00, rising to a daily average high near 18°C. Rain falls on roughly eight days of the month, and a wet day before the race has left the roads slippery.

Dress for 12°C running, then add a light layer for the standing time before the start. Runners gather from 07:00 on an open city avenue and the gun does not go until 08:00, so an hour of waiting in cool air is the real cold exposure. No clothing-discard arrangement and no bag drop are published, so choose a top you can tie round your waist or hand to a companion instead of one you plan to abandon at the roadside.

Most of the lakeside course is open to the wind, so a thin windproof layer earns its weight if the forecast is changeable. A cap helps with the sun in the later kilometres, since the race finishes by about 13:00 and clear mornings are common. Shoes with decent grip are worth having on wet asphalt.

Entry

Entry is open, first come first served, with no ballot and no qualifying time. Registration runs through the organiser’s partner portal, myevents.tn, from late September until midday on the Friday before race day. A cheaper early-bird band runs to the first week of November, after which the fee rises, and an in-person option at the COMAR office on Avenue Habib Bourguiba costs a little more again.

Published fees for the marathon and half marathon are 20 TND online in the early band, 25 TND online in the later band and 30 TND in person: roughly £5, £6 and £7.50. The 5 km costs 10 TND and the children’s race 5 TND. Runners born between 1932 and 2008 are eligible for the marathon, which in practice means over-18s.

Foreign runners should check the payment screen before relying on those figures. Non-resident foreigners have previously paid in euros, at €20 in the early band and €25 in the later one, and the current registration page shows only dinar prices. Registrations are firm: the previous terms allowed no refunds for any reason, including injury, and no transfers to another runner. Confirm the current terms when you register and make sure your travel insurance covers the entry fee.

Individual entrants outside Tunisian federation clubs supply a copy of their national ID or passport with registration, and every runner signs a liability undertaking when collecting a bib. No medical certificate is mentioned. Federation clubs enter through their club and do not pay.

There is no fast-runner or good-for-age route, no charity place programme and no tour-operator allocation. The marathon doubles as the Tunisian championship, with minimum times of 2:30:00 for Tunisian men and 3:00:00 for Tunisian women, and no published route exists for foreign elite athletes. All marathon runners start together at 08:00 with no waves or corrals. Register in the first fee band, since the saving is small but the window is short.

The tree-planting entry

The organiser’s environmental programme is the race’s signature. Runners can add any amount to their entry fee at one dinar per tree through the solidarity bib, with the planting run in partnership with the association Tounes Clean Up. The programme began in 2019, and the organiser reports well over 150,000 trees planted since 2021.

Fast Runner / GFA Standards

No qualifying route exists. Entry is open to everyone in the eligible age range, and there is no guaranteed-entry table.

Race Weekend

Expo

The race has no conventional expo hall. Its pre-race hub is the Marathon Village on the central reservation of Avenue Habib Bourguiba, opposite the COMAR headquarters, open on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of race weekend. It holds exhibition stands for sport, health and the environment, along with entertainment and coaching sessions.

Bibs are collected at 11 outlets, and the collection windows end before race weekend. The COMAR office at 26 Avenue Habib Bourguiba (telephone 71 340 899) hands out bibs on working days from 08:00 to 18:00, starting about two weeks before the race. From the Monday of race week, bibs are also available at Decathlon stores in Tunis City, Azur City and La Marsa (plus Sfax and Sousse), open 10:00 to 14:00 and 15:00 to 20:00, and at five Gym Box gyms in the Tunis area (Jardins de Carthage, Menzah 6, Menzah 1, Grombalia and Mohamed 5), several of which open long hours. All collection ends on the Friday before the race, and no Saturday collection is listed, so plan to pick your bib up by Friday evening.

Take photo ID. Each runner signs a liability undertaking at collection, and an ID copy goes in at registration. Whether another person can collect a bib on your behalf, and what happens to an uncollected one, is not published, so ask marathon@comar.tn before relying on either. Bib pack contents are not published either.

The COMAR office and the Village are both on the finish avenue, so collection and a first look at the finish straight fit into one walk if you stay in the centre. For runners staying in La Marsa or Carthage, the Decathlon in La Marsa avoids the trip into town.

Getting to the Start

The marathon starts at 08:00 on Avenue Mohamed V, and runners gather from 07:00. A group warm-up begins at 07:20, the national anthem plays at 07:55 and the gun fires five minutes before the half marathon, ten before the 5 km and fifteen before the children’s race. Awards start at 11:00 for the 5 km, then the half marathon at 11:30 and the marathon at 11:45. The village closes at 13:45. There are no waves, corrals or first-marathon policies. Everyone starts together.

From any central hotel the walk to Avenue Mohamed V takes roughly 5 to 20 minutes. From Berges du Lac, a taxi across the lake takes about 10 to 15 minutes in light Sunday traffic. From La Marsa, Carthage or Sidi Bou Said, the TGM commuter train runs to Tunis Marine in about 32 minutes from La Marsa, roughly every 25 to 30 minutes on Sundays, and Tunis Marine is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the start. Check the first Sunday departure against the 07:00 gather. No free race-day transport is included, so budget about 1.10 TND for the TGM or a few dinars for a taxi.

The gather happens on an open city avenue and it is cool at that hour, with recent starts at 10 to 13°C. Toilets, warm-up space and security are not described in any published programme, and the 2025 edition used police and civil protection around the event. Bag drop is not published, so leave anything you do not need at the hotel and carry a small layer.

Chip bibs record at mats every 5 km and at the half-marathon point, and the clock starts at the gun. Results appear free on the race website about 24 hours after the finish. No live tracking or race app is published, so agree a meeting point with anyone waiting for you.

At the line, finishers have received the medal, water, sugar cubes, oranges and lemons, and the same medal goes to every distance with only the ribbon colour changing. The finish feeds straight into the Marathon Village and the podium on Avenue Habib Bourguiba. Last finishers cross at 13:00 under the five-hour cutoff, so the finish area thins after about 12:30. Runners with afternoon flights should leave margin, since the awards end around midday. Headphones, pushchairs, wheelchairs, deferrals and pregnancy are not addressed in the published regulations.

Nutrition on Course

The course has refreshment stations every 5 km and sponging stations every 5 km, offset between the water points. That gives eight refreshment stops at km 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40.

Expect bottled water, sugar cubes and orange and lemon pieces. Sports drink and gels are not listed, so assume neither and carry your own. A 5 km spacing is wide for a runner on four-hour pace, so carry enough to cover the gaps.

Personal bottle service, elite-only tables and on-course toilets are not described. Medical cover exists: doctors from Amen Santé were deployed for the 2025 edition alongside police and civil protection.

Spectating

A spectator without a car can realistically see a runner four times: at the start, at the turn beside Amilcar, near La Goulette and at the finish. Tunis Marine station sits on the course at about km 41.8, 400 m before the line, so it doubles as a final viewing point. Sunday trains run every 25 to 30 minutes, so a coastal sighting depends on the runner’s pace and the connection and is a plan to attempt, not a guarantee.

The TGM runs from Tunis Marine through La Goulette and Carthage to La Marsa in about 32 minutes end to end, with fares of roughly 0.5 to 1.1 TND depending on distance. Two stations sit close to the course. Carthage Amilcar is about 120 m from the course at km 23.5, with Carthage Présidence 200 m from it at km 23.9. La Goulette Casino is about 160 m from the course at km 31, with La Goulette Neuve 515 m and La Goulette Vieille 565 m away. The other Carthage stations are further out: Carthage Hannibal is 480 m from the course, Carthage Dermech 760 m, Carthage Byrsa 1.2 km and Carthage Salammbô 1.5 km.

Approximate times runners pass, assuming even pace from the 08:00 gun:

Spectator Transport Itinerary A

Watch the 08:00 start on Avenue Mohamed V, then walk about 10 minutes to Tunis Marine station. Take the TGM towards La Marsa to Carthage Amilcar, about 20 to 25 minutes, and arrive by about 10:00 to see a 3:30 runner pass km 23.5, earlier for anything quicker. Ride back to Tunis Marine and walk to the finish on Avenue Habib Bourguiba.

Spectator Transport Itinerary B

Take the TGM to Carthage Amilcar for km 23.5, then ride back towards Tunis to La Goulette Casino for km 31. A runner reaches the second point 35 to 50 minutes after the first, so a 4:00 runner passes km 23.5 at about 10:14 and km 31 at about 10:56. Return to Tunis Marine, watch from the station at km 41.8 and walk to the finish.

Spectator Transport Itinerary C

Watch the 08:00 start on Avenue Mohamed V, walk 400 to 600 m to the Marathon Village and finish area on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, and spend the morning there for the finish, the 5 km and children’s awards and the marathon podium at 11:45.

The finish on Avenue Habib Bourguiba is the best single position: the podium, the village and most of the crowd are there, and no ticketing for the finish area is published. Start and finish are 229 m apart, so two sightings need no transport at all. No live tracking is published, and results go up on the race website about 24 hours after the race. Agree a meeting point beforehand.

Post-Race Food

The finish is in central Tunis, and three restaurants within a short walk are listed. Distances are straight-line estimates from published addresses, and each one’s Sunday opening hours should be checked on the day.

Bab Tounès, at 3 Rue de l’Ancienne Douane near Bab Bhar, is about 750 m from the finish, a walk of roughly 10 minutes. It serves Mediterranean and healthy cooking at mid-range prices and is listed as open until 22:00. Couscous is the traditional Sunday meal in Tunisia, and a restaurant in the old quarter is the natural place to have one.

Al Majlis, at 5 Place de la Victoire, is also about 750 m away and about 10 minutes on foot, in the same quarter just off the top of the avenue. Set Al Habayeb, at 16 Rue Boukhrissan near the edge of the Medina, is about 1.3 km from the finish, a walk of about 15 minutes. It is a widely reviewed traditional address built around slow-cooked dishes, which suit a tired runner’s pace.

For runners with more energy, La Goulette, which the course passes around km 31 and 32, is 12 minutes from Tunis Marine on the TGM.

Where to Stay

Stay close to the finish. In Tunis the start and finish sit 229 m apart on the same grid of central avenues, so the rule costs nothing: a hotel near the finish is also a short walk from the start, the Marathon Village and the main bib-collection office. The real choice is between that convenience and the modern comfort or coastal setting of districts that need a taxi or the TGM on race morning.

Avenue Habib Bourguiba and the city centre

Avenue Habib Bourguiba and the streets around it hold the finish, the Marathon Village, the COMAR office where bibs are collected and the city’s widest choice of hotels. The start on Avenue Mohamed V is 229 m from the finish. The avenue is Tunis’s ceremonial boulevard, lined with ministries, cafés and the municipal theatre. It is a central city avenue, so ask for a room at the back if you want a quiet Saturday night. Choose it for the shortest possible race morning. Avoid it if quiet matters more than convenience.

Montplaisir and Avenue de la Liberté

Montplaisir is the business district immediately north of the centre, roughly 2 km from the start and finish and about a 20 to 25 minute walk. It has modern mid-range hotels and offices, with the Belvédère park nearby. Choose it for a calmer night within walking distance of the start. Avoid it if you want to be among the race crowds or near the lake.

Berges du Lac

Berges du Lac is the lake district the course runs through between km 7 and km 13, roughly 5 km from the finish across the lake and 10 to 15 minutes by taxi. It has glass towers and international hotels, and Tunis-Carthage airport is about 15 minutes further, which makes it the most convenient district for a short trip built around a flight. Choose it for modern comfort and airport access. Avoid it without a taxi budget, since the start is not walkable.

Carthage, La Marsa and Gammarth

Carthage lies on the course between km 19 and km 26, with La Marsa and Gammarth further north on the same coastline at the scenic end of the TGM line. The train takes about 32 minutes from La Marsa to Tunis Marine, followed by a walk of 10 to 15 minutes to the start. The Carthage ruins and Sidi Bou Said sit next door, and a Decathlon in La Marsa handles bib collection. Choose it to combine the race with the coastal sights. Avoid it if you do not want a 45 to 50 minute race-morning commute that depends on Sunday trains every 25 to 30 minutes.

The Medina

The Medina is the UNESCO-listed old town immediately inland of Avenue Habib Bourguiba, 10 to 15 minutes’ walk from the start. It has souks and small riad-style guesthouses at the lowest price tier. Choose it for the old-town setting and a low price. Avoid it if you want the services of a large hotel, since luggage and taxis are harder in the narrow streets.

For a first visit built around a short trip, the city centre is the default, because every race logistics point is within about 15 minutes on foot and the TGM is on hand for the coast afterwards. Split the stay only if you want beach time: central Tunis for the race nights, then La Marsa or Gammarth for recovery days by the sea. No hotel blocks or marathon rates are published, so book through normal channels as soon as your travel dates are fixed.

Recommended hotels

No organiser hotel block exists, and distances are straight-line estimates from published addresses, so confirm current operation and prices before booking.

Booking timeline

There is no ballot, so no results-day rush on hotels. The constraint is the registration window, which opens in late September and closes at midday on the Friday before race day. Bib collection starts about two weeks before the race at the COMAR office on Avenue Habib Bourguiba and ends on that same Friday, which sets the latest sensible arrival for a race-weekend trip. Land by Friday afternoon at the latest.

No hotel blocks, partner rates or tour-operator allocations are published, and no marathon-weekend price premium is documented. December sits outside the main beach season on the coast, so availability is unlikely to be tight in most years. Book central hotels when you register, since the cost of waiting is higher than the cost of a free-cancellation rate.

Budget for the statutory hotel tax, payable locally: 8 TND (about £2) per person per night in three-star hotels and 12 TND (about £3) in four and five-star hotels, charged for up to ten nights. A Thursday-to-Monday trip covers the Village days, bib collection and a day for Carthage, and the Bardo Museum is closed on Mondays.

See & Do

These five places are reached from the finish area and the central hotels. The first two are walkable or a short taxi ride from Avenue Habib Bourguiba, and the last three are TGM trips from Tunis Marine.

Medina of Tunis

About 0.5 km (0.3 miles) from the finish at its nearest edge. The UNESCO World Heritage old town of souks and mosques sits immediately inland of Avenue Habib Bourguiba and is free to wander. It is flat but crowded, and the main souks involve gentle jostling. Go on Saturday morning before the Village fills, or at a slow pace the day after the race, when the Bardo Museum is closed.

National Bardo Museum

About 5 km (3 miles) from the finish. A former beylical palace that holds one of the world’s largest collections of Roman mosaics. The museum closes on Mondays and runs 09:30 to 16:30 in winter at about 13 TND for foreign visitors, so plan it for Saturday before the race or Tuesday after. Allow two to three hours of standing and walking, with stairs.

Carthage

About 13 km (8 miles) from the finish, 18 minutes by TGM from Tunis Marine. Punic and Roman remains are scattered across a residential hillside beside the sea, and the marathon runs through the district. The Carthage Museum charges about 12 TND for foreign visitors and keeps winter hours of roughly 08:30 to 17:00, though parts of it are being restructured. Combine it with Sidi Bou Said in one afternoon and check the forecast, since the sites are mostly outdoors.

Sidi Bou Said

About 16 km (10 miles) from the finish, 25 minutes by TGM from Tunis Marine. A white and blue village above the sea that is a short walk uphill from its own TGM station. The lanes are cobbled and the ground is stepped, so it is moderately hard on tired legs. A café terrace over the sea is the easy way to finish the day.

La Goulette

About 10 km (6.5 miles) from the finish, 12 minutes by TGM from Tunis Marine. The port town beside the course around km 31 and 32, with seafood restaurants along the main street, a modest beach and the old fort. It is quiet in December and works as a low-effort half-day.

After the Race

The race falls in the first week of December, when days are cool and mostly dry and the light fades early. Legs will be stiff for two or three days, so the day trips come first: Carthage and the Medina are flat, short TGM or taxi rides. The longer excursions, Hammamet, Kairouan and El Jem, and Tozeur, work best from the second recovery day.