ASICS Marathon de Paris 2027: New Lottery Entry, Course Profile, Hidden Hills, Pacing & Fueling
A complete guide to the 2027 edition — covering the new title sponsor, organizer and first-ever entry lottery, plus the recent Paris course, April weather, fueling, and how to build a 16 to 18 week training plan.
If you are looking for a Paris Marathon training plan, the first thing to understand about the 2027 edition is that almost everything around the race has changed, and one important piece is still outstanding: the organizer says the 50th-edition course will be unveiled in early 2027.
Before you can race it, you now have to get in — and for the first time in the event's history, that is no longer a matter of being quick with your credit card. The 2027 race is the ASICS Marathon de Paris, run by a new organizer, celebrating its 50th edition, and allocating general-entry places by lottery.
This guide uses the recent Paris course for training and pacing analysis. Cadence Running United says the official 50th-edition route will be released in early 2027, and this guide will be updated when it is published.
What's New for 2027
The 2027 Paris Marathon is an iconic race wearing a very different suit. Four changes matter:
- New title sponsor: ASICS. The event is now the ASICS Marathon de Paris. A partner of the race for 17 years, ASICS brings the tagline “La Joie court les rues”, or “Paris runs on joy.” Schneider Electric remains the Official Sustainability Partner for 2027–2030.
- New organizer. After 28 years under ASO, the race is now organized by Cadence Running United, the group bringing together Havas Events, Keneo and OSE and led by president Laurent Sturtz.
- A first-ever entry lottery. General-entry places are decided by random draw rather than first-come, first-served.
- The 50th edition. The race takes place on Sunday, April 4, 2027.
How to Enter: The New Paris Marathon Lottery
Paris now joins many of the world's largest destination marathons, including London, Tokyo, Berlin and New York, in using a lottery or ballot as a major route to general entry.
- It is a random draw. Entering on day one or the final day gives you the same odds.
- The 2027 entry window: September 8–30, with results released from October 1.
- The lottery is free; selected entry is €169.
- You have 72 hours if selected. Confirm and pay within that window or the place is forfeited.
- You can enter as a team. Groups of 2 to 6 can enter together. If one team member is drawn, the entire team receives the opportunity to register.
- If you do not get in: the organizer already offers Charity Entries and a separate Corporate Entry program. Other channels may be announced later, so check the official site rather than assuming previous options will carry over.
Always verify dates, prices and rules on the official ASICS Marathon de Paris site before entering.
- Race: ASICS Marathon de Paris (50th edition)
- Date: Sunday, April 4, 2027
- Organizer: Cadence Running United
- Entry: Lottery / ballot; €169 if selected
- Expected field: Up to 60,000 registered runners
- Recent course: Large city loop with two forest sections; the 2027 route is not yet published
- Key challenges: Early cobblestones and congestion, rolling terrain in Vincennes and Boulogne, Seine underpasses, and a difficult final 10 km
- Best training block: 16 to 18 weeks
- Best pacing cue: The first 10 km are the prettiest and the most dangerous
What the Recent Paris Marathon Course Looks Like
Cadence Running United says the official route for the 50th edition will be unveiled in early 2027. Until then, the analysis below describes the recent Marathon de Paris route and the terrain runners have traditionally needed to prepare for.
The official 2027 elevation profile has not yet been published. Recent editions have had roughly 270 to 300 meters of total climbing, enough to make Paris meaningfully more rolling than Berlin or Chicago. The 2025 route, for example, was listed at 292 m of climbing and 289 m of descent. We will update this section when the organizer releases the 2027 course.
The course has three distinct personalities. The first is central Paris, where the roads are grand, the scenery is absurdly good, and the temptation to go too fast arrives early and dressed nicely. The second is the Bois de Vincennes, where the rollers quietly start stealing rhythm. The third is the western return through the Seine section and the Bois de Boulogne, where tired legs meet underpasses, more rolling terrain, and a finish that only feels glorious if you have not detonated first.
The sneakiest part of the race is not one named climb. It is the way the course keeps asking the legs to absorb short descents and immediate reascents along the Seine. Those underpasses hit the quads far harder than most runners expect when they first glance at the map.
Paris rewards runners who respect what the course actually is instead of what it looks like in finish-line photos. The first half offers scenery and temptation. The second half offers consequences.
Course Breakdown by Segment
The analysis below follows the established recent route: city, eastern forest, river, western forest, finish. Exact 2027 landmarks and kilometer points remain subject to the official route announcement.
Km 0 to 3: Champs-Élysées
Glamorous, crowded, slightly downhill, and more technical than it looksThe start on the Champs-Élysées is one of the great opening scenes in road racing. It is also one of the great opportunities to behave like a fool in public. The combination of crowd density, excitement, and the early feel of speed can make almost any pace seem reasonable for about ninety seconds.
The early cobblestoned surface and field congestion mean this section should be run by effort, not by ego and definitely not by weaving. Let the course settle down before you try to look clever.
If the Champs-Élysées feels slightly too calm, you are probably racing well.
Km 3 to 10: Concorde, Louvre, Bastille
The grand city tour and the first serious pacing trapThis is the postcard stretch. Place de la Concorde, the Tuileries, the Louvre, Rue de Rivoli, Bastille. It is extraordinary to run through and dangerous for exactly the same reason. The scenery makes a slightly overcooked effort feel perfectly sustainable.
Use landmarks as checkpoints, not excuses. The right job here is to arrive at Bastille relaxed, not impressed with yourself.
Km 10 to 21: Bois de Vincennes
The eastern forest where rhythm starts getting expensiveThe Bois de Vincennes is where the course first starts telling the truth. The rollers are not mountainous, but they are enough to expose anyone who used the city section for enthusiasm instead of restraint. Crowd energy fades a bit, the scenery changes, and effort becomes more honest.
This is also where runners who trained only on flat roads start discovering that "sort of rolling" is still a category with bills attached.
If the forest feels manageable, your first 10 km were probably smart. If it already feels sticky, Paris has started handing you receipts.
Km 21 to 30: Seine riverbanks
The most beautiful and most technically annoying part of the raceThe Seine section is spectacular. Notre-Dame, the river, famous bridges, the Eiffel Tower area. It is also where Paris hides one of its nastiest physical tricks: repeated underpasses that drop sharply and kick right back up.
These are not huge hills. They are worse than huge hills in one specific way. They arrive as quick quad-smashing descents followed by abrupt uphill exits, and they do it when the race is well underway. If you bomb the downhills because they look free, the second half of Paris will remember that decision with perfect clarity.
Km 30 to 35: The late climb and the pivot into survival
This is where Paris stops flirting and starts judgingThe late race climb heading into the final western section is the moment many runners identify as the point where the course becomes fully real. It is not alpine. It is simply badly timed, which in marathon terms is often more offensive.
Your pace will slow here. Good. It should. The mistake is trying to defend flat-course pace with pride when what the course actually demands is controlled effort and intact form.
In Paris, the question is not whether the late climb will slow you. It will. The real question is whether you arrive there with enough left to keep racing afterward.
Km 35 to 40: Bois de Boulogne
Quiet, rolling, and mentally much harder than the map suggestsThe Bois de Boulogne is where a lot of races unravel quietly. The crowd thins, the road stays demanding, and the course asks for a kind of self-generated effort that flashy city sections never do. This is not the part of the race where the environment carries you. This is the part where your training has to.
Km 40 to 42.2: Avenue Foch finish
Fast if earned, grim if borrowedThe finish near Avenue Foch is genuinely magnificent. If you paced well, the final approach feels like repayment. If you did not, it feels like a beautifully landscaped interrogation.
Either way, run toward the line. Paris gives you a memorable ending — and for the 50th edition, expect the organizers to make it an especially big one. It just asks a lot before handing it over.
Pacing Strategy
The best Paris Marathon pacing strategy is conservative through the city, controlled through Vincennes, technically sound on the Seine, and effort-based through the final western section. That sounds simple. The trick is doing it while the city keeps trying to seduce you into a slightly faster story.
The classic Paris mistake is running the first 10 km as though scenery were evidence of fitness. It is not. Beautiful streets do not reduce the metabolic cost of stupidity.
Think of Paris in three phases. Phase one is the city: patient, controlled, visually rich. Phase two is the middle of the race: rhythm management, rolling effort, tunnel discipline. Phase three is the hard closing section: honest effort and resilience.
| Segment | Pace Approach | Execution Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Km 0 to 3 | Controlled and slightly calm | Respect cobbles, congestion, and adrenaline. |
| Km 3 to 10 | Settle to goal pace | Let landmarks entertain you, not pace you. |
| Km 10 to 21 | Effort-based on rollers | Run Vincennes by effort, not by force. |
| Km 21 to 30 | Steady with tunnel discipline | Short stride on descents, calm exits uphill. |
| Km 30 to 35 | Prepare to shift by effort | Fuel before the late climbing begins. |
| Km 35 to 42.2 | Honest effort | Protect form and finish what is left. |
In Paris, the watch is most useful early as a brake and less useful late as a judge. Use it to stop yourself from getting carried away in the city. In the final 10 km, effort usually tells the truth faster than pace does.
Want exact Paris-adjusted splits for your goal time?
Use the Paris marathon pacing calculator →How to Train for Paris
A good Paris Marathon training plan should prepare you for rolling terrain, repeated short descents and reascents, and a late-race demand curve that is harder than the opening city miles suggest. With the ballot now deciding entry, this fitness remains useful even before your place is confirmed and transfers well to another spring marathon if needed.
What Paris-specific training should target
- Rolling terrain tolerance so the forests do not constantly interrupt rhythm
- Quadriceps durability for descents so the Seine underpasses do not turn your legs into furniture
- Late-race climbing fitness so the harder western section is difficult but manageable
- Crowd and congestion management for the opening kilometers
- Mental resilience for quieter miles when the course stops entertaining you and starts asking for work
Key workouts for a Paris Marathon training plan
Paris punishes runners who prepare only on pancake-flat routes.
- Use gently rolling long-run routes whenever possible
- Practice keeping effort consistent when pace fluctuates
- Learn to treat terrain changes as normal rather than disruptive
The Seine underpasses create a specific down-then-up demand that deserves its own rehearsal.
- Find a short descent with an immediate uphill exit
- Run 8 to 12 controlled repeats
- Shorten stride on the downhill and do not brake hard
- Flow into the climb without turning it into a sprint
The purpose is to practice climbing on tired legs, not merely to practice climbing.
- Run 28 to 32 km total
- Insert a climb in the final 8 to 10 km
- Continue running after the crest
- Fuel before the climb begins
The Bois de Boulogne is partly a physical problem and partly a "nobody is cheering, now what?" problem.
- Run some sections of long runs without music or extra stimulation
- Practice maintaining effort when the environment gets emotionally flat
- Train the ability to self-generate momentum
Strength training for Paris
- Eccentric step-downs for tunnel descents
- Bulgarian split squats with slow lowering for late-race stability
- Single-leg calf raises for sustained climbing support
- Hip and glute work for posture across constantly changing terrain
- Core stability work to keep form from folding late
If you remember only one training point, make it this: Paris rewards runners who get comfortable running well on varied terrain repeatedly. Flat-only marathon prep is a flimsy umbrella for this particular rainstorm.
Need help structuring the block?
Build a personalized Paris marathon training plan →Weather and Race-Day Conditions
Paris Marathon weather in April is variable enough that you should treat "mild European spring" as a dangerous oversimplification. Early April in Paris can be cool, wet, windy, or surprisingly warm. The good news is that none of those conditions are unmanageable if you expect them. The bad news is that Paris becomes much less charming when runners show up dressed and paced for a fantasy forecast.
These are the best conditions for Paris. The course still bites, but at least the weather is not helping it.
Warmer conditions make the western forest section feel much longer and much ruder.
Wet openings and slippery sections demand a little more caution, especially early when the field is still dense.
This is the underestimated variable. A riverbank headwind in the middle of the race changes the effort equation fast.
Want to adjust pacing for temperature?
Use the marathon heat adjustment calculator →Fueling Strategy
Paris Marathon fueling deserves real planning because the course has two spots where nutrition discipline matters more than usual: before the Seine section starts accumulating tunnel damage, and before the late race climb and western forest make decisions harder.
Aid stations
Recent hydration setup: Paris went cup- and bottle-free on course in 2026, requiring runners to carry their own reusable cup, flask or hydration pack and refill at official stations. With Schneider Electric continuing as the event's sustainability partner, runners should be prepared for a similar system in 2027, but the new organizer has not yet published the 2027 aid-station plan. Confirm the final setup in the athlete guide before race day.
Before the race
The big field means early logistics matter. Bring your usual race-morning fuel and do not depend on improvisation. Large marathon mornings are already full of enough nonsense without adding breakfast uncertainty.
During the race
Fuel early and consistently. The most important nutrition window in Paris is before the late climbing starts asking for stored carbohydrate that you forgot to top off.
The late climb is not just a fitness problem. It becomes a fueling problem for runners who waited too long to solve it.
If caffeine is part of your plan, later deployment often makes more sense than taking too much too early and confusing excitement with genuine race effort.
Want exact carbs, fluids, sodium, and caffeine targets for Paris?
Use the marathon fueling calculator for race day →Mental Strategy for Race Day
Paris needs a mental framework that can handle beauty, distraction, rolling terrain, and late-race honesty.
Build Your Paris Marathon Training Plan
Generic marathon plans do not account for the specific demands of Paris. A better plan should reflect the rolling forests, the underpasses, the late-race climbing, the hydration logistics, and the variability of early spring weather.
- Rolling-terrain long runs designed to mirror Paris
- Tunnel-style descent simulation for quad durability
- Late-race climbing workouts for the western section
- Weather-aware pacing guidance for early April
- Fueling and taper advice matched to the course
Paris Marathon FAQ
Sources: ASICS Marathon de Paris official site; ASICS title-partner announcement; recent Paris course and hydration guidance. Entry rules, route details and aid-station operations can change, so verify current information with the organizer.