Anniversary Almaty Marathon to Feature New Courses and Welcome 16,000 Participants

On 27 September, Almaty will host the 15th Almaty Marathon, Central Asia’s largest running event. 16 thousand participants from 60 countries will cross the starting line. The organiser is “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund. For its 15th anniversary edition, the Marathon has introduced completely redesigned courses across all race distances. For the first time, the 42.2 km course will be run as a single loop, with its second half taking participants through Almaty’s central streets and historic districts. Participants will start at Abay Square and finish at Republic Square.

The Almaty Marathon program traditionally includes four individual distances: 42.2 km Marathon, 21.1 km Half Marathon, 10 km Race, and 10 km Nordic Walking. The program also includes the Ekiden Relay Race, with teams of six runners sharing the marathon distance. All courses have been certified as per the World Athletics standards.

The Almaty Marathon has been held since 2012. The first fundraising run under the name of Courage to Be the First united 2,500 participants. Over 15 years the number of participants has grown more than six times, and the event itself has become one of the core projects that have had an impact on mass running development in Kazakhstan. 

“Over the course of 15 years the Almaty Marathon has stepped beyond an ordinary sporting annual event. It has become one of the projects that have had an impact on the development of running culture and the associated infrastructure: clubs, special-purposed shops, sports medicine, apparel, and services for runners. The Marathon has also helped reinforce Almaty’s stand on the international running map. Next step is to develop sports tourism, expand Kazakhstan’s presence in the international running community and create the legacy which will deliver benefits to the city and its residents,” notes Galimzhan Yessenov, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund. 

The Anniversary Marathon will be held under the slogan Start Your Legacy. The guiding idea behind the concept is the legacy which is gradually formed from participants’ personal achievements and years-long involvement of the Almaty Marathon. It is unique to each and every one: the first covered distance, personal record, resuming exercises or an example to inspire the close ones. Participants create their own stories along the distances, and the Marathon impresses on the city life – it develops the running culture, unites the community, supports charitable projects and strengthens Almaty’s standing on the international running map. 

A special participant to the Almaty Marathon will be Japanese runner Yuki Kawauchi, the winner of the 2018 Boston Marathon and one of the most famous marathon runners in Japan. The oncoming race will be his first performance in Central Asia.

“The largest world marathons have long become a part of an urban culture, and the Almaty Marathon progresses the same way. When developing a new course, we were considering Almaty topographic features and the feedback from our runners: elevation was reduced from 550 meters to 300 meters, as well as long uphill sections and an uphill start were eliminated. The new course will take runners past some of Almaty’s most iconic landmarks, offering participants a fresh perspective on the city, its architecture, and the unique atmosphere of Kazakhstan’s southern capital,” said Saltanat Kazybayeva, Executive Director of “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund. 

The Fund continues to develop free training programs. Since 2016 the team has held open running sessions, and in 2025 it launched the Community Almaty Run – regular Sunday running and lecture courses for the running community. The participants work out together with the coaches and pacemakers, learn more about safe training, health, diet, and restoration, and they also get ready for the chosen distances.

Charity remains one of the essential directions of “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund. A part of entry fees goes to social and medical projects every year.

More than 30 charity projects in total amounting to KZT 500M+ have been implemented by the Fund since 2012. Over this time, the scope of finance allocated to charity programs has grown from KZT 292.5 thousand in 2012 to KZT 145M in 2026 – that is almost 500 times. 

Over the years, special-purposed schools, boarding schools, children centers, and hospices have received this support. The institutions now have sports and work-out grounds and areas, rooms for exercise therapy, and up-to-date rehabilitation and medical equipment. 

In the last few years, one of the top-priority directions has become children healthcare. ‘Let’sBreathe Life’ and ‘I Can See the World’ projects were implemented in collaboration with Ayala Charity Foundation in 2025, and their implementation continues in 2026. Up to 50 children with vascular malformations will be able to receive the required treatment in Kazakhstan every year through the ‘Let’sBreathe Life’ Project. ‘I Can See the World’ project is aimed at development of early detection and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity. According to the specialists' research, it will allow to save eyesight of more than 24 thousand children over 10–15 years. 

Runs by “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund are included in the international calendar of the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS), making them the only running events in Kazakhstan featured in the calendar. The Almaty Marathon is also a member of TAN (Turkic Alliance of Long Runs), an alliance of major marathons across the Turkic world that brings together leading races from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. 

Registration is open on official almaty-marathon.kz website.

Title sponsor: Kaspi.kz.

The Almaty Marathon takes place supported by Almaty Akimat.

Organisers: “Courage to be the First” Corporate Fund, KRIDA Fitness Club, and Sh.Yessenov Science and Education Foundation.