Königsforst Marathon, live.

Forest laps of 21.1 km with small start groups instead of a mass start

The 53rd Königsforst Marathon on Sunday 14 March 2027 sends participants on a 21.1 km loop through the Königsforst at the gates of Cologne, once, twice or three times.

Organised by the TV Refrath running team since 1973, the race is based at the Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Bergisch Gladbach. As part of its nature conservation concept there is no mass start. Instead many small start groups leave between 08:45 and 14:00: the ultramarathon from 08:45, the marathon from 09:15 and the half marathon from 11:15. The overall ranking runs from the top starts at 09:45, 10:15 and 11:15.

The loop runs through a nature reserve in what the organiser calls the largest connected forest area in the Rhineland. About 85 percent of it is forest track, up to the Monte Troodelöh and past a water treading pool, with no country road along the way. The route is marked with sawdust and marshals stand at the junctions. The half marathon is one lap, the marathon two and the ultramarathon of 63.3 km three.

You can even change your distance during the race at no extra cost, and the result is sorted by net time into the right list. The last entry into a final lap is at 14:00 and all races end at 16:45. Records pay a bonus, and the marathon bests stand at 2:24:39 by Dominik Fabianowski and 2:51:12 by Joanna Tallmann. Every finisher receives a medal with a bird motif, a white tailed eagle in 2027, and there is a bell in the school courtyard to ring for a personal best.

Aid stations offer water, fruit, salt and dextrose, and runners can leave their own food at the station just after the start of each new lap.

On Livebib you can follow a participant who chooses to share their own live position from the phone they carry. This is not the organiser's timing, and the official results come from the organiser.