TUI Rhodes Marathon 2027: race guide

What it is and when it takes place

The TUI Rhodes Marathon is Rhodes' annual international road race, based at Eleftherias Square in the town centre. 2027 marks its 12th edition, on Sunday 18 April 2027. Per the organiser's own announcement (15 June 2026), the race "has established itself as one of the most important international road-running events in Greece and the Mediterranean."

The race runs under the official approval of SEGAS and AIMS, per the official Marathon and Half Marathon pages. TUI is the title sponsor and distribution partner, reflected in the event's current name — it was previously known as the "Roads to Rhodes Marathon," a name that still appears in older runner testimonials on the same site.

The 6 distances — schedule and age limits

• Marathon 42.195 km: Sunday 18/4, 07:30, start/finish Eleftherias Square — two full laps of the Half Marathon course; 6-hour time limit; age 18+
• Half Marathon 21.097 km: 18/4, 07:30, same start/finish — one lap; 3-hour time limit; age 18+
• 10 km race: 18/4 — the dedicated 10km page states a 07:20 start, while the official announcement and the "Athlete Instructions" page both state 07:15 (the sources disagree); 100-minute time limit; age 15+
• 5 km race: 18/4, start at Rimini Square in two blocks (11:50 and 11:52); 55-minute time limit; age 12+
• 5 km walking route: 18/4, start at Rimini Square — the dedicated route page and the announcement state 11:55, while "Athlete Instructions" states 11:53 (pages disagree); no published age limit
• Kids' race: 18/4, 13:00 — the official announcement describes it as 600 m for children born 2015-2018, starting/finishing at Eleftherias Square; the dedicated kids'-race page instead gives 1 km for children born 2014-2017 (but agrees the start/finish is Eleftherias Square); a third page, "Athlete Instructions," gives the start point as the ELTA post office instead — three conflicting details across three different pages; see "What is not yet confirmed" below

The route: a seaside course past the Medieval Town walls

The Marathon and Half Marathon run the same circular 21.097 km course, which the Marathon covers twice. Per the official pages for each distance: Eleftherias Square ➜ Sachtouri seafront ➜ Australias Street ➜ Rhodes New Ring Road ➜ 1st turnaround at the junction with Kallitheas Avenue ➜ New Ring Road ➜ Australias Street ➜ Sachtouri seafront ➜ Eleftherias Gate ➜ Mylous ➜ 2nd turnaround at Elafaki ➜ Mandraki Marina ➜ Eleftherias Square ➜ Koundourioti Square ➜ Savva Nikolaou, Georgiou Papanikolaou, Kos, Leros and Kalymnou streets ➜ Miaouli seafront ➜ Kato Petres ➜ Kritika/Ialysou street ➜ 3rd turnaround at the junction with Iliadon Street (Faneromeni) ➜ back along the same road to Eleftherias Square, the finish. There is a kilometre marker at every km, and the organiser's officials are stationed at all three turnaround points, per the "Athlete Instructions" page.

The 10 km and 5 km each have a single turnaround point and follow part of the same seaside course. The 10 km starts and finishes at Eleftherias Square. The 5 km starts at Rimini Square (Sound and Light) and finishes, like every other distance, at Eleftherias Square; the 5 km walking route has a similar start and finish.

Along the Marathon course there are aid points with bottled water every 2.5 km, an energy drink every 5 km, bananas at the 25th, 30th and 35th km, energy gel at the 20th and 30th km, chemical toilets roughly every 2.5 km and medical support, per "Athlete Instructions." The Half Marathon has the same water, toilet and medical stations, without bananas or gel; the 5 km and 10 km have only water, toilets and medical coverage.

History: 2014, the pandemic pause, and the comeback

The Rhodes International Marathon has run since 2014. It was the idea of the late George Zaras, a Greek-American of Rhodian descent, who designed the course together with Marietta Papavasileiou, today's President of the Organizing Committee, and American ultra-athlete and author Wayne Kurtz, per the "About us" page. The earliest results-archive page found on the site is the "2nd Marathon – 2015" — no matching link for the 1st Marathon in 2014 was found in the results archive, and the site does not explain why.

In 2020 the race was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic and official restriction measures. In 2021 it ran as a digital event, the "1st Rhodes Virtual Marathon," with more than 2,400 runners from 44 countries, per the same page. The race returned in person in 2022 (the 7th Marathon) — one runner testimonial on the homepage describes it as a "perfect comeback after the two years break owed to COVID." The edition numbering (2nd=2015 ... 6th=2019, 7th=2022 ... 11th=2026, 12th=2027) shows that 2020 and 2021 were not counted as regular in-person editions.

Per the homepage's "Quick Details" widget, the event drew 4,500 entries in 2025 alone and has hosted runners from 69 nationalities in total; the "About us" page separately states that at least 50 countries take part every year — two different figures (69 total vs. 50+ annually) that are not necessarily contradictory, but measure different things and should not be conflated.

The race is also officially linked to the Radisson Blu Larnaka International Marathon in Cyprus through a formal "sister" partnership, and the official site's footer lists it as part of the "TUI Mediterranean Marathon League," a network of races sharing the same title sponsor, with no further detail opened in this fact-check.

Eligibility, awards, timing

Eligibility for the Marathon and Half Marathon requires being 18 or older, the 10 km requires 15 or older, and the 5 km requires 12 or older — minors need written guardian consent, per the official announcement. The kids' race is open to children born between 2015 and 2018 per the announcement (see above for the conflict with the dedicated page for the same race).

Every Marathon, Half Marathon, 10 km and 5 km runner receives a bib number, electronic chip timing, a finisher's medal, an electronic finisher's certificate and a cloth bag with the official race t-shirt; Marathon/Half Marathon runners additionally get water, sports drinks, gel, bananas, medical services and a sports massage at the finish. Timing runs on My Laps' BibTag system, operated by My Race, with the chip attached behind the bib number — it does not need to be returned after the race.

Awards (medal and diploma) go to the top three men and women in each race, with a trophy only for the overall male and female winner. Awards take place at Eleftherias Square in this order: 10:30 Half Marathon & 10 km, 11:15 Marathon, 13:30 5 km & team categories, per "Athlete Instructions."

Entry fees and 2027 registration

• Marathon: until 31/1/2027, individual entry 45€, group package 40€, discount package 35€ — from 1/2/2027, individual 55€, group 50€, discount 35€
• Half Marathon: until 31/1/2027, individual 40€, group 35€, discount 30€ — from 1/2/2027, individual 45€, group 40€, discount 30€
• 10 km: until 31/1/2027, individual 25€, group 20€, discount 20€ — from 1/2/2027, individual 30€, group 25€, discount 20€
• 5 km: individual 15€, group/discount 10€ (single price, no date tier on the official page)
• Walking route 5 km: 12€ · Kids' race: 6€ (single prices, no date tier)
• The discount package applies to the unemployed, students, pupils, EAS SEGAS Dodecanese athletes, and armed forces/security personnel, who must email proof of status right after registering
• Registration deadline (all distances): Wednesday 7 April 2027 — registration is done online at rhodesmarathon.gr, and per the 15 June 2026 announcement it had already opened by that date

Destination: Rhodes around the race

Rhodes Town, where every distance starts and finishes, has a population of roughly 115,000, per the event's "Exploring Rhodes" page. The Old (Medieval) Town, whose walls the course runs alongside, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, per the same page. The island is also known as the site of the ancient Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

The same page recommends, beyond the Old Town, Lindos (one of the island's three ancient capitals, with a fortified Acropolis), the therapeutic Kallithea Springs, the Valley of the Butterflies (a Natura 2000 zone 23 km from town), Filerimos Monastery (built in the 14th century over the ruins of a Byzantine church) and a day trip to neighbouring Symi.

For getting there, the official "Getting to Rhodes" page names Aegean Airlines as the official air-transport sponsor (direct flights or via Athens) and Blue Star Ferries as the official sea-transport sponsor (via Piraeus). That same page publishes specific discount percentages for participating runners, but they are explicitly tied to travel dates of 17-23 April 2024 — as checked on 29 September 2026, no matching 2027 discount announcement exists yet, so bib2bib does not state a percentage here as current for the 2027 edition.

What is not yet confirmed or published

The official site itself states different details for the same event across different pages, in three places — bib2bib chose to record every version rather than arbitrarily pick one. (1) 10 km start time: the 15 June 2026 announcement and "Athlete Instructions" both state 07:15, while the dedicated 10km page states 07:20. (2) 5 km walking-route start time: the announcement and the dedicated route page both state 11:55, while "Athlete Instructions" states 11:53. (3) Kids' race: the announcement describes it as 600 metres for children born 2015-2018, starting/finishing at Eleftherias Square. The dedicated kids'-race page instead gives 1 kilometre for children born 2014-2017, while agreeing the start/finish is Eleftherias Square. A third page, "Athlete Instructions," gives a different start point again — the ELTA post office. Confirm the current version with the organiser before race day.

Other things not yet published, as checked on 29 September 2026: no discount percentage for air or ferry travel specific to 2027 (the "Getting to Rhodes" page still shows 2024 travel details); no official course record or personal-record figure for any distance on the pages checked; and no results link for the 1st Marathon in 2014 was found, even though the site elsewhere names 2014 as the year the event began.