Kozhikode Marathon 2027 and Calicut’s Other Beach Races: Dates, Fees, Routes and a 10-Week Plan

Kozhikode marathon dates for 2026–27

Kozhikode now has a proper road-race season, and all of it runs on the beach. Three organisations put on races here: Mathrubhumi, the newspaper group, whose Kozhikode Marathon began in January 2026; the students of IIM Kozhikode, who run the Calicut Half Marathon each February; and Manorama, which added a coastal race on Kerala Piravi in 2026. If you searched for “Kozhikode marathon 2026 registration”, the January 2026 race is over and registration for its second edition, on 10 January 2027, is open now.

Mathrubhumi Kozhikode Marathon 2027: fees, prizes and rules

Mathrubhumi’s race, run with India’s VKC as title sponsor, made its debut on 11 January 2026 with a 21.1 km half marathon, a 10K and a 5K fun run along the Kozhikode coast. The second edition, carrying the message “No to drugs, run for life”, starts from Freedom Square on Kozhikode Beach on Sunday 10 January 2027. The official site describes the 10K as a race on Beach Road and the 21K as a coastal course, but hadn’t published a full route map when we checked. Registration is only through kozhikodemarathon.in; there is no on-the-spot entry.

• Register at least 4 days before the race if you want a bib printed with your name.
• Collect your bib at the expo 1–2 days before; nothing is handed out on race day. Someone else can collect it with your photo ID copy, their own ID and your authorisation.
• No refunds or transfers, except a full refund if the organisers cancel. If the race is postponed, you can run the new date or take a refund.
• Cut-offs apply: runners who miss one move to the footpath and finish untimed. Timing disputes must be raised within 24 hours.
• No baggage counter, and no pets, balloons or unregistered runners on the course.

Calicut Half Marathon: the IIM Kozhikode race and its route

The Calicut Half Marathon is run by IIM Kozhikode’s students through a race executive committee, and its 2026 edition on 8 February carried the theme “Run to Remember”, for Alzheimer’s and dementia awareness. The organisers reported more than 3,500 participants and 250 volunteers. Entries opened in two windows in 2026, an early-bird week from 10 to 17 January and regular entries from 18 January to 1 February, and bibs were handed out on 6–7 February, so watch for a January registration window. The 2027 date had not been posted when we checked.

Its route is the most detailed of any Kozhikode race. The 21 km starts at All India Radio and heads past South Beach Masjid, along PV Sami Road through Kalluthankadav and the Pootheri building to Kannur Road, then turns towards West Hill along the beach road before returning to Gujarathi Vidyalaya on Kozhikode Beach. The 10 km goes from All India Radio via Puthiyapalam, Jail Road and Kannur Road back to the same finish, and the untimed 3 km Dream Run, for families and first-timers, passes the Calicut Beach post office, Court Road and Mathrubhumi on its way to the Gujarathi School ground. It is a flat, urban course that keeps returning to the sea front, which makes it a good first half.

Looking for Kozhikode marathon results or photos? The Calicut Half Marathon site links a photo search for each runner after the race. For the Mathrubhumi race, the rules say winners are presented on race day, finisher medals go only to those who complete their distance, and any timing dispute has to be raised within 24 hours, so check your result the same day.

The Kerala Piravi coastal run on 1 November

Onmanorama reported in October 2026 that a new coastal marathon, organised by Manorama Quickerala and PK Steels, would start from Kozhikode beach at 4:30 AM on 1 November, Kerala’s formation day. It offers 21 km, 10 km and 3 km races, plus a 1,956-metre children’s run that marks the year the state was formed, with a ₹3.5 lakh prize pool and more than 3,000 runners expected. Registration closed on 24 October. If it returns in 2027, it gives Kozhikode runners a November target to complement the January and February races.

Race-season weather in Kozhikode

All three races sit in Kozhikode’s driest stretch, but none of them is cool. The India Meteorological Department’s 1991–2020 normals show daily highs of 32.6–33.5 °C from November to February, with lows above 23 °C. November still brings about 120 mm of rain, the tail of the north-east monsoon; by January, the month of the Mathrubhumi race, rain has almost stopped. That is why the coastal run starts at 4:30 AM: by mid-morning the sun on the beach road is hard work.

A 10-week plan from now to the 10 January half marathon

From the start of November, there are about ten weeks to the Kozhikode Marathon. That is enough to finish a half comfortably if you can already run 5 km without stopping; if you can’t, enter the 10K this time. The reasoning behind each phase is in our half marathon training plan for beginners. Run at dawn along the beach road or around Mananchira, and keep two short strength sessions every week.

Two Kozhikode-specific adjustments. First, Christmas and New Year fall in weeks 8 and 9, so schedule your 18 km run before the holidays rather than after. Second, the beach road is exposed: from week 3, do one long run in the clothes and shoes you will race in, and drink every 2–3 km, because January afternoons still average 64% humidity. For the strength routine itself, see strength training for runners.

Race week and race morning

• Pick up your bib at the expo. Mathrubhumi doesn’t distribute bibs on race day.
• Eat a familiar dinner the night before, such as rice with fish curry or chicken curry, and leave the biryani and parotta for the celebration.
• Arrive early at Freedom Square. There is no baggage counter, so come with only what you can carry or leave with someone.
• Start slower than you think. With lows around 23 °C, the first hour is the coolest part of the day; save effort for the second half.
• See a doctor before you start training if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, diabetes or a recent injury.

If you would rather train at home, Personal Home Training in Kozhikode runs the same strength sessions in your living room, and Personal Gym Training in Kozhikode does it at your gym. Fuelling three or four runs a week takes more protein than most people eat; the protein intake calculator gives you a target, and our guide to healthy food in Kozhikode shows how biryani and halwa fit around training. Thinking of joining a gym for the build-up? Compare gym fees in Kozhikode. Everything else is on our page for online personal training in Kozhikode.