Trivandrum Marathon 2026: The UST Race on 15 November, Its Cut-Offs, Prize Money and How to Train in Trivandrum’s Humidity

Trivandrum marathon 2026: the race and the date

The city’s main road race is the UST Trivandrum Marathon, organised by the technology company UST with NEB Sports as the execution partner. It began on 13 October 2024 to mark UST’s 25th year, was announced as an annual event, and returned on 12 October 2025. In a March 2026 press release, the organisers said the 2025 edition had more than 10,000 runners, which they described as the largest marathon held in Kerala, and that they were aiming for over 15,000 in 2026. The third edition is on Sunday 15 November 2026, a month later in the year than the first two, and like them it starts and finishes at the UST campus in Thiruvananthapuram.

Runners who miss a cut-off must leave the course; anyone who carries on gets no route support and no official finisher’s certificate. The full marathon’s two-loop format with a 3-hour first-loop cut-off means a first-timer needs to average under about 8 minutes 30 seconds a kilometre for the whole race, with some margin in the first half. The route map and start times had not been published when we checked in late October 2026; the site says both will be posted closer to race day.

Which Trivandrum Marathon distance should you enter?

The cut-offs tell you what each race asks of a beginner. The 5K’s one hour works out to 12 minutes a kilometre, a steady walk, so anyone who can walk for an hour can finish it. The 10K’s 90 minutes is 9 minutes a kilometre, which most people manage with a mix of jogging and brisk walking after six to eight weeks of training. The half marathon’s 3 hours 30 minutes is about 10 minutes a kilometre, generous for a run-walk approach but still 21 km on your feet in humid air. The full marathon is the strict one: under about 8 minutes 30 seconds a kilometre, with the first loop timed separately.

• New to running: enter the 5K or 10K and train for 8 weeks; the half can wait for the next edition.
• Running 5K comfortably now: the half marathon is realistic with 12 weeks of training.
• Already finished a half: the full marathon needs 16 weeks or more, with long runs of 2.5–3 hours, which in Trivandrum means a monsoon training block.

Trivandrum marathon registration: how it works

• Online only, through the race’s page on mysamay.in, linked from trivandrummarathon.com. There is no offline registration.
• Closing date: the FAQ says registration usually closes one month before race day, or earlier if places sell out. For 15 November 2026 that points to mid-October, so check the site before planning around this year’s race.
• Changes and cancellations: category changes are allowed up to 60 days before the event, with upgrades charged the difference and no refund on downgrades. Cancellations carry a ₹250 processing charge, and refunds or changes stop 60 days out.
• What the fee covers: entry, a timing chip for timed categories, a race T-shirt and a hot breakfast after the run. The fee itself is shown at checkout, not on the FAQ.

Trivandrum marathon prize money

The prize table on the official site, which it says will be updated closer to the event, pays ₹2,00,000 to the fastest man and woman in the full marathon, ₹50,000 for second and ₹25,000 for third, with ₹20,000, ₹10,000 and ₹7,500 for the top three in each age band (18–35, 35–50 and over 50). The half marathon pays ₹20,000 to the fastest man and woman and ₹10,000 to each age-band winner, and the 10K pays ₹8,000 to the fastest. There is a ₹5,00,000 bonus for an Indian national marathon record and ₹1,00,000 for a course record, plus a separate category for UST employees only.

Race-day weather in Trivandrum: November is a wet month

Moving the race from October to November changes less than you might hope. Thiruvananthapuram gets the north-east monsoon from October, and the city’s 1991–2020 averages give November about 213 mm of rain over roughly 10 rainy days, with highs near 31 °C, lows near 23 °C and evening humidity around 78 per cent. October is wetter still, at about 297 mm. So the likely race morning is warm, very humid and possibly wet: conditions where sweat doesn’t cool you well and pace drifts up even at the same effort.

• Run by effort, not by your cool-weather pace. In 78–80 per cent humidity, aim to finish feeling you could have gone faster.
• Drink to a plan. Practise taking water at every aid station in training so your stomach is used to it.
• Prepare for rain: lubricate feet and seams, wear socks that dry quickly and avoid new shoes on a wet course.
• Get to the start early, with a disposable layer or a rain cover if showers are forecast.

A 12-week plan for a Trivandrum half or full marathon

Training for a November race in Trivandrum means doing the build in August, September and October, through the end of the south-west monsoon and the start of the north-east one. Expect to lose some runs to rain and plan for it. Our half marathon training plan for beginners has the full week-by-week schedule; the table below is how to shape it here, with two strength sessions a week that also serve as your rain-day backup.

Do long runs at first light on routes with water: a loop of a known length near home, or out-and-back legs on flat roads towards the coast. On days the north-east monsoon washes out a run, do the strength session instead and move the run, rather than skipping both. The organisers have held training runs at the UST campus in past years (the first of 2025’s was on 22 June, with route support and breakfast), so watch the race’s social pages for this year’s.

Strength work for Trivandrum runners

Most first-time marathoners in Trivandrum will lose more time to sore calves, hips and knees in the last 10 km than to lack of fitness. Two short strength sessions a week reduce that: split squats and step-ups for the quads, Romanian deadlifts and glute bridges for the back of the legs, calf raises with a slow lowering phase, and side planks for the hips. Our guide to strength training for runners explains sets and progressions. If you lift at an apartment gym, Personal Gym Training in Thiruvananthapuram puts a coach on video beside you; running with friends from work, Group Classes in Thiruvananthapuram cost ₹499 per person for a live session.

Taper week and race-week food in Trivandrum

In race week, cut running volume by about half, keep two or three short runs with a few strides, and sleep. Eat familiar food: idli-sambar, rice with fish curry, banana and curd are all easy to digest. In the last two days, lean slightly more on rice, idli and banana and less on fried food and heavy coconut gravies. On race morning, eat a light breakfast you have tested before a long run. Our guide to healthy food in Trivandrum has the calories and protein for these dishes, and the TDEE calculator shows how much more you burn in peak weeks.

For cross-training between runs, see cycling in Trivandrum, and for a costs comparison before hiring help, personal trainer fees in Trivandrum. Everything else is on our page for online personal training in Thiruvananthapuram.