Monaco Run: How to Take Part in February's Race Weekend

What the Monaco Run actually is

The Monaco Run is the Principality's main mass-participation running weekend, organised each February by the Fédération Monégasque d'Athlétisme. It is not a marathon, and it is not held in November — two claims that circulate widely and are worth clearing up before you plan a trip around it. Everything happens over two days around Port Hercule, with the start and finish on the Quai Albert Ier.

What makes the weekend unusual is its range. The same event hosts a World Athletics-labelled road 5 km reputed to be among the fastest anywhere, and a 30 km mountain trail with roughly 1,500 m of climbing. Very few race weekends ask so little and so much of their entrants on consecutive days.

For the event record and dates, see our Monaco Run event page; for running in Monaco more broadly — training routes, clubs and the Herculis meeting — see running events and marathons in Monaco.

Choosing your race

The 5 km is the flagship. Run on the flat perimeter of the harbour, it is one of the few road races in the region where a genuinely quick time is realistic, which is why it draws elite fields alongside club and recreational runners.

The two trail formats are where people most often misjudge their entry. The City Trail turns Monaco's staircases and back lanes into a course — short in distance but relentless in gradient. The Trail du Mont Agel leaves the Principality altogether to climb the massif behind it, and should be treated as a mountain race rather than a long road run.

Registration and bib collection

Entries open online through the official Monaco Run website, which is also where the current fees, cut-off times and any medical-certificate requirements are published — these change from year to year, so check them there rather than relying on last season's figures.

Bibs are collected in person before the race, not posted out. Build that into your travel plans: if you arrive on the morning of your event, you risk missing the collection window entirely. Runners travelling from outside the region should read our getting to Monaco guide when booking.

Race-day logistics

Port Hercule sits at the bottom of the Principality, and Monaco's geography does the rest of the work:

• Getting there. The port is well served by the CAM bus network — see public transport in Monaco. Parking near the harbour is limited on race days and road closures make driving in awkward, so arriving by bus, train or on foot is far simpler.
• Road closures. Central Monaco is partly closed to traffic while the races are running. If you need to cross the Principality that morning for reasons unrelated to the event, allow considerably more time than usual.
• Getting around on foot. Monaco's public lifts and escalators connect the upper districts to the port and stay open, which is usually the quickest way down to the start from Monte-Carlo or the Rock.
• February conditions. The Mediterranean climate keeps winter mild, but mornings by the water are cool and exposed. Layers you can discard at the start are worth having; on the Mont Agel trail, conditions on the heights can be markedly colder and wetter than at sea level.

Watching without running

The harbour setting makes this one of the easier events to spectate. The quays around Port Hercule give you the start, the finish and — on the looped road courses — several passes of the same runners without moving. The Rock and the terraces above the port offer a wider view over the whole bay if you would rather see the field as a whole than pick out individuals.

If you came for a marathon

There isn't one, and there never has been. The Principality's 2.02 km² leaves no room for a 42.195 km course, so runners based in or visiting Monaco point their training at the Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes Nice-Cannes in early November, which runs along the coast between the two cities and is France's second-largest marathon after Paris.

The other big Monaco running date is the No Finish Line in November — an eight-day charity relay at Port Hercule where you cover as many kilometres as you like, at your own pace, and each one is converted into a donation for children's causes. And for elite track athletics rather than road racing, the Herculis EBS Diamond League meeting comes to the Stade Louis II each July.