Madagascar Marathon, Half & 50K
Ranohira, Madagascar
- 50K, Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K
- Road (Paved), Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
Often referred to as the Eighth Continent and earth’s fourth largest island, Madagascar is a true adventure destination! The marathon, half-marathon, 10K and ultra 50K will be held in Isalo in the south central highlands with most of the course routed through Isalo National Park. This is Madagascar’s most visited … MORE
Local Historical Weather (May 31):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°C) | 27 | 26 | 28 | 25 | 25 |
| L (°C) | 14 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
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Dream Come True
When I was younger I wanted to be an ecologist and there was one place I always dreamed of visiting due to it's unique ecology and that is Madagascar. I … MORE
When I was younger I wanted to be an ecologist and there was one place I always dreamed of visiting due to it’s unique ecology and that is Madagascar. I was planning to run a half marathon in Africa this year and when I saw Marathon Tours was offering their Madagascar trip, I knew I needed to go! I signed up as soon as registration opened. Of course it is quite stressful signing up to visit a country with an unstable government as a coup in October made me concerned the trip may be canceled. However there was very good pre-race communication from Marathon Tours around all of this and the situation in Madagascar stabilized and in December we were given the go ahead to book our flights. Getting to Madagascar isn’t as hard as you would expect at least if you live near a city like Boston that has direct flights to Paris as there are direct flights from Paris to the capital of Madagascar Antananarivo. If you don’t live somewhere with direct flights to Paris, it does become a bit more complicated and longer to get there. Since the flight we were supposed to take was the Wednesday after Memorial day and I would need to take off Tuesday anyways for travel I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and flew to Europe Friday before the trip. I spent 2 days in Edinburgh for the Edinburgh Half Marathon and then spent 2 days in Paris (well technically Disneyland Paris) and then took the 10-11 hour flight from Paris to Antananarivo on Wednesday. The trip with Marathon Tours is fantastic. I will mostly focus on the race but will give a brief summary of the trip. After arrival you spend one day in Antananarivo where we visited the Lemur Park and some historic areas. Then there is a long trip down to Isalo in Southwest Madagascar. The trip involves a 2 hour early morning flight and then a rough 7-9 hour bus ride on rough, very poorly maintained roads though it does allow you to see the culture and beauty of Madagascar. Eventually we arrive at Jardin du Roy our home for the next 5 days. The resort is super nice and beautiful. The location has beautiful sandstone formations and offers lots of activities such as horseback riding, rock climbing and a spa. There are some scheduled activities during the trip such as a tour of the nearby sapphire mines and an amazing all day hike in Isalo National Park full of lemurs but also some downtime to relax or enjoy the resort activities. The accommodations at the resort are nice. The food is generally very good but it may be tricky with dietary restrictions. I prefer to eat plant based but do eat ovo-lacto-vegetarian and occasionally pescatarian if there aren’t plant based options and there were plenty of options with this flexibility but it would be hard to be strictly vegan on the trip. Now onto the race details. The evening before the race Marathon Tours has a pre-race briefing and hands out packets. You get a bib and one of those old school timers you place on your shoe. The swag is a tank top which the race logo which is mailed to you beforehand. There is also an online store if you want additional swag. They go over the logistics of the race and what to expect. The race is pretty small with about 50 total participants on the trip plus a few invited locals. The half marathon was the most popular distance this year with 26 runners. Getting to the race is very simple as it starts and finishes right at the resort. The race starts at 7am. It is quite hot so I do think it may have been nice to have started a bit earlier like 6 or 6:30am but I also understand for safety reasons not wanting to start when it was a bit dark. It’s a laid back start with the small field. The first ~1.5 miles are on the road by the resort and you then go on the trails in the National Park for about 9 miles and then its another ~2.5 miles on the road. The route was changed this year so the marathon was the half marathon X 2 and we no longer ran through the village. The course is absolutely gorgeous with the stunning scenery and sandstone formations. You see grasslands and interesting rock formation and it just beautiful and relaxing. A great environment to just soak in and enjoy. I really enjoyed the landscape but do wish their was a bit more wildlife on the course. Unfortunately no lemur sightings during the race (but plenty during the trip). Production was very good for a race in a resource-poor country. Obviously this isn’t going to have the bells and whistles of a world major marathon but Marathon Tours does a great job with what they have. The race was well marked and had mile markers for each distance. There were 3 aid stations approximately 5km apart. The aid stations had water, soda and lots of snacks including the most delicious potato chips I’ve ever ate. There was no electrolyte drinks or more traditional nutrition like Gu. This was all told beforehand and understandable with the resources. I did bring a hydration pack and some honeystinger chews. I was also impressed with how well monitored the race was. The Marathon Tour staff were constantly driving past us in ATVs making sure we were safe and okay. For a race where you are running alone a lot in an unfamiliar area I felt as safe as possible. As it is small you are alone a lot but a friend did catch up with me near the end so I did run with her for part of the race. In terms of course difficulty, it depends on what you are used to. It is definitely very difficult compared to a road race but I thought it was fairly easy for a trail race. The biggest difficulty is the trails are very sandy and not very well-groomed. Madagascar doesn’t really have the resources and infrastructure to keep the trails perfectly groomed. Marathon Tours does hire some locals to help cut the grass and groom it and make it as runnable as possible and I do think they did a good job. Most of the course was runnable though some really sandy sections I did choose to walk. You had to keep an eye on your footing too as the footing was inconsistent. The trails were more like the trails in the Southwest of the US and were much less technical than the races in the Northeast and Northwest I had practiced on. The course is pretty flat with just some inclines and a gradual hill around mile 8. The hill was a bit rocky and the toughest part of the course but overall wasn’t too bad. Trail shoes and training were helpful but not 100% necessary. The race has a long time limit so I took it easy, stopped for pictures and soaked in the scenery. I just wanted to finish under 4 hours and enjoy myself. I was happy to finish under 3:45. I think I could have beat 3:30 or maybe even 3:15 if I pushed myself harder but I wanted to enjoy the experience. The finish line is right at the hotel. Took about 2 minutes to walk back to my room much easier than Edinburgh lol. You get the medal at the finish and lots of the finishers and Marathon Tour team members are there cheering us on. The medal is cute with the race logo though only the ribbon is distance specific. Overall this was one of my all time favorite races given how beautiful and interesting the course was. The trip was also amazing and getting to see the flora and fauna of Madagascar was a dream come true! This may have been my favorite racecation so far. I would definitely recommend this race and trip especially if you are looking to travel somewhere a little different and it is a great choice for Africa.
Gorgeous, Unique and Tough!
This experience was AMAZING! You were completely alone for the majority of the race. It was absolutely spectacular. The knee deep water crossings were very refreshing on a hot day, … MORE
This experience was AMAZING! You were completely alone for the majority of the race. It was absolutely spectacular. The knee deep water crossings were very refreshing on a hot day, and running through the local villages was unlike any race experience I have ever had. The local kids chased me for a long time. They were adorable!
3rd world Country, sand, rivers..
Let me start by saying that I had no idea what to expect about the course. This was the first Madagascar marathon so I knew it would be unique. The … MORE
Let me start by saying that I had no idea what to expect about the course. This was the first Madagascar marathon so I knew it would be unique.
The Marathon Tours staff spent more than 2 days marking the course and the locals cut most of the long grass down for us.
We were advised that this was your typical trail run with a couple of water crossings that were ankle deep and a few feet wide.
We were also told that water bottles would be handed out at mile 6,10,14,18 and 22. We were also told the course was flat with just a few small non essential slopes.
So as you can imagine staying in a third world Country , quite a few of us got sickness and diarrhea for several days leading up to race day. I don’t usually reveal such details but I think this time is an exception given that we had to run while completely dehydrated and not feeling up to our usual fitness levels. We all tried medication but let’s just say it didn’t work so well. On race day I could tell after 1 mile I was in for a tough day but as an experienced runner I decided there was no giving up or stopping. I ran slowly and sensibly with walk, lots of walks after mile 10 with some running in between.
So having said that here’s the real story of the course, swag, aid stations and scenery.
We walked from our hotel le Jardin to the sister hotel literally 200 yds away where the start area was.
There were about 45 runners in the full marathon and about 30 or less in the half.
Some locals got sponsored in the race and we all made sure they were welcome by taking pictures and me shaking hands with all of them.
Our local guides became our aid station help and the very few spectators were spouses of a few runners.
We had a drone up above us filming the start and mostly front runners.
I have yet to see the video.
So the start was on a sandy trail up hill to the main road. From here we ran about a mile or just less then soon onto a trail with rough grass and soft sand.
This went on for many miles of full sun, rough trail and lots of sand.
I only took half a camelback of water as I didn’t want the extra weight.
There were 2 Dr’s on course on ATV’s handing out electrolytes and water after mile 14, this did happen and I needed help by mile 15. Thirst and dehydration being my only problem really. Do bring your own bottle, food, electrolytes , camera and sun block .
The trail was in open fields of knee to thigh high grass with hundreds of locusts , crickets, grass hoppers and some say snakes but I didn’t see any except one small dead one.
You will run up hills it definitely was not flat about 1800 ft incline or more.
There were water crossings for the full marathoners only. I loved them and there were about 8 of them. At least 4 of them were longer than 10 or even 15 meters long and one was thick mud up to my thighs.
My shoes and ankle brace never made it back home by the way.
Since it was hot by now , I enjoyed the water to cool me down but it wasn’t clean enough to splash on your face.
We ran through 5 villages some of the locals were cheering us on and others just stared at us. I wasn’t sure if they were bothered by us but I waved to most.
During one village 3 girls came running up to me and tried to steal my watch , camera and water bottle. I had to be a little stern and run past them. They tried the same tactics with 2 other women behind me also.
Now I’m approaching mile 18 and like mile 14 the aid stations had run out of water but a tiny cup about an inch full of coke a cola was handed to us and we were told one cup for each person. So that was one sip. That is really my only complaint , as quite a few of us were struggling with serious GI problems it was critical we hydrate during the midday sun and heat.
I was running with a man from New Zealand for 8 miles who felt about as energetic as I did. We kept each other company and I suggested we start run/ walking so we finish in under the 7 hr limit. We did kick it into another gear the last 5 miles and managed under 7 hrs.
Turns out MT let everyone finish and the last person finished in 8hr :01 min.
The course was 24 miles of mostly soft sand and less than 2 miles of asphalt. The course was well marked so no one got lost .
The finish was on grass and a slight uphill .
The medal and shirt were good .
Lunch was served but I felt too sick to even contemplate food .
Looking back and if I had been completely healthy this course would have been a really fun experience. It still was in a way, I just failed at running that day.
A unique experience but it’s a long journey to get there if you live on the West coast of the USA . Perhaps folks from Europe should consider this one if you are thinking of doing the 7 Continents or just want a different experience.
Overall I loved it just not my performance .
What a great place to have a bad day
This race is put on by Marathon Tours as part of their Madagascar tour package. I ran this race in 2017, the inaugural year. The trip itself is amazing, but … MORE
This race is put on by Marathon Tours as part of their Madagascar tour package. I ran this race in 2017, the inaugural year. The trip itself is amazing, but I will try to focus on the race for the purposes of this review.
There were about 80 runners in this event–roughly half for the half marathon and half for the full marathon, plus a handful of sponsored local runners. Participants were split up between two nearby resorts a short walk apart from each other. The pre-race dinner was pleasant and welcome.
On race morning, we met at the start line, which was at the other resort. Marathon race started at 7am. Personally, i would have preferred a 6am start. Sunrise was right around 6:30 and 6am would have been fine–that’s how we did it in Myanmar. I knew it was going to get hot during the day,. Nonetheless, 7am wasn’t a problem.
Just before the race started, all the half marathoners were packed into a few buses and taken to the half marathon start, which was about 2.5 miles into the marathon course. The half marathoners left and we had a few minutes to settle down before the 7am race start. 7am came and off we went.
-Terrain-
Isalo is a high desert. The elevation was about half a mile and the course is generally flat. Morning temperatures were comfortably cool. I ran in a running singlet with arm sleeves. I would have been ok without them, but I wanted the sun protection later on. Definitely put on the sunscreen! The majority of the course is on sand. Sometimes the sand is packed, but much of it is loose sand. You’re going to feel it when you run. This is not an easy course. There are some small sections–maybe two miles combined–of paved roads, but for the most part, it’s a trail race and much of it is on loose sand.
The scenery is beautiful, especially on a clear day. Isalo is a wide-open arid grassland punctuated with massive rock outcroppings. While the sun was low, we ran a lot through the shadows of the big rocks and the shade was appreciated. Once the sun rose above them, the course was extremely exposed. Trees are sparse and runners will be running out in the open.
There were a handful of water crossings in this race. All of them happened in the second half and they ended up being a blessing in disguise. As long as you didn’t skirt the muddy perimeter, the crossings were sandy and not boggy at all. The water was cool and ranged from ankle to knee-deep. I feared they would cause problems later in the race, but there ended up being nothing but upside to them as the cool water refreshed my tired legs.
The course also runs through three villages. I’m pretty sure the locals didn’t know what to think of us, but the kids thought the spectacle was great. Reactions went from bemusement to enthusiastic support as we traveled through the villages on our way.
-Water / Nutrition-
The race director makes it very clear from the beginning that due to the nature of water and the environment, runners will be responsible for their own primary hydration. There will be a handful of staffed water stops along the way (ours also had Coke, but that’s not for me), but you should not expect to be able to complete this race comfortably relying solely on aid station water. I ran the race with a 2L hydration pack and a 20oz bottle of water. Even so, I ran dangerously low by the end of the race despite hitting each of the water stops hard. Bring salt tablets. Bring electrolyte drink. Bring water. That being said, you won’t be left to die in the desert. Race staff on ATVs constantly passed me in both directions asking runners were ok. I never felt like I was in any danger of anything other than a long day.
-My Race-
I’m normally a 4-hour to 4:15 marathon runner. Admittedly, I did not train properly for this one, so I knew it would be slower. Exacerbating this, I came down with a stomach bug about 24 hours before the race started. Fortunately, the doctors with our group had just what I needed and my stomach gave me no issues during the race. However, I did not have much appetite the day before and I went into the race in a serious calorie deficit. All of that, combined with a hot sunny day, meant I ended up running out of gas and walking the last seven miles to the finish line. This was the slowest marathon I have ever run in my life.
And I still loved it! If you want to challenge yourself in a beautiful and exotic land with a race that is tricky challenging, but well-run, this may be the race for you. And the rest of the trip is just the icing on the cake.