The Course: A New Village Route, With the Big Climb Moved to Halfway
The 2025 race, on Sunday 16 November, was the ninth edition [1]. All three races start and finish at Taman Lumbini, the park beside Borobudur temple [1]. The marathon started at 4.30am, the half marathon at 5am and the 10 km at 5.40am [2]. Of 11,500 places, 3,770 marathon, 3,746 half-marathon and 3,166 10 km runners started, about 10,700 in all [3].
For 2025 the organiser changed the route for the first time in eight years: about 70% of the marathon course was new, 30% of the half and 20% of the 10 km, partly to keep runners off the busy national highways [4]. The marathon leaves along Jalan Mayor Kusen and the Blabak–Mendut road and returns through Wanurejo to the finish [1], passing through Borobudur, Mungkid and Mertoyudan districts [5]. About 40% of it runs through villages, on narrow roads in places, with rice fields and a view of the Menoreh Hills at km 18 to 19 [4].
It is not flat. The marathon has 287 m of elevation gain on the new course, up from 205 m on the old one; the half has 123 m [4]. The bigger change is where the hard climb comes. The old route put a steep climb at km 35 to 37; the 2025 route moved it to km 21 to 22, the Sigug climb that half marathoners already knew, and kept the climb known as the love incline [4][6]. The national men's winner, Nofeldi Petingko, said there is also a climb at km 30 and a slight one just before the finish [6]. The half marathon climbs towards the end, close to the finish [1].
The change seems to have helped. Nofeldi ran 2:33:41, against 2:36:05 when winning the year before, and the national women's runner-up, Irma Handayani, set a personal best and credited the new route [6]. A blue racing line is painted on the marathon route to mark the shortest line [4].
The Weather: Saturated at the Start, 30°C by the Cut-off
Yogyakarta International Airport, on the coast about 36 km south-south-west of Borobudur, recorded 23°C at 4.30am on race morning, with a dew point of 23°C, 100% humidity and a 5-knot wind [7]. It stayed at 23°C to 24°C until 6am, then warmed steadily: 26°C at 7am, 28°C at 8am, 29°C at 9.30am and 30°C, with 70% humidity, from 10.30am. It was still 30°C at 11.30am, when the marathon closed [7]. The readings are from the airport, not the course.
A dew point of 23°C means the air is close to saturated, so sweat evaporates slowly, and on a course with 287 m of climbing that costs time. The men's winner, Ezra Kipchumba, called the weather warm [3]; a Bank Jateng director who has run both the old and new routes called it very supportive [6]. The organiser had moved the marathon start half an hour earlier, from 5am to 4.30am, to keep runners out of the sun [6].
Your finish time decides the race you get. A four-hour marathoner finished at about 8.30am, at 29°C; a six-hour runner finished at 10.30am, at 30°C [7]. The race doctor said water stations are every 2.5 km in the early and middle kilometres and get closer together later in the race [8], and the 2026 rules promise sponge stations on the marathon and half [9].
Aid Stations, Medical Cover and Cut-offs
In 2025 there were 24 water stations on the marathon, 10 on the half and 3 on the 10 km [8]. The organiser doubled the number of water stations and medical tents and raised the medical staff to 400 [6]. The 2026 rules also promise fruit stations on the marathon and half [9].
The organiser recorded 214 injured runners: 21 collapsed and 193 had minor injuries, and none had to go to hospital; all were treated in the medical tents and race village [6]. A first-time marathoner from Cilegon had leg cramps from 30 km and, five kilometres later, saw another runner being taken away by ambulance [10].
The 2025 marathon limit was seven hours (11.30am), with checkpoints at km 10 (6.10am), km 23 (8.20am) and km 34.5 (10.10am) [1], which works out at roughly 10 minutes per km all the way. The half had 3 hours 45 (8.45am), with checkpoints at km 9.5 (6.40am) and km 17.5 (8am); the 10 km had 2 hours (7.40am), with an early checkpoint at km 2.79 (6.15am) [1]. Under the 2026 rules, runners who miss a checkpoint are stopped, driven to the race centre and get no medal [11], and marathon non-finishers also miss the finisher tee [9].
For 2026 the limits are tighter: 6 hours 30 for the marathon, 3 hours 40 for the half and 2 hours for the 10 km [11]. A 6:30 marathon means averaging about 9 minutes 15 seconds per km on a hilly course. Checkpoint times for 2026 had not been published [11].
The Roads and the Crowds
The route is closed to traffic. Police said they would clear it of vehicles from 4am, with 1,250 police, military and local officers on duty, up from 1,080 the year before [4]. Closures included the Cabean junction near Mendut temple, the Srowol junction and the Salaman roundabout on the way to Borobudur [5]. Kompas's deputy editor-in-chief said contact between runners and drivers was nearly nonexistent [6].
The residents are what runners talk about afterwards. Runners who spoke to Kompas two weeks after the race described villagers cheering, high-fiving and handing out food: a six-time participant from Magelang was given tea, and another runner was served fried food and joined the dancing [10]. A 45-year-old from Jakarta who ran the marathon in about 5.5 hours stopped to make videos and high-five children [10]. The first-time marathoner with cramps said other runners hugged and encouraged them, and a child cheering at km 36 got them going again [10]. The men's winner praised the support and cheerfulness of the residents along the roadside [3].
How Fast the Field Is
The race is organised by the Central Java provincial government, Bank Jateng, the Kompas daily and the Borobudur Marathon Foundation [3]. It was upgraded to a World Athletics Elite Label race for 2025, which obliges the organiser to invite international elite runners [3]. Kenya's Ezra Kipchumba won in 2:17:33, a course record that beat Geoffrey Birgen's 2:19:35 from 2019 and earned Rp250 million [3]. Alex Korio (2:17:43) and Kiprop Tonui (2:18:01) were second and third [12]. Margaret Agai won the women's race in 2:43:55, ahead of Truphena Chepchirchir in the same time [12]. Kenyans took all eight prize places in the men's marathon and six of the eight in the women's [3].
Behind the invited runners the field thins out. Tenth place was 2:32:41 for men and 3:02:37 for women [12]. The first Indonesians were Nofeldi Petingko in 2:33:41 and Dwi Tiansi Anggraini in 3:02:07 [12], and the national men's runner-up, Sardianus Sanam (2:34:03), was a general entrant, not an invited elite [6]. The half marathon was won in 1:04:54 and 1:13:05, and the 10 km in 30:19 and 35:40; the best Indonesian half marathoners ran 1:09:37 and 1:32:21 [13].
Indonesians also race for separate national podiums in all three distances, and the marathon has a masters category for Indonesians aged 40 and over [9]. The 2025 prizes were Rp250 million for each marathon winner, Rp50 million for the half and Rp25 million for the 10 km [1].
Race Weekend Logistics
Race packs were collected at Hotel Grand Artos in Magelang on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 November, 10am to 9pm [14]. The 2026 rules say packs cannot be posted or collected on race day, though a representative can collect one if you request it in the app [9]. Book a bed early: in 2025 Bank Jateng's president director said hotels and homestays were fully booked [13].
The official shuttle cost Rp35,000 return from Artos Mall in Magelang and Rp50,000 from two pick-up points in Yogyakarta, bought in the app between 21 and 31 October. Buses left Yogyakarta between 2am and 2.15am and Magelang between 2.30am and 2.45am, and family and friends could not ride [15]. The 2026 prices are Rp40,000 and Rp60,000 [16].
If you drive, police asked runners to be in the car park at Kampung Seni Borobudur in Kujon before 4am; half-marathon and 10 km runners arriving later were sent to two overflow car parks with shuttles to the start [5].
Entry is by ballot or partner programmes through the My Borobudur Marathon app; in 2025 international runners entered through World Marathons and Ahotu, for the marathon and half only [17]. Entry cost Rp750,000 for the marathon, Rp650,000 for the half and Rp450,000 for the 10 km in 2025 [18], rising to Rp950,000, Rp850,000 and Rp650,000 for 2026 [11]. Under the 2026 rules, entries are non-refundable and cannot be transferred or sold [9]. Finishers inside the limit get a medal, and marathon finishers a finisher jersey [18].
Should You Enter the 2026 Race?
Yes, if you want a scenic marathon or half on closed roads through villages that turn out to cheer, with heavy medical cover. It suits runners who can hold about 9 minutes per km over hills in humid air, and Indonesian club runners chasing a national or masters place.
Think twice if you want a flat course for a personal best, or if the new 6-hour-30 limit on 287 m of climbing is close to your pace. It is also an early night: in 2025 the shuttles left Yogyakarta at about 2am.
The 2026 race is on Sunday 15 November [11]. Start times, checkpoint times and the 2026 course had not been published when this was written [11].
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's race information, World Athletics results, airport weather records, reporting by Kompas (one of the race's co-organisers) and other Indonesian media, and runners' accounts published by Kompas.