The Course: Village Roads, Rice Fields and Repeated Climbs
The race starts and finishes at Bali United Training Center in Gianyar [1]. The course begins on the Bypass I.B. Mantra, an arterial road, and then turns through the villages and rice fields of Gianyar regency [2]. The roads closed for it run through the districts of Gianyar, Blahbatuh and Sukawati, including Jalan Pantai Lebih, Pantai Masceti and Pantai Saba, and roads through Tulikup, Bona and Pering [3], and the route passes the town square in Gianyar [4].
It is not flat. A kumparan reporter who ran the 10 km described several challenging climbs [2]. After the 2025 race, Indonesia's national women's marathon winner, Odekta Naibaho, said the stretch from 8 km to 34 km was full of climbs, and that year's men's winner called the course really difficult; the organiser said the course had again been certified by AIMS and World Athletics [5].
The crowds are the thing runners mention most. Schoolchildren, residents in traditional dress and dancers with gamelan lined parts of the route [2]. Febry Arnold, an Indonesian runner based in San Francisco who was running an 86th marathon, said small children were up at 4am to cheer and that no other marathon had dancers out along the whole route [6].
The Weather: Warm, but With a Breeze
Ngurah Rai airport, about 20 km south-west of the start, recorded 25°C at the 4.20am marathon start, with a dew point of 23°C, 89% humidity and a 7 to 9 knot wind [7]. It stayed at 25°C until 7am, while the dew point dropped to 22°C [7].
It then warmed steadily: 27°C at 8am, 29°C by 9.30am and 30°C by 11am, with the breeze holding at 8 to 10 knots [7]. On the results, the middle marathoner crossed the line about 5 hours 28 minutes after the gun [8], at around 9.50am, when the airport read 29°C [7].
The organiser can cancel the race for heavy rain or lightning, and does not refund entries if it does [9].
Cut-offs, Aid and Toilets
The limits are seven hours for the marathon, three and a half hours for the half and two hours for the 10 km, and anyone finishing outside them gets no medal; only marathon finishers get a finisher shirt [9]. The organiser can also set checkpoints on the course, and runners who miss one are put on transport to the finish [9]. Race time is counted from the gun [9]. The results still list runners who crossed late: 65 marathoners, 251 half marathoners and 62 10 km runners finished after the limit on gun time [8].
Runners disagreed about the aid. The kumparan reporter in the 10 km found a water station at every kilometre [2]. But marathoners told detikBali that the only cold water was at a single station, and another runner said the isotonic and water stations were far apart [4].
Toilets were the main complaint. A marathoner from Lombok said runners used petrol stations and residents' homes and queued for them, and said there were no portable toilets on the course, unlike in earlier years [4]. A half marathoner from Toraja said the toilet signs were clear and that the portable toilets were at the venue [4]. The organiser said it would evaluate the basic facilities for next year [4].
Roads and Race Morning
The main closure was the northbound side of the Bypass I.B. Mantra, from Simpang Ketewel to Simpang Tegal Besar, from midnight to 2pm on race day, and the village roads on the route were closed from 3am to noon [3]. On the Saturday evening part of the bypass was closed from 7pm and traffic ran two-way on the other side [3].
Residents along the route were asked to tie up or cage their dogs and cats for the weekend, so that they would not chase runners [3]. The venue was already filling up with runners from 3am [2]. A marathoner said the cheering teams only appeared from about 6am [4], so, by that account, the first hour and 40 minutes of the marathon had little organised support.
How Fast the Field Is
The front is very fast. Kenya's Michael Kimani Kamau won in 2:16:10 and Veronicah Njeri Maina in 2:37:22, each taking Rp260 million [1][10]. Nine men broke 2:21 [8]. The organiser brought in 11 elite runners from Kenya and Ethiopia [11].
Behind the invited elites the field drops away. Tenth place in the marathon was Robi Syianturi, the national winner, in 2:28:30, and tenth woman was the national winner Ina Lydia in 3:09:55 [8]; each took Rp100 million in the national category [1]. The national men's race was decided by one second, 2:28:30 to 2:28:31 [8].
In the half marathon, tenth place was 1:11:39 for men and 1:31:49 for women, and the 10 km was won by Daniel Simanjuntak in 30:54 [8]. The middle finisher in the half took about 2:44 on the gun and in the 10 km about 1:29 [8]. Most of the field is Indonesian: nearly one in ten runners came from abroad [10].
Race Weekend Logistics
Entry is by ballot. In 2026 Maybank customers had a pre-sale from 9 to 30 January and the public ballot ran from 9 to 22 February; the marathon cost Rp950,000 for Indonesians and Rp1.6 million for foreigners, the half Rp800,000 or Rp1 million and the 10 km Rp650,000 or Rp800,000 [12]. Fees are not refunded, and entries cannot be transferred or sold [9].
Race packs were collected at the venue on 21 and 22 August [12], in person only, with the confirmation email and identity card [9]. The minimum age is 18 for the marathon, 17 for the half and 15 for the 10 km [9].
The venue is busy after the race. Maybank Indonesia's president director said the Adidas stand ran out of stock in less than a day, with long queues [4]. The field grew by about 500 from 2025 [6], to 14,100, and the organiser is studying whether to spread the 2027 event over two days [1].
Should You Enter the 2027 Race?
Yes, if you want a big, well-supported Elite Label marathon with a holiday attached, can run hills, and like crowds: the village support is what runners remember. It also works as a first overseas race; a Taiwanese runner on a first race abroad finished the half inside the limit and was moved by the children cheering [6].
Think twice if you want a flat course or a personal best, or if you need regular toilets and cold drinks on the course. In 2026 runners found both short [4].
The 2027 date, fees and format had not been published when this was written. The organiser was reviewing a two-day format [1], and AIMS listed no 2027 date [13].
Nobody from this site ran the race. This review draws on the organiser's rules, the full results, airport weather records, Indonesian and English-language reporting, and runners' accounts given to reporters.