Route preview of India's most exciting city marathon
The NMDC Hyderabad Marathon is a point-to-point course that passes through some of the iconic landmarks of Hyderabad/Cyberabad. In the process you get to run on undulating terrain of deccan plateau, over a cable bridge, through the IT district and inside one of India’s best universities before the race culminates in the GMC Balayogi stadium aka Gachibowli stadium.
Marathon and Half-marathon categories start early on Aug 30 – Marathon Elite(4:30AM), Marathon Open(4:35AM), Half Marathon(5:30AM), whereas the 10km starts relatively late at 7:00AM.
August in Hyderabad is monsoon season, which means the race has a decent chance of seeing passing showers.
There may be passing showers during the race hour. The humidity is expected to be high touching 90%. Temperature during the race is expected to be between 24-28 degrees. Wind direction is from West & South West, with an average speed of 21 km/h, so expect head-winds in most of the sections as the finish is westward of the start.
Do check our up-to-date weather forecast below for the race-weekend below and prepare your gear accordingly.
The NMDC Hyderabad marathon expo is an experience, you can find more details on the expo here. Here is some information about the expo, & bib-pick up logistics.
Athletics for Better World - Towards Sustainable Marathon
The NMDC Hyderabad Marathon 2026, is leading the way as one of India’s most environmentally responsible sporting events under the guidance of “Athletics for Better World” standard by World Athletics. This year’s event includes major sustainability initiatives: 100% waste segregation, plastic-free aid stations, locally sourced materials, AQI-monitored clean routes, and electric mobility.
In partnership with Goonj NGO and GHMC, the marathon is also upcycling all flex collaterals and engaging local rag pickers for dignified employment. The event aims to become zero-waste to landfill and net-zero by 2028.
Runners and volunteers are encouraged to bring refillable bottles, avoid littering, avoid food wastage, and support this. For more information visit this link
The Marathon and the Half Marathon start from the People’s Plaza on Necklace road in the heart of Hyderabad. Traffic diversions will be in place so expect a short walk from wherever your ride drops you to the holding area. Please leave early for the race.
Being a point-to-point race, any baggage you drop at the start point will be transported to the finish point by the organizers. Once you finish the race go to the designated area in the Gachibowli stadium complex to collect your bags.
The NMDC Hyderabad Marathon is India’s only major point-to-point race — and it has never changed its start or finish locations since day one. Every year, runners set off from People’s Plaza by the shimmering Hussain Sagar Lake and finish inside the roaring Gachibowli Stadium. That means veterans can compare their runs year after year on the exact same course — a rare treat in the marathon world.
With the weather, expo, sustainability initiatives and start line logistics out of the way, here is a bird’s eye view of the course. At the risk of sounding trite, Hyderabad offers a point-to-point course. Meaning you start the race at one place and end the race at another place. This holds good for all 3 categories viz. Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K. The course by and large is undulating. There are a few flat stretches at the beginning of the race and at the fag end of the race – where you finish on the track inside the iconic Gachibowli stadium – respectively.
Did you know? The giant Buddha statue in Hussain Sagar Lake is a monolith, carved from a single piece of white granite. Weighing 450 tons, it took 200 sculptors two years to carve. Its installation was an epic event in itself!
The Half and Full marathon routes overlap except for the first 9 odd kms and the last 11kms in the context of the Marathon. We have organized this route description accordingly.
Before the deep dive, here is the whole fight on one screen. Skim it, know where the climbs and the reprieves are, and pace to the terrain — not to the clock.
| Segment | Half (km) | Full (km) | Terrain | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Necklace Road Loop | — | 0–9.5 | Flat | FM only. Settle into rhythm; don’t burn the flat |
| People’s Plaza → Punjagutta flyover | 0–3.5 | 9.5–13 | Flat, winding (Khairatabad flyover) | Bank a little time; watch the early crowd |
| Punjagutta flyover → KBR Park | 3.5–9 | 13–18 | The steepest climb on the course | The Battle of Banjara Hills — grind, don’t race |
| KBR Park → Road #45 | 9–12 | 18–21 | Downhill | Make up time, but don’t trash the quads |
| Road #45 → Biodiversity Park | 12–17 | 21–26 | Cable-bridge climb, then the fastest downhill | Push responsibly; course low point at km 17 / 26 |
| Biodiversity Park → IIIT junction | 17–19.5 | 26–29 | Final flyover, then undulating | Ride the scream tunnel; HM dig deep now |
| IIIT junction → Gachibowli Stadium | 19.5–21.1 | — | Flat; shared run-in to the stadium | HM finish — now inside on the track |
| HCU Campus → Gachibowli Stadium | — | 29–42.195 | Exposed and lonely, steady uphill through HCU | The Battle of Cyberabad — count the kms down |
Let us now do a deep dive into the course.
This section is only for the marathoners »
This section of about 9.5kms is flat. Hold your horses! Fresh legs, adrenaline rush and a pleasant breeze across Hussain Sagar can tempt the most seasoned of runners to push a pace that they haven’t really trained for. Remember, the hills and flyovers come late in the race. Use this section to find your rhythm and then maintain a steady pace. Add some time to the bank but don’t overdo it.
Necklace Road is named for its necklace-shaped curve around Hussain Sagar Lake, especially stunning when lit up at night.
Landmarks in this section:
Route Map - Marathon
The next few sections are common for the Marathon and the Half-Marathon»
You will encounter the first flyover i.e., the Khairatabad flyover in this section. It is a short flyover with a sharp turn to the right on descent which will lead you onto the Raj Bhavan road. The half-marathoners should be watchful as you will have to navigate your way around runners in this initial stretch. The crowd disperses as you come closer to the Somajiguda circle. This is a relatively flat winding section with one U-turn towards the end, so again, try and get some extra minutes in the bank. But exercise caution as the real challenge lies ahead.
Landmarks in this section:
Built in 1936, Raj-Bhavan spans over 21 acres and has hosted dignitaries from around the world.
RouteMap - Half Marathon
This is where the fun begins😊, up and undulating! You encounter the second flyover on this route i.e., the Punjagutta flyover and after that there is a steep and steady climb all the way through Banjara hills road number 2 and right up-to KBR national park. Once you cross the signal in front of the main gate of KBR national park, the next two kms are undulating in nature.
This stretch from the end of the Punjagutta flyover to the signal in front of the KBR park main gate is the steepest uphill climb on this course. So, when you cross the KBR gate pat yourself on the back. The battle of Banjara hills has been won!
Landmarks in this section:
This section is a downhill section where you can make up for the time lost in the previous section. Just be careful not to overdo it as only half the battle would have been won by the end of this section. Open your strides and go with the flow. Let the downhill terrain do the rest.
Did you know? Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park (KBR Park) is a rare example of a national park located right in the heart of a major city. Spanning nearly 400 acres, it’s home to hundreds of species of plants, birds, and even peacocks. So if you hear an unusual bird call, you’re not imagining things!
This is one of the most scenic and eventful sections on this course. You also tackle some serious elevation gain and loss in this section. First up you take the third flyover on this course that leads you onto the Durgam Cheruvu cable bridge with its breathtaking view and then you run through the IT district of Cyberabad all the way unto the Mumbai highway.
The first km of this section will offer a steep rise in elevation. Photographers and the scenery around the Durgam Cheruvu will ensure that your suffering is mitigated. The next 4 kms are net downhill. In fact, this is the fastest stretch you will encounter on this course. This is the section to push, particularly for the half marathoners, but do that responsibly. We repeat – in Hyderabad, it’s not over until the final flyover!
Did you know? The Durgam Cheruvu Cable Bridge is an engineering marvel. It is the world’s longest precast segmental concrete span for an extradosed cable-stayed bridge. It was built to slash travel time from Jubilee Hills to the IT district from 30 minutes to just 10.
As you run past the massive blue and yellow building, you’re passing a piece of indian retail history. The IKEA store here was the very first one to open in India back in 2018.
Landmarks in this section:
There will be entertainment stations enroute. One specifically just after the Durgam Cheruvu cable bridge, soak in the festive mood!
Trivia: The 17th km (HM)/ 26th km (FM) in this section is the lowest point on this course in terms of elevation. Try and capitalize on this km to build/ regain momentum on what is otherwise a challenging course.
For the half marathoners, this is the (anti) climax of the magnum opus called NMDC Hyderabad marathon! For those running the full distance, the suffer fest has just begun 😉. This section has the fourth (and final) flyover on this route. What makes the suffer fest enjoyable is the scream tunnel, the school children who line up on this flyover to cheer the runners. Give them a high five, smile at them, soak in their unbridled enthusiasm and that will lift your spirits like few other things ever will.
The “scream tunnel” of cheering school kids here was inspired by the Boston Marathon’s famous Wellesley College tradition.
The section after the flyover is undulating, for the half marathoners this is the time to dig deep as the end of the race is near.
This section is only for the half-marathoners »
The final frontier! This stretch is relatively flat but mentally testing. There are a few major changes this year: You will run roughly 300m more along the Old Mumbai Highway than in years past, keeping to the right carriageway, then take the second entry into the stadium complex past the main gate, which the full-marathoners will use. The old circuitous U-turn loop is gone — and what used to be the HM’s entry now belongs to the 10K.
Some of the most candid photos are the ones taken at the finish line of the NMDC Hyderabad marathon so remember to express yourself as you cross that finish line 😊
The finish, reimagined for 2026
A welcome change this year: both carriageways of the Old Mumbai Highway are given over to runners on the run-in to Gachibowli, and the streams are kept apart to the very end. From the Mindspace junction the 10K holds the left carriageway (arriving via the underpass) while the half and full marathoners cross to the right. The 10K then finishes just outside the stadium, while the HM and FM finish inside on the track — the half-marathoners peeling to the second entry past the main gate, the marathoners carrying straight on. Net result: the 10K stream is never clubbed with the HM/FM stream from Mindspace junction to the finish line.
This section is only for the marathoners »
This is a section that will test you to the core. A couple of things to note in this section – runners would have spread out by now and there is virtually no tree cover in the initial section, at least until you get into the HCU campus, this is also the time when the body starts asking questions of you owing to fatigue – long story short, you are running alone and are subject to the elements of the weather at hand. Take in every km as it comes while maneuvering this difficult section. Welcome to the NMDC Hyderabad “Marathon” folks 😉 the battle of Cyberabad has just begun!
Note: All aid stations after the IIIT junction on the marathon course will be well stocked with sponges, fruits, electrolytes etc. for the benefit of the marathoners. Physio support will be available every 2 km hereafter.
Running into the HCU campus should fill you with a proud sense of accomplishment for a job well done … So far 😁! Only you as a runner know what you had to endure to get this far! You won the battle of Banjara Hilla and now you are taking the battle of Cyberabad head on at the HCU! it’s all about counting the kms down and getting the job done from here on.
The HCU campus offers a good dose of tree cover and HCU Students will be cheering to keep your spirits high. This should rejuvenate you to redouble your efforts for this final and decisive section of the marathon. In terms of elevation, you will encounter a steady uphill before you exit the HCU Campus and hit the Old Mumbai highway again.
Folks! The battle of Cyberabad has been won — hereafter the finish line beckons. Keep to the right carriageway of the Old Mumbai Highway on the run-in; the marathon holds the right through the main gate and carries straight on into the stadium. Complete the victory march on the track at Gachibowli 👍
Landmarks in this section:
Did you know? The University of Hyderabad (HCU) campus is famous for its incredible biodiversity. It contains over 734 plant species and is home to deer, peacocks, and various ancient rock formations, making it one of the greenest and most unique university campuses in the country.
Some of the most candid photos are the ones taken at the finish line of the NMDC Hyderabad marathon so express yourself and leave everything — absolutely every effing thing — on the track as you cross that finish line 😊
The 10K is the day’s late starter (7:00 AM) and the only category that lives entirely inside Cyberabad — a fast, flat-to-rolling dash through the IT district that shadows the marathon’s run-in to Gachibowli before finishing just outside the stadium.
Explore the full 10K route map, elevation profile & GPX on RunStrong.
Pacing the race
The rolling course can make you double guess the target finish time and pace. Given the course elevation profile, a steady pace is probably not ideal. We’ve put together a pace calculator based on the race elevation profile. You can use the calculator to arrive at the kilometer wise split paces based on your goal time.
Check out the pace charts for the Marathon and the Half Marathon.
Route Logistics
Happy Racing to all the participants!!!
