How a Group of Friends Built Alexandria’s Biggest Marathon

On November 6, thousands of runners are expected to take to Alexandria’s Mediterranean coastline for the 2026 Alexandria Marathon, an event that grew out of a local running community founded more than a decade ago.

Organised by Alex Runners, the marathon is advertised as bringing together more than 4,000 runners from over 30 countries, with participants set to race along the city’s Corniche and past some of its best-known landmarks.

But the event’s origins are considerably more modest.

In 2013, a small group of friends came together over a shared passion for running. There were no international fields or thousands of participants filling the streets, just a group looking for a healthier lifestyle and a community with which to share it.

Alex Runners began organising group runs that year. By 2014, the community had expanded into organising running events, gradually building towards a bigger ambition: establishing a marathon that would put Alexandria on the international running calendar.

“We realised that Alexandria needed its own official marathon to put the city on the global running map. That’s why we decided to establish the Alexandria Marathon brand,” Marwan Rashed, CEO of the Alexandria Marathon, tells SceneSports.

The ambition was to create an event that could bring local runners together with participants from abroad while making Alexandria itself part of the experience.

Rashed describes the marathon as Alexandria’s biggest sporting event, although that distinction remains the organiser’s characterisation. The event’s official website currently promotes more than 4,000 runners from over 30 countries, reflecting its international ambitions.

The marathon’s history, however, requires a distinction between the running community and the event itself. Alex Runners dates back to 2013, but the timeline of the full marathon is separate.

The 2026 race therefore arrives against a longer history of community running in Alexandria, rather than an uninterrupted sequence of annual full-marathon editions.

Building an event of this scale has not been without its challenges.

“One of the biggest challenges we faced was coordinating road security with the local authorities. Obtaining the necessary permits to close roads was also not easy,” Rashed says.

Beyond the logistics, Alex Runners has also sought to connect its activities with causes beyond sport. Over the years, the community has supported organisations including Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt, Misr El Kheir Foundation and Ahl Masr Foundation.

The 2026 marathon will once again include a charitable component, with further details on the beneficiary organisation and the allocation of ticket proceeds requiring confirmation from the organisers.

On November 6, runners will have several distances to choose from, making the event accessible to participants with different levels of experience and fitness.

The full marathon covers 42.195 kilometres along Alexandria’s coastline, while the half-marathon offers a shorter endurance challenge. The programme also includes 10-kilometre and five-kilometre races, alongside shorter runs for families and younger participants.

A dedicated Champions Race is designed to give athletes with disabilities and participants with different abilities an opportunity to take part in the event.

The route is also central to the marathon’s appeal. Starting and finishing at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, runners will follow the Mediterranean Corniche past landmarks including Qaitbay Citadel and Stanley Bridge, with the course extending towards Montaza Palace Gardens.

For participants travelling to Alexandria, the race offers an opportunity to experience the city through its waterfront and historic sites, while local runners get to compete on familiar streets in an event designed to attract an international field.

For Rashed, the longer-term ambition is to take the marathon well beyond its current scale.

“We want the Alexandria Marathon to become one of the biggest marathons in Africa and contribute to the growth of sports tourism in Egypt. We hope to one day reach participation numbers comparable to those of the London Marathon or the Berlin Marathon.”

More than a decade after a handful of friends began running together, Alex Runners is still working towards that goal. The November event is the next step in its effort to build a marathon that brings international attention to Alexandria while keeping its local running community at the centre.