From Pacaembu to inside the Jockey Club, the 42 km of the SP City Marathon 2026 cross 18 neighborhoods and landmarks of São Paulo traduzido por: OPENROUTER
Submitted at Jul 25, 2026, 10:20 AM
Corredores no Parque Ibirapuera, em SP. (Fabio Piva/Red Bull Content Pool/Divulgação)
Running 21 or 42 kilometers through the streets of São Paulo would already be challenge enough for any athlete. But the SP City Marathon — which this Sunday, July 26, celebrates its 10th edition — proposes something more: transforming the physical effort into a tour through the city that runs the most in Brazil.
From Pacaembu to the Jockey Club, the approximately 32,000 registered participants will cross 18 neighborhoods, passing by historic landmarks, symbolic avenues, and parks that summarize the São Paulo landscape.
More than an endurance test, SP City reinforces a concept that has been gaining strength among runners: that the street is also a territory for well-being and contemplation. Between one hydration point and another, the route invites the athlete to raise their eyes — to century-old buildings, skyscrapers, parks, and monuments that make São Paulo quite a scenery for those who also run with an eye on the landscape.
Below, we selected point by point, where the route passes.
(Divulgação/Divulgação)
It all begins at Praça Charles Miller, right in front of the traditional Pacaembu Stadium, one of the symbols of São Paulo football built in the 1940s. The first start, at 5:10 a.m., is reserved for PWD athletes, followed by the elite at 5:15 a.m. and the other groups until 6:35 a.m. For residents of Higienópolis and the region, the guidance is to avoid the car: Avenida Pacaembu is closed towards the square, and the recommended access is by ride-hailing app, taxi, or subway, through the Clínicas or Paulista stations.
(Divulgação/Divulgação)
The big novelty of the 2026 route is right in the first kilometers. To accommodate the record number of registrations, the organization replaced the section that passed through the Elevado Presidente João Goulart — the Minhocão — with a new path that goes along Avenida Doutor Abraão Ribeiro, crosses the surroundings of the Memorial da América Latina (the cultural complex designed by Oscar Niemeyer) and continues along Avenidas Norma Pieruccini Giannotti, Rudge, and Rio Branco. It is the first great postcard of the race.
(Theatro Municipal/Divulgação)
From there, the route dives into the historic downtown, passing near the Theatro Municipal, one of the greatest architectural symbols of the city, and the Viaduto do Chá, an iconic point that connects the Anhangabaú Valley to the New Center. It is one of the most photographed sections of SP City: art déco buildings, the hustle that is beginning to wake up, and the eclectic architecture of the old center form the backdrop for those who are still in the first thirds of the race.
After downtown, comes one of the most respected sections for those who have already run SP City: the climb of Avenida 23 de Maio toward the Paraíso neighborhood. This is where the route "gets serious," as more experienced runners say — a technical and challenging section that historically has always been part of the race layout since the first editions. Once the climb is conquered, the descent finally begins, a welcome relief for the legs.
Planetário do Ibirapuera. (Planetário do Ibirapuera/Divulgação)
One of the highlights of the touristic experience of the route is the passage through the region of Ibirapuera Park, the most famous green lung of São Paulo, with a view of the Obelisk to the Victims of 1932 — a monument erected in honor of the Constitutionalist Revolution. It is also at the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion, inside the park, that the Nike SP City Expo takes place, where runners pick up their kits in the days before the race. Running past there, with the park still quiet on Sunday morning, is one of the most celebrated moments by those who have already competed in the event.
Continuing through the south zone, the layout advances along Avenida Faria Lima — one of the main financial hubs in Latin America, with its landscape of glass and steel towers — and along Marginal Pinheiros, from where it is possible to see the river and the modern profile of the city. It is also in this region that the first cutoff point of the marathon is located: at km 25.4, at Praça Panamericana, athletes who pass after 10:15 a.m. follow an alternative route, about 4 km shorter, straight to the finish.
Exclusive to those who run the full 42.195 km, the final stretch takes the marathoners into the University City, in Butantã. The second cutoff point is at Gate 2 of USP (km 32.8, limit at 11:20 a.m.), and further ahead, at km 39 — Gate 1 of USP —, runners who arrive after 11:30 a.m. must wait for the marshals' clearance to cross Alvarenga Street. It's a different kind of breather within the circuit: tree-lined, quieter, almost a counterpoint to the concrete of downtown and Faria Lima.
The finish line — for both the marathon and the half-marathon — is inside the Jockey Club de São Paulo, a traditional racecourse that is also a hotspot for events and leisure in the city. Access is through gate 12, on Rua Dr. José Augusto de Queiroz, near Butantã, with train and subway stations nearby (Cidade Jardim and Hebraica-Rebouças, on the CPTM, or Butantã, on the subway). There, with a lively crowd, live music, and distribution of bananas, sports drinks, and gummy candies in the last few meters, the athletes wrap up a route through 18 neighborhoods that works almost like a running lesson in urban geography.
traduzido por: OPENROUTER
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