Medellín Marathon 2026 Road Closures: Full Street List

The Medellín marathon 2026 road closures start earlier than most drivers expect: the longest one, Calle 44 San Juan’s north lane (calzada norte), begins at 2:00 p.m. Saturday and doesn’t reopen until 10:00 a.m. Sunday. Its south lane (calzada sur) closes separately, from 2:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Sunday, so both directions are shut for a stretch of Sunday morning. Carrera 51 Bolívar and the Pies Descalzos/Parques del Río/Teatro Metropolitano block both close at 2:00 a.m. Sunday and are the last to reopen, at noon. Across the weekend, the Maratón Medellín Sistecrédito draws more than 30,000 runners combined across the 42K, 21K, 10K, and 5K, and every distance is already sold out (Maratón Medellín — official closures list; Notas y Noticias). So if you weren’t planning to run, the thing to plan around now is exactly which streets close and when.

Closure times and sold-out status current as of September 2, 2026. Organizers can adjust individual blocks close to race day, so check the official closures page again before you drive.

The schedule: two days, four distances

• Saturday, September 5 — 5K, starting 7:00 a.m. from Edificio EPM / Parque de los Pies Descalzos
• Sunday, September 6 — 42K starts 5:00 a.m. from Parque de las Luces (Av. San Juan); 21K starts 5:30 a.m. from Av. Carabobo; 10K starts 8:30 a.m. from Parques del Río
• Finish line (all Sunday distances): Edificio EPM, Parque de los Pies Descalzos

Time limits are 6 hours for the 42K (with intermediate cutoffs of 9:00 a.m. at kilometer 28.5 in Sabaneta and 10:00 a.m. at kilometer 35.7 in Aguacatala), 3 hours for the 21K, 2 hours for the 10K, and 1.5 hours for the 5K (Maratón Medellín FAQ). Organizers confirm on the race site that “todas las distancias están agotadas” — every distance, including the 5K, is sold out for this edition, with no new registrations being accepted (Maratón Medellín).

Per event organizers, this year’s field draws more than 30,000 total participants across both days — over 3,000 international, from 51 countries, with Puerto Rico the largest foreign contingent (Notas y Noticias; Vivir en El Poblado).

Where the Medellín marathon 2026 road closures hit

The route runs through Medellín, Envigado, and Sabaneta (Maratón Medellín). The organizer’s official closures page lists more than 20 individual street segments, each with its own window. Here are the ones that shut down major corridors for hours at a stretch (Maratón Medellín — official closures list):

Street / segment	Closure window
Calle 44 San Juan (calzada norte), Cra 50–57	Sat 2:00 p.m. – Sun 10:00 a.m. — the longest single closure on the list
Calle 44 San Juan (calzada sur), Cra 50–57	Sun 2:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Carrera 51 Bolívar, Calle 44 to Cra 54	Sun 2:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (noon) — tied for the last block to reopen
Pies Descalzos / Parques del Río (costado oriental) / Teatro Metropolitano, Cra 62, 57, 58, Calle 42 & 43	Sun 2:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (noon) — the other last-to-reopen block
Calle 44 San Juan, east–west direction, Av. Ferrocarril to Av. 80	Sun 4:30 – 7:40 a.m.
Avenida 80, Cra 70 to San Juan	Sun 4:30 – 8:35 a.m.
Carrera 70, Av. 80 to Calle 30	Sun 4:30 – 8:40 a.m.
Calle 30, Cra 70 to 48 (Industriales)	Sun 4:30 – 8:55 a.m.
Avenida Regional, eastern lane only, Calle 7 to 26	Sun 4:30 – 8:50 a.m. — the western lane stays open the whole time; the organizer lists it as a recommended north–south route
Avenida Industriales, western lane, Calle 31 to 24	Sun 4:30 – 10:00 a.m.
Avenida Industriales, eastern lane, Calle 24 to Cra 52	Sun 4:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Carrera 55, western lane, San Juan (Calle 44) to Av. 33 (Glorieta Exposiciones)	Sun 4:30 – 10:15 a.m. — the stretch between the railroad bridge and the Nutibara bridge stays open
Carrera 54, Av. 33 to Cra 52	Sun 4:30 – 10:20 a.m.

Avenida Las Vegas, segment by segment

Las Vegas closes in five separate windows depending on lane and stretch, and they don’t all reopen at the same time — worth its own table rather than one crowded closure line (Maratón Medellín — official closures list):

Segment	Closure window
Western lane (calzada occidental): Calle 24 to Calle 1 Sur	Sun 4:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Western lane (calzada occidental): Calle 1 Sur to Glorieta Aguacatala	Sun 6:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Eastern lane (calzada oriental): Calle 77 Sur to Calle 37 Sur	Sun 4:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Eastern lane (calzada oriental): Calle 37 Sur to Glorieta Aguacatala	Sun 4:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Eastern lane (calzada oriental): Glorieta Aguacatala to Calle 24	Sun 4:30 – 11:30 a.m.

The cross street linking the two — Calle 37 Sur, between Avenida El Poblado and Avenida Las Vegas — closes on the same 4:30–10:30 a.m. window as the first eastern-lane segment.

On Saturday, a separate, smaller set of closures for the 5K — Carrera 51 Bolívar (calzada occidental, Av. 33 to Calle 32), Carrera 48 Industriales (Calle 32 to Calle 24), and Avenida 33 (Cra 51 to Cra 55) — runs 6:00–8:00 a.m., hours ahead of the Sunday closures above.

The 42K and 21K start together near Parque de las Luces and Av. Carabobo before 6 a.m. The 10K starts later, from Parques del Río. All three converge on the Edificio EPM finish through late morning. That means the Regional/Parques del Río corridor and the routes toward Envigado and Sabaneta are the ones to avoid, not just downtown streets.

If you’d rather reroute than wait, the organizer publishes a short list of corridors that stay open to normal traffic all day Sunday (Maratón Medellín — official closures list):

• Avenida 33, between Avenida Ferrocarril (Cra 57) and Calle 80C — open in both directions (a different stretch from the short Avenida 33 closure used for Saturday’s 5K, above)
• Calle 30, between Cra 70 and Cra 80 — open westbound to eastbound
• Avenida Regional’s western lane — open southbound to northbound the whole time
• Carrera 43A / Avenida El Poblado — normal traffic; only the Sunday Ciclovía on that corridor is suspended, so the street itself is open to cars that morning
• Carrera 52 / Avenida Guayabal — normal traffic in both directions
• Intercambio vial de la Ayurá — the connector between Envigado and Itagüí, if you need to cross between the two

If you’re used to routing around restricted days on Avenida Regional or the Autopista Sur because they’re pico y placa-exempt (Alcaldía de Medellín), note that marathon closures aren’t governed by that exemption — a road can be open to every license plate and still be shut to all traffic for the race.

The corridor has also seen unrelated lane work this season near Parques del Río, so cross-reference both before you plan a Sunday morning route through the city center.

Metro hours and getting around

The Metro opens early on race day — Notas y Noticias reports service starting at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 6, specifically to move runners toward the 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. starts (Notas y Noticias). That would be an hour ahead of the Metro’s normal Sunday and holiday hours of 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (Metro de Medellín — schedules). Treat the exact time as unconfirmed by the Metro itself, though: for last year’s marathon, Metro de Medellín’s own communication extended only lines A, B, and T to 4:30 a.m., with the Metrocables running on their normal Sunday schedule (El Colombiano, 2025) — so this year’s opening time, and which lines it covers, is worth confirming directly with the Metro before you build a morning around it. Separately, the organizer’s own info page confirms runner corrals open at 4:00 a.m. and close at 4:45 a.m. — a different, race-entry-only cutoff, not the public Metro schedule (Maratón Medellín). Neither source confirms whether fare is waived that morning, so budget for a normal fare unless you see otherwise posted at the turnstile.

Metroplús riders should plan around a slowdown too: the organizer flags controlled passage at the Calle 30 / Avenida 80 interchange from 5:00 to 6:30 a.m., with delays expected during that window (Maratón Medellín — official closures list).

A few things worth planning around this weekend:

• Airport transfers: José María Córdova (Rionegro) is reached via Las Palmas or the Túnel de Oriente, outside the marathon footprint, but getting to that route from El Poblado, Laureles, or downtown may mean crossing closed blocks near the Regional or Parques del Río corridor. Build in buffer time for a Saturday-evening or Sunday-morning pickup, especially before noon.
• Drivers: Given Medellín’s traffic-death numbers this year already run ahead of the city’s homicide count (El Colombiano), treat course crossings with extra caution — a closed block isn’t always obvious until you’re on it.
• Rideshare/taxi: Expect pickup and drop-off near the Edificio EPM finish and the Parque de las Luces/Parques del Río starts to be difficult during the race window; walk a block or two out of the immediate zone.

The bottom line

Block off Saturday, September 5, 2:00 p.m. through Sunday, September 6, around noon, if your plans touch Medellín, Envigado, or Sabaneta — the race is sold out across all four distances and drawing over 30,000 runners this weekend. Most individual streets reopen well before noon (see the corridor tables above); Calle 44 San Juan is the longest closure — its north lane shut from Saturday afternoon through Sunday mid-morning, its south lane closed separately Sunday morning. Carrera 51 Bolívar and the Pies Descalzos/Parques del Río/Teatro Metropolitano block are tied for the last to reopen, both at noon Sunday, with Avenida Industriales’s eastern lane close behind at 11:45 a.m. The Metro is one option for getting around early — local reporting has it opening at 4:00 a.m., though that specific time isn’t confirmed by the Metro itself — and a short list of corridors (Avenida 33, Calle 30, Avenida Regional’s western lane, Carrera 43A/Av. El Poblado, Carrera 52/Av. Guayabal, and the Ayurá interchange) stay open all day if you’d rather drive around the closures than wait them out. For anything time-sensitive, check the official closures page for your specific block rather than assume your usual route is open.

Frequently asked questions

When exactly are the Medellín marathon 2026 road closures?

The longest closure starts at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, September 5, on Calle 44 San Juan’s north lane (calzada norte); its south lane (calzada sur) closes separately, from 2:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Sunday. The last blocks to reopen are Carrera 51 Bolívar and the Pies Descalzos/Parques del Río/Teatro Metropolitano block, both at noon Sunday, September 6. Most individual Sunday-morning corridors — Avenida 80, Carrera 70, Calle 30, Avenida Regional’s eastern lane — close around 4:30 a.m. and reopen between 8:30 and 11:45 a.m.; Avenida Las Vegas closes in five separate windows between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. depending on the segment.

Can I still register for the Maratón Medellín Sistecrédito 2026?

No. Organizers confirmed all distances — 42K, 21K, 10K, and 5K — are sold out, with no new registrations for this edition.

What time does the Metro open on race day?

Local reporting (Notas y Noticias) says 4:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 6 — an hour earlier than its normal Sunday opening of 5:00 a.m. — to move runners to the early starts. That specific time isn’t confirmed by Metro de Medellín’s own channels; last year’s marathon saw only select lines (A, B, T) extended, to 4:30 a.m., so confirm with the Metro directly if your plans depend on it.

Which municipalities does the route cross?

Medellín, Envigado, and Sabaneta. If you’re crossing between Envigado and Itagüí during the closures, the organizer recommends the Ayurá interchange as a detour; Carrera 52/Avenida Guayabal and Carrera 43A/Avenida El Poblado also stay open to normal traffic all day.

What roads stay open during the closures?

Avenida 33 (between Avenida Ferrocarril and Calle 80C), Calle 30 (between Cra 70 and 80, westbound to eastbound), Avenida Regional’s western lane, Carrera 43A/Avenida El Poblado (its Sunday Ciclovía is suspended for the day, so the street is open to cars), Carrera 52/Avenida Guayabal, and the Ayurá interchange between Envigado and Itagüí all stay open to normal traffic on race day.