Embark on a journey of solidarity and endurance at the Sahara Marathon 2026, a landmark charity sporting event held in the Sahrawi refugee camps near Tindouf, Algeria. Scheduled for Tuesday, February 24, 2026, this race transcends traditional competition, offering participants a unique opportunity to live with Sahrawi families and experience their legendary hospitality firsthand. Organized by the Sahrawi Athletics Federation and local institutions, the marathon serves as a powerful message of support for the Sahrawi people, with all proceeds directly funding local sports programs and community aid.
The 2026 edition features a range of distances to accommodate everyone from elite ultramarathoners to casual walkers. The flagship 42 km Marathon traces a challenging desert route starting in the Aaiun camp, crossing Auserd, and finishing in Smara. For those seeking different challenges, the event offers 21 km, 10 km, and 5 km alternative races. The terrain is a mix of hard, stony ground and soft desert sand, demanding resilience and proper preparation. Every finisher receives a unique ceramic medal, handcrafted by Sahrawi women in the Aaiun camp’s local workshop, symbolizing the connection between the athletes and the local community.
Participation in the Sahara Marathon is structured as a full immersion week. Most participants join an organized charter flight from Madrid (Feb 21 – Feb 28), which includes visa management, travel insurance, and a week-long stay with a host family in Smara. Living in the camps involves a "slow-sport" philosophy—forget daily showers and modern luxuries, and instead embrace tea ceremonies, shared meals of couscous and camel meat, and the quiet beauty of the desert dunes. As the race coincides with the month of Ramadan in 2026, the cultural experience will be even more significant, though host families will continue to ensure all international guests are fully nourished and supported throughout their stay.
Feb 24, 2026
Distance — 10K
Type — Running
-37 days remaining
$47.50
Feb 24, 2026
Distance — 5K
Type — Running
-37 days remaining
$47.50
Feb 24, 2026
Distance — 21.1K
Type — Running
-37 days remaining
$95.00
Feb 24, 2026
Distance — 42.2K
Type — Running
-37 days remaining
$95.00
These values represent the 3-year monthly averages for February in Tindouf.
Learn more about the host city, Tindouf.
Tindouf is a town in Saharan Algeria, in the extreme southwest of the country near the border with Western Sahara. Due to a large Sahrawi population living in the refugee camps surrounding the town, Tindouf is as close as most can get to a genuine Sahrawi culture, since the "Free Zone" of Western Sahara led by Polisario remains inaccessible behind a border barrier and large minefields, which separate it from the Moroccan-occupied parts of the territory.
Read more launchWatch highlights and course previews from previous years.
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