13th Edition · 10–13 September
Entries closed in March. What matters now is when you have to be in Leh, because if you miss bib collection you do not run — and because on the Sunday morning the roads shut until quarter past one, whether you are racing or not.
The Ladakh Marathon began in 2012, in the aftermath of the 2010 flash floods, as a way of marking that Ladakh had not been flattened by them. Thirteen editions later it is an AIMS-certified race that runs between roughly 11,500 and 17,618 feet, and the two ultra events on its programme are among the highest and hardest anywhere.
Registration for the 2026 edition opened on 19 February and closed on 23 March. It is shut. So is the window for cancellations, category changes and transfers, all of which ended on 31 May. If you are reading this hoping to enter, the honest answer is that you are looking at February 2027, and it is worth setting a reminder now, because last time the whole thing was over in five weeks.
What follows is for people who are already in — and for everyone else staying in Leh that weekend, because the road closure affects you too.
Every participant has to collect their bib in person at the Expo in Leh. There is no proxy collection, no early release, and nothing issued afterwards. Miss your window and the entry is gone — the fee is not refunded for failure to collect.
The two ultras collect on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August. Everything else — Marathon, Half Marathon, 11.2 km and the 5 km Run for Fun — collects on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September. Several third-party guides currently give a single collection weekend for all six races. That is wrong, and following it would cost an ultra runner their race.
Ultra participants are additionally required to be in Leh a minimum of ten days before their run. That is not a suggestion about acclimatisation etiquette; it is in the terms you agreed to at registration.
You can learn more about this race from its regulations than from any description of the scenery.
Supplementary oxygen is banned outright — using it means disqualification. So does getting into a support vehicle at any point. No family member, friend or support crew may accompany a participant during any of the races, and for the two ultras they may not stay with participants either. Everyone must cover the entire course under their own power.
The medical team can pull a runner out of the race on abnormal vitals, and their decision is final. Anyone with a chronic condition such as heart disease or high blood pressure is told plainly not to participate. Runners are instructed to monitor their oxygen saturation during acclimatisation and to go to SNM Hospital in Leh at any sign of altitude sickness.
Selfie sticks and any camera rig not fixed to the head or torso are banned on all six courses.
Code of conduct, 2026Littering is prohibited along every course. Gel sachets and bar wrappers have to be carried back or binned at aid stations, and every entrant signs a pledge to that effect at registration. In a region where water scarcity is becoming the defining question, that is not decoration.
On Sunday 13 September the roads are closed until 1:15 p.m. That is the same morning as the Marathon, the Half and the 11.2 km, and it applies to everyone in Leh regardless of whether they entered anything.
In practice it means an early airport transfer, a departure for Nubra or Pangong, or a monastery circuit planned for that Sunday morning is going to run into a problem. It is an easy thing to solve if you know about it three weeks out, and a genuinely bad morning if you find out at breakfast.
If you want in next year, this is the timeline to work backwards from.
No. Registration ran from 19 February to 23 March 2026 and is closed for all six races. Cancellations, category changes and transfers to next year all closed on 31 May. The next opportunity is the 2027 edition.
For the Silk Route Ultra and Khardung La Challenge, by Saturday 29 August for bib collection, and in any case a minimum of ten days before your race. For the Marathon, Half Marathon, 11.2 km and 5 km, by Saturday 5 September. Bibs are issued in person only and never outside those dates.
You do not run, and the registration fee is not refunded. The rules are explicit that no bib is issued before or after the assigned dates, and that failure to collect is not grounds for a refund.
Khardung La, the high point of the two ultra routes, sits at 17,618 feet. The event as a whole runs between roughly 11,500 and 17,618 feet, which makes it the highest AIMS-certified marathon anywhere.
No. Using portable or supplementary oxygen results in disqualification, as does boarding a support or sweep vehicle. Participants must complete the course under their own power, without a support crew.
Yes. On Sunday 13 September roads are closed until 1:15 p.m. Anyone with a flight, a transfer or a tour booked that morning should reschedule around it.
We are a few minutes from the centre of Leh and we put up runners every September — the ones who arrive a fortnight early, sleep badly for the first three nights, and spend the second week walking up to Shanti Stupa to see how their lungs are getting on. If you are coming for the race, or trying to plan around it, Hotel Kesaar Palace is on Fort Road in Leh.
