Race intelligence · Marathon des Cerces

Marathon des Cerces, by the numbers

The Cerces loop without the Col du Granon — the same high ground above Le Monêtier, one long climb fewer. Every figure on this page is computed from 272 real finishes from the 2025 edition — checkpoint by checkpoint. Not estimates. The actual field.

45.8 km · 28.5 mi
3,200 m gain
Serre Chevalier, France
Median finish
9:07
hours, all finishers
Finish rate
93.5%
272 of 291 starters
Front of the pack
6:59
fastest 10% finish under
Women in the field
22.8%
share of finishers
Finish times, 2025

Where your hours would land.

272 finish times, one bar per hour. The median finisher crosses at 9h 07m; the fastest 10% are done under 6h 59m.

4h
5h
6h
7h
8h
9h
10h
11h
12h
Checkpoint almanac

When the field actually arrives.

The median finisher's real arrival at all 5 timed checkpoints, and how the field's pace moves segment by segment.

CheckpointKMMedian arrivalField pace here
Pic du Chardonnet10.42:04
1.03×
Col de Roches Noires18.03:29
0.93×
Refuge de Buffère26.94:45
0.75×
Grand Aréa37.47:46
1.40×
Arrivée46.49:07
0.73×

Field pace: the median finisher's pace on the segment into this checkpoint, relative to their own whole-race average — right/orange = slower than race pace, left/blue = faster. Runners who missed a cutoff or dropped are not in the data (finishers only).

Where the course breaks runners

The race is planned on paper. It's decided out there.

1.40×
Grand Aréa, km 37

The slowest stretch of the entire course for the median finisher 1.40× their whole-race pace, 7h 46m into the race.

1.03×
Pic du Chardonnet, km 10

The second-hardest segment 1.03× their whole-race pace, 2h 04m into the race.

0.73×
Arrivée — where the course gives it back

The fastest segment on the course for the median finisher — the field moves at 0.73× its whole-race pace into Arrivée.

Quick answers

Marathon des Cerces FAQ

What is a typical Marathon des Cerces finish time?
The median finish across 272 finishers (2025) is 9h 07m. The fastest 10% finish under 6h 59m; the slowest 10% finish after 11h 14m.
What percentage of runners finish Marathon des Cerces?
93.5% across the 2025 edition (272 finishers from 291 starters).

Now run it before you run it.

Fly the full course in 3D, get an ML finish-time prediction built on splits like the ones above, and generate a training plan pointed at race day.

Methodology & sources

Split data: official per-runner checkpoint times for the 2025 Marathon des Cerces, 272 finishers at 5 timed checkpoints. All split-derived figures describe finishers only — runners who dropped or missed a cutoff do not appear in split data, so buffer statistics understate how tight cutoffs are for the full field. Medians are used throughout; no figure on this page is modeled or extrapolated.