Paris-Saclay Running Tour 2026

Lace up your best shoes, get your thighs ready, join the pack and let yourself be carried by the momentum of the Grand Paris Express! 🚝

The race takes place in the Île-de-France region, more specifically in the department of Essonne 🏃. It’s in November that a fast-growing running event takes place: the Paris-Saclay Running Tour. For its very first edition last year, 800 runners hit the pavement 🚀. A real made in Paris-Saclay success that’s growing even more for its second edition, in partnership with Société des grands projets, by adding two major new features to the program: a marathon of 42.2 km for distance junkies and a special race for children of 1.5 km 🧒.

The great strength of this gathering is its inclusive spirit 🙌. Whether you come to win or just for fun, all races are inclusive and open to people with disabilities—motor, intellectual, sensory, or psychological—with routes entirely accessible by joëlette ♿. Last year, the event’s symbol paired a hare and a tortoise 🐢, but this time it’s the unlikely alliance of a gazelle and a snail that embodies the local philosophy. The idea is simple: everyone moves at their own pace, together, from the same starting line 🐌.

All distances start and finish at one central point: Université Paris-Saclay station, located on avenue des Sciences in Gif-sur-Yvette, next to the École normale supérieure (ENS) Paris-Saclay 🏫. Sunday’s routes cross no fewer than eight municipalities in the agglomeration 😎: Gif-sur-Yvette, Igny, Orsay, Saclay, Saint-Aubin, Vauhallan, Villiers-le-Bâcle and Palaiseau 🌍. A clever mix of urban areas and pure nature awaits you.

You’ll pass through the cool Saint-Aubin and Favreuse channels, breathe in the fresh air in the Palaiseau national forest, before linking the path from Massy to Saclay through the fields 🌲. This lush setting intertwines with a decidedly futuristic landscape. Indeed, you’re running at the heart of one of the world’s most important hubs for scientific research and innovation 🌍. The route will introduce you to internationally renowned institutions like CentraleSupélec, ENS Paris-Saclay, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), École Polytechnique, and the Lumen 🔬. The event is also driven by the spirit of the Grand Paris Express 🤓. The course follows very closely part of the elevated route of Metro Line 18, which is already reshaping the local landscape 🏙️.

Once you’ve crossed the finish line and picked up your medal 🥇, the adventure won’t stop there. What to do after the race? The para-sport village set up on the event site is waiting for you to extend the experience. It’s the perfect time to chat, learn about different adapted sports, and share a convivial moment with the other participants ⛺. If you want to explore the immediate surroundings, take time to stroll around campus to admire the modern architecture of the grandes écoles around you, or enjoy the calm of the natural spaces crossed during the morning to recover actively from your efforts 🍃.