The Old Port Corrida 2026

Between Christmas and New Year’s, you have two options: eat the last of the Advent calendar chocolates in your pajamas, or run dressed up as a sardine on the most beautiful port in France.

Looking for a running race in Marseille to end the year in epic mode rather than couch-and-chips mode? The Old Port Corrida is exactly what you need. Organized every year at year’s end by the SMUC, this festive and solidarity event in the heart of the Phocaean city donates its profits to the Food Bank of Bouches-du-Rhône. Running for a good cause with your belly still full of Christmas logs—that’s style 😁. Weather-wise, Marseille plays in a different league from the rest of the country in December. Expect 10 to 14°C and often clear skies (yes, the city racks up more than 300 days of sunshine a year). Pro tip: a technical base layer under the Santa or Mrs. Claus costume, and you’re set 🎅. Even the Mistral signed up, but hey, it’s been running bib-free for 2,600 years 💨.

The Old Port Corrida is 5 km of flat, all-level-friendly running, with the Mediterranean as a backdrop and the Frioul Islands in your sights. Not a single hill, not a single excuse not to finish. The course is designed to blend performance and fun: time-chasers and leisurely runners dressed as sardines will both find their happiness 🐟. The start is given in front of City Hall, right in the heart of the Phocaean city. Runners set off along the quays of the Old Port, pass hundreds of moored boats with the sea behind them, turn around at the "La Samaritaine" brasserie in a funfair atmosphere 🎡, then head out for a second loop before crossing the line to cheers 🏁. Tradition has it that the Old Port Corrida closes with a school of runners dressed up as sardines, because as everyone knows, it’s the sardine that blocked the port of Marseille. A Santa hat is handed to each participant at the start, and costumes are strongly encouraged: the more absurd, the more you’re adored.

You’ve crossed the finish line, handed back the hat, removed the sardine tail. And now? The real adventure begins. Marseille is a city to be experienced with eyes wide open, generously rewarding those who take the time to discover it beyond the Old Port 🎁. Start by climbing up to Notre-Dame de la Garde, the "Good Mother" watching over the city from up high ⛪️. The 360° view over the harbor ⚓️ and the seafront is simply breathtaking (. On the way down, get lost in the Panier district, the oldest in Marseille, with its painted facades and local artisans who make the city come alive in a different way. And if your legs still have some spring 🦵, the Calanques await you 30 minutes away by car 🛣️. As for food, don’t go home without tasting the real Marseille bouillabaisse: it’s a rite of passage after a running race you won’t soon forget. Just like the famous orange-blossom navettes.

This is the only event where you’ll see Santa sweat this much without having to hand out anything at all, and where sardines will run like gazelles 🏃.