March 2027: A Ham Prize in Olot, a Race Where You Pick Your Distance and Rota's 40th

March 2027 has two new races on our calendar and a date change worth knowing about. They are the sort of half marathons that make it worth travelling: a ham for finishing, a course where you decide the distance as you run, and a coastal classic marking its 40th year. The March calendar has the rest.

Garrotxa, 7 March: the ham half marathon

The Mitja Marató de la Garrotxa, known locally as “la mitja del pernil”, is the 31st edition on Sunday 7 March 2027, organised by Club Natació Olot. Finishers inside the time limit get a ham, and 10K finishers get a cured-meat selection. The route starts and finishes in Olot and loops through the Vall d’en Bas, past La Pinya and El Mallol, with views of Santa Magdalena and Puigsacalm. It costs €42 (€47 from 22 February), everyone gets a technical shirt, and €1 of each entry goes to Càritas Garrotxa. The 2026 race set a record of about 1,000 runners.

Madrid University Half Marathon, 7 March: you choose your distance

“La Carrera para Todos” on the Complutense campus is a loop of about 7 km. You run it once (7,353 m), twice (14,188 m) or three times (21,097 m), and you decide at each lap, so there is no distance to pick when you register. It starts at 9:30 from the Glorieta del Cardenal Cisneros, finishes on the athletics track of the Complejo Sur, and also has a 1.5 km walk. Entry rises from €14 to €20 by race week, and it’s the 47th edition.

Costa de la Luz, 14 March: the 40th, reversed

The Rota–Chipiona half marathon celebrates its 40th edition on Sunday 14 March 2027. It starts at 9:30 at the Castillo de Luna in Rota and finishes in Plaza de Andalucía in Chipiona, so it runs the opposite way to earlier listings. The early-bird price of €15 applies to the first 100 entries or until 15 October, and the 2026 edition sold out its 600 bibs.

Also on the calendar

Calendars list the Badajoz marathon and half for 14 March, but the organiser hasn’t confirmed it, so we show it as an estimate. We also added the Media Maratón del Camino, which follows the Camino de Santiago from Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada and is normally held on the first Sunday of March (details from the 2025 edition).

Picking your March race

• A treat at the finish: Garrotxa.
• A flexible first half: Madrid University.
• A coastal milestone: Costa de la Luz.