The run, in one paragraph
The Nainital Monsoon Mountain Marathon is a 21K, 10K and 5K hill run held on the last stretch of the monsoon, when the Kumaon range is at its greenest and the lake at Mallital is at its fullest. Run2Live has been organising it since 2010, and the organisers usually place it on the last Sunday of August. The course is hard: it climbs and drops through the town's forested upper roads, and the altitude does the rest. The reward is what you see when you slow down: hill schools you only know from old photographs, the Ayarpatta woods, and the eastern Himalayan crest on a clear day.
Two things make the 2026 edition worth a note in the diary. It is the fifteenth running, and it is the last one at 21K: organiser Harish Tewari told reporters on 10 August that from 2027 the headline distance becomes a full 42K marathon, with the aim of pulling the race onto the national and international calendar. If you have been meaning to run the Nainital half, this was the last one.
Distances and registration fees
Entries for 2026 are closed. The figures below are the fees the organiser charged on Townscript this year, kept here for reference and for anyone planning ahead to 2027. Note that the 5K is a schools race, registered offline through local schools rather than online.
| Category | Distance | 2026 fee | Sub-categories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half marathon | 21 km | Rs 2,000 | Men Open, 40+, 50+, 60+; Women Open, 40+, 50+ |
| 10K Run | 10 km | Rs 1,500 | Men Open, 45+, 55+; Women Open, 45+, 55+ |
| 5K Run (local schools) | 5 km | Offline entry | Senior, above class 8, boys and girls |
| 4K Junior (local schools) | 4 km | Offline entry | Junior, below class 8, boys and girls |
| Run for Fun | 2 km | Registered on 29 Aug at DSA Ground | Open, not chip-timed |
Local runners paid a reduced Rs 500 entry, and the organisers offered free registration to local participants who could not afford the fee. Online entries closed on 10 August 2026 per the Townscript listing; the organisers told reporters the cut-off was 15 August. Either way, the window has passed.
Prize money and what finishers get
Run2Live puts up over Rs 5,50,000 in total prize money across the age and gender categories, which is a large purse for a hill race of this size and part of why the 21K field pulls serious club and services runners. The 2024 edition was won by Arun Pal of the Indian Army; in 2025 Mayangam Lungleng took the 21K in 1:17:08 and Arpita Saini won the women's race in 1:42:33.
2026 results. Prabhu Mahto of Kotdwar won the 21K in 1:21:01, ahead of John Kisilu Muindi of Kenya in 1:22:21 and Mukesh Singh Bora in 1:23:25. Jyoti won the women's 21K from Bhavna Negi and Ekta Rawat; their times were not reported. In the 10K, Ram Singh and Soni Bora were the men's and women's winners. About 1,400 runners from 13 states and Kenya started, and Justice Manoj Tiwari of the Uttarakhand High Court was chief guest (Amar Ujala, 31 August 2026). Run2Live had not published a full results list when we checked on 3 October 2026; its provisional results are now on the timing site, as below.
Full results, added 22 October 2026. The provisional results on Runizen, ranked by chip time and closed to queries on 6 September, give the women's 21K as Jyoti in 1:39:47, Bhavna Negi in 1:39:53 and Ekta Rawat in 1:45:01. Ram Singh won the men's 10K in 33:13, ahead of Devendra Bisht in 33:35 and Biben Rai in 33:42, and Soni Bora the women's 10K in 38:09, ahead of Meena Koranga in 40:45 and Kanchan Lodhiyal in 41:31. Amar Ujala's report names the age-group winners: in the 21K, Harpreet Singh and Leela Sah (40 and over) and Nandan Singh and Vandana Singh (50 and over); in the 10K, Chandan Singh Sirari and Jayanti Thapliyal (45 and over) and Charan Singh and Ragini Agarwal (55 and over). Krishna Singh Bisht and Lalita Tripathi won the schools 5K, and Devendra Singh Bisht and Mansi Bisht the Run for Fun, which the results page lists as 4 km. The same report says LIC senior divisional manager Alok Kumar Saini flagged the race off at 7 am, an hour after the time on the organiser's listing, and that municipal chairperson Dr Saraswati Khetwal was special guest.
Every entrant receives a t-shirt, refreshments, a finisher medal and an e-certificate. Every category except Run for Fun is timed with an electronic chip.
Runners who registered by the deadline were also offered a free night's accommodation in Nainital from the organisers. That covers the participant on the night of 29 August only. Not family, not a longer stay, and not the night after the race.
Bib collection and race-morning logistics
- Bib collection: Saturday 29 August 2026, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, at DSA Ground. No bibs are issued on race day. If you are not in Nainital on the Saturday, you do not run.
- Carry photo ID: Aadhaar, driving licence or equivalent. Bib and t-shirt are handed out together at DSA Ground.
- 21K and 10K runners were asked to be in Nainital by 29 August.
- Run for Fun entries are taken in person at DSA Ground on 29 August.
Start point: DSA Ground, Mallital
The race starts and finishes at DSA Ground, on the Mallital side of the Naini Lake (PIN 263001), the flat open ground locals simply call the Flats. Most parking for outstation visitors is along Mall Road on the Mallital side. With a 6:00 AM flag-off, anyone driving up from Haldwani needs to leave by around 4:00 AM, and should factor in that Mall Road parking fills early on race morning.
Route notes (half marathon)
The route the organisers described at their 10 August press briefing runs: DSA Ground → Mall Road → Tallital church → Snow View → Tanki Band → Pangot Road → Barapatthar → Aurobindo Ashram → the Ayarpatta forest → Sherwood College → Raj Bhavan → the district court → Thandi Sadak → back to DSA Ground.
It is tarmac the whole way, with sustained climbing out of Mallital and a fast, technical descent back through the town. The monsoon is usually still in retreat at the end of August, so expect wet road, low cloud through the Ayarpatta stretch, and greasy corners on the way down. Trail shoes are not needed. A brimmed cap and a windbreaker that packs into a pocket are.
We have not published cut-off times or aid-station spacing because the organiser does not publish them and we could not verify either from a primary source. Ask Run2Live directly if you need them.
Getting to the start from Haldwani
Haldwani sits at the base of the Kumaon range, 38 km below Nainital on NH 109. From the Kathgodam Junction side of town, the drive to Mallital takes around 1 hr 25 min in early-morning traffic. Two practical options for race morning:
- Drive up Saturday, stay in Nainital. Cleanest plan, and it lines up with bib collection at DSA Ground between 11 AM and 6 PM on the 29th. Rooms near Mallital go early on race weekend.
- Drive up before 4 AM Sunday from Haldwani. Cheaper, and most pre-paid taxi stands at Kathgodam can arrange a one-way drop. Build in 1 hr 30 min for the drive plus 15 min for parking, and remember the flag-off is 6:00 AM, this only works if you already have your bib.
Where to stay for race weekend
Registered runners get one free night in Nainital from the organisers, on 29 August. That still leaves three situations where Haldwani is the better answer:
- The night after the race. This is the one nobody plans for. You finish a hill half around 9 AM, and then face the ghat road down in midday traffic on trashed legs. A room in Haldwani on the night of 30 August means you drive down when you feel like it, or not at all.
- Family and supporters. The free night covers the participant. It does not cover a spouse, two kids and a parent who came to watch.
- Arriving early to acclimatise. If you are coming up from the plains and want a couple of days before race morning, only the 29th is covered.
If you are flying into Pantnagar or coming in by Ranikhet Express, Haldwani is the practical base either way. Hotels near the bus stand have the shortest drive to Nainital in race-morning traffic. A few options worth a closer look:
- Hotels near Haldwani bus stand: eight stays within 1 km, with morning-checkout-friendly fronts.
- Budget hotels under Rs 1,500: if you are sharing a room, this list is the place to start.
- Hotel Maplewood Premier: a quieter night and a serious breakfast spread, for a slightly bigger budget.
Or jump straight to our live Haldwani hotel search and filter by price, distance from Kathgodam, and breakfast hours.
Useful contacts
- Townscript registration: townscript.com/e/Nainital-Monsoon-Mountain-Marathon-2026
- Race director email: run2live.in [at] gmail [dot] com
- Race office: +91 97587 27564, +91 78300 04030, +91 96750 67521
- Organiser group: Run2Live, Nainital on Facebook
We list this event editorially. We are not the organiser. For refunds, bib changes, or distance switches, write to Run2Live directly.
Run2Live's published refund terms for 2026: 75% more than 45 days before the event, 50% between 30 and 45 days, 25% between 15 and 30 days, and no refund inside 15 days.