Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon: Dates, Tickets & Venue (New Delhi)

Delhi’s road race with a world-class field

Few city races in Asia mix fields like this one. The Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon runs every year in New Delhi. It carries AIMS certification and the IAAF Gold Label, the athletics federation’s top road-race grade. In practice, East African professionals chasing course records set off on the same morning as office teams and first-timers.

The 2026 edition is set for late October. The organiser publishes the exact date, venue and entry links on the race’s official site. Procam International has run the event since its first edition in 2005, when it was sponsored by Airtel, and it has carried the Vedanta name in recent years.

The course through Lutyens’ Delhi

The course stays flat and fast. Past editions have started and finished at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium near Lodhi Road. From there the route passes through the government quarter Edwin Lutyens laid out in the 1920s and 30s.

That means long, straight, tree-lined avenues and big roundabouts. Runners pass sandstone landmarks:

• India Gate, the war memorial arch at the eastern end of Kartavya Path (formerly Rajpath)
• Kartavya Path, the ceremonial boulevard with lawns and canals on either side
• Lodhi Road, lined with old trees and government bungalows

The low gradients are one reason elite times here are quick. They also make the race forgiving for anyone attempting a first 21.1 km.

Entries, categories and where dates live

There are several races on the day. Alongside the half marathon, past editions have included an Open 10K, the shorter Great Delhi Run, a senior citizens’ run and a category for runners with disabilities. The shorter races bring out families, school groups and corporate teams in matching T-shirts.

Registration runs through the official race website. The categories, eligibility rules, time cut-offs and entry fees for each edition are posted there. Popular categories have filled up in past years, so regular runners usually register soon after entries open.

Running in late-October Delhi

October is a mixed bag in Delhi. The monsoon humidity has gone and early mornings are mild, which suits distance running. The trade-off is air quality.

Late autumn is when Delhi’s smog season begins. Crop-stubble burning in neighbouring states and the drop in temperature trap pollution over the city. Air quality has been a recurring concern around the race, and many runners follow the daily AQI readings in the days before.

Because race-morning conditions vary, runners with asthma or heart conditions often talk to a doctor first. Plenty of runners wear a mask while they wait in the start pens and take it off at the gun.

How race morning works at the stadium

Race morning starts before dawn. Here is how runners usually handle the day:

• Bib collection: bibs and timing chips are usually handed out at a running expo in the days before the race, not on race morning. Photo ID and the registration confirmation are the usual requirements.
• Getting there: the Delhi Metro is the obvious choice. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium station is on the Violet Line. Roads around the course close to traffic, so runners who come by car or auto-rickshaw are usually dropped some distance away.
• Start pens: runners are seeded into waves by category and expected finish time, and the elites go first. Bag-drop areas sit near the stadium.
• Spectators: the best places to watch are the stretches near India Gate and the finish area. Cheering groups and running clubs set up along the route, and spectators shout “chalo” (let’s go) and “shabash” (well done).

Once the finishers are through, the stadium surroundings fill with runners eating snacks, posing with medals and stretching on the grass. Rehydration drinks get passed around groups who trained together all year.

Recovering in South-Central Delhi

The finish area is close to some of Delhi’s best places to recover. Lodhi Garden is a short ride from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It is a big park with walking paths and fifteenth-century tombs from the Sayyid and Lodi dynasties, and many runners walk the stiffness out of their legs there.

Khan Market is nearby and full of cafés and bookshops, which makes it the usual spot for a late breakfast. Humayun’s Tomb is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a red-sandstone Mughal mausoleum and gardens laid out on a four-part charbagh plan. It works well for an afternoon visit once your legs have recovered.

Visitors who come for the race usually stay in South or Central Delhi, in areas such as Lodhi Colony, Jor Bagh, Connaught Place or Aerocity. All of these are on or close to the Metro network.