The Queenstown Marathon runs a point-to-point course from Arrowtown to the Queenstown waterfront, covering 42.2km through some of the most photographed landscape in New Zealand. The Remarkables rise to the south, Lake Wakatipu opens up as you approach the finish, and the trail sections through the Arrow River corridor make this one of the few marathons where runners slow down voluntarily. The course is not fast: the mix of gravel trail, undulating road and lakeside path sees to that, but it earns its reputation as one of the most scenic marathons in the world. This guide breaks down the course section by section, with the elevation calls and pacing notes for the places where the race is decided.
The course at a glance
The start is at Lake Hayes, on the outskirts of Arrowtown, and the course heads northwest before dropping into the Arrow River trail network. From the trails it climbs onto the road through Frankton, crosses the flats beside Lake Wakatipu, and finishes on the Queenstown waterfront near Earnslaw Park. Total elevation gain is roughly 250m, concentrated in the first half rather than spread evenly, and the descent into Frankton in the second half is where over-confident early pacing shows up.
November in Queenstown means southern hemisphere spring: expect highs of 12 to 18°C, low cloud clearing to sun by mid-morning, and a westerly off the lake that the course runs into on the Frankton flats. The 2024 and 2025 editions both saw the weather shift from cool cloud at the start to warm sun by the halfway point, which is exactly the kind of light change that catches runners who packed for one condition and got another. The course record sits well above what the elevation profile alone would suggest. This is not a PB course, and runners who treat it like one usually find out why between kilometres 30 and 36.
Arrowtown to the Arrow River trail: kilometres 1 to 10
The start at Lake Hayes is flat and fast and almost everyone goes out too quickly. The views are distracting and the altitude is low enough that breathing feels easy in the cool morning air. By kilometre 3 the course drops onto the Arrow River trail, gravel single-track and two-track through willow and poplar that glows yellow-gold in early November. The footing is generally firm but uneven, and runners coming from road-only training find the constant micro-adjustments through here cost more than expected. Run effort rather than pace on the trail sections: 10 to 20 seconds per kilometre slow on gravel is normal and is not a problem as long as you bank the energy.
The trail climbs gently to around km 8 before levelling, and the first significant view of the Remarkables appears above the treeline here. Take your first fuel at km 5 regardless of how you feel, because the trail section makes fuelling awkward and the temptation is to push through and fuel later, which tends to go wrong.
Frankton and the lakeside flats: kilometres 11 to 28
Coming off the trail onto the road through Frankton, the course straightens and the westerly off Lake Wakatipu makes itself known. This is the section where pacing discipline matters most: the road feels easier than the trail, the crowd support picks up, and there is a tendency to accelerate. The correct move is to hold the same effort, not the same pace. The road section through Frankton runs close to flat, but the westerly adds the equivalent of a 3 to 5% grade in energy cost on the exposed sections.
By km 20, roughly halfway, the course reaches the western shore of Lake Wakatipu and turns southeast toward Queenstown. The lake views here are the ones that end up in every race photo: The Remarkables reflected in the water, the Kelvin Heights peninsula in the middle distance, and the town itself still several kilometres ahead. The lakeside path shifts between sealed path and gravel, with a couple of gentle undulations that are easy to underestimate at this stage of the race. Take fuel every 4 to 5km through this section and do not skip the km 25 station regardless of how the stomach feels.
Kilometres 28 to 36: where the race is decided
The section between km 28 and 36 is where most Queenstown Marathon times fall apart. The legs have absorbed the trail section early, the westerly has been working on you through the flats, and the course starts to roll again as it comes around the base of the Kelvin Heights peninsula. None of the individual hills are steep (the biggest is about 20m over 600m), but at this point in the race they feel like more. Run them by effort, not by pace. Shorten the stride on the rises and open it again on the way down, and resist the urge to push over the crests, because the descent on the far side of each one is where you collect the energy debt you just ran up.
The km 30 check is the honest one: by here you should feel like you've spent about 65% of your effort, not 75%. If you feel like you've already spent 80%, adjust the finish time rather than the pace and accept the day as a beautiful training run. Queenstown will give you that.
The final 6km: into town
From km 36, the course turns back toward the lake and runs into the Queenstown Bay area. The crowd support builds steadily from here and the finish line at Earnslaw Park is audible before it's visible. There is one last gentle climb between km 38 and 39 that feels disproportionate at this stage. It is not steep but it is longer than it looks, and then the course drops and flattens into the waterfront for the final two kilometres. The finish chute runs along the lakefront with The Remarkables directly ahead. Kick it home.
The light and what to bring
Queenstown Marathon morning starts in the grey-blue half-dark of an early November dawn, and by the time most runners reach the finish it is full spring sunshine. The light shifts from near-dark at the 7 a.m. start to direct overhead sun by 10 a.m. or 11 a.m., depending on your finish time, and the lake amplifies the glare on the lakeside section. That range, from no light to maximum glare, is exactly what our photochromic lens is built for. It runs near-clear in low light and darkens as the sun climbs, so there is nothing to swap and nothing to carry.
How Re. fits a Queenstown start, and what comes with every pair
For a course that shifts from dawn trail to midday lakeside glare, the lens to reach for is our photochromic family. Adaptor is the standard photochromic at $180: near-clear at the Arrow River trail in the early grey, darkened by the time you hit the lake. Infinity is the upgrade at $220, adding polarisation that cuts the glare off Lake Wakatipu, permanent anti-fog for the cold morning air on the approach to the Frankton flats, and the same photochromic range underneath. Every Re. lens blocks 100% of UVA and UVB. Grip-tip temple arms keep the frame locked through the gravel sections; Re.glide, Re.flex and Re.silience add adjustable nose pieces for a dialled fit. Frame weights run 20g to 27g across the four performance frames. Every pair comes with the 30-day First-Run Promise: run them in real conditions and send them back within 30 days if they're not right, even worn, as long as they're undamaged, plus a 1-year warranty and free shipping over $150.
If you want to match the lens to the specific light you run in before race day, our lens guide covers the full range.
Tim Golubev
Founder, Re. (Re Your Run)
Tim built Re. after years of running in sunglasses that bounced, fogged, and ended up on his forehead. After discovering the UV damage that builds up without eye protection (even on cloudy days) and hearing the same frustrations from hundreds of other runners, he decided it was a problem worth fixing properly. With a background in Product across multiple industries, he approached it like any product problem: figure out what's broken, then build something that actually fixes it. He runs daily, co-founded Rose Bay Run Club, and Re. is his attempt to make one less thing that gets in the way of a good run.
