Seven international marathons
GLOBAL MARATHON ROUTES
Seven city classics, one distance. Click a marker to open every start, finish, landmark and course record.
Participants, applications and accepted places for 30 major international marathons and the ten largest Chinese races — across the 2025 and 2026 seasons, full and half marathon. Figures come from organiser announcements, press reports or clearly marked estimates.
Participants
vs 2025
Applications
vs 2025
Acceptance rate
based on 9 races with application data
Total starters per race (full + half) in 2025 and 2026.
Ranks are editorial, compiled from 2025/2026 field sizes rather than an official ranking; the international 30 and Chinese 10 are listed separately, and estimates are marked in the table. Applications are counted before the ballot and shown as “—” where the race publishes none.
See the numbersOne row per race for the selected season, with the full and half fields side by side. “Official” is organiser-published; “Reported” comes from a press report; “Estimate” is editorial.
| # | Race | Group | Full | Half | Total | Applications | Accepted | Rate | Figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | New York City MarathonUnited States | Global | 60,000 | — | 60,000 | 210,000 | 60,000 | 28.6% | Official |
| 02 | London MarathonUnited Kingdom | Global | 59,830 | — | 59,830 | 1,100,000 | 59,830 | 5.4% | Official |
| 03 | Paris MarathonFrance | Global | 57,464 | — | 57,464 | 135,000 | 57,464 | 42.6% | Official |
| 04 | Chicago MarathonUnited States | Global | 55,000 | — | 55,000 | 125,000 | 55,000 | 44.0% | Official |
| 05 | Berlin MarathonGermany | Global | 54,280 | — | 54,280 | 115,000 | 54,280 | 47.2% | Official |
| 06 | Tokyo MarathonJapan | Global | 38,773 | — | 38,773 | 300,000 | 38,773 | 12.9% | Official |
| 07 | Seoul MarathonSouth Korea | Global | 36,000 | — | 36,000 | — | 36,000 | — | Official |
| 08 | Sydney MarathonAustralia | Global | 34,000 | — | 34,000 | 75,000 | 34,000 | 45.3% | Official |
| 09 | Valencia MarathonSpain | Global | 32,000 | — | 32,000 | 62,000 | 32,000 | 51.6% | Official |
| 10 | Osaka MarathonJapan | Global | 31,970 | — | 31,970 | — | 31,970 | — | Official |
| 11 | Marine Corps MarathonUnited States | Global | 30,500 | — | 30,500 | — | 30,500 | — | Official |
| 12 | Boston MarathonUnited States | Global | 29,025 | — | 29,025 | 40,000 | 29,025 | 72.6% | Official |
| 13 | Hamburg MarathonGermany | Global | 26,000 | — | 26,000 | — | 26,000 | — | Official |
| 14 | Frankfurt MarathonGermany | Global | 26,000 | — | 26,000 | — | 26,000 | — | Official |
| 15 | Honolulu MarathonUnited States | Global | 25,500 | — | 25,500 | — | 25,500 | — | Official |
| 16 | Los Angeles MarathonUnited States | Global | 25,500 | — | 25,500 | — | 25,500 | — | Official |
| 17 | Amsterdam MarathonNetherlands | Global | 23,000 | — | 23,000 | — | 23,000 | — | Official |
| 18 | Rotterdam MarathonNetherlands | Global | 21,000 | — | 21,000 | — | 21,000 | — | Official |
| 19 | Barcelona MarathonSpain | Global | 21,000 | — | 21,000 | — | 21,000 | — | Official |
| 20 | Munich MarathonGermany | Global | 21,000 | — | 21,000 | — | 21,000 | — | Official |
| 21 | Dubai MarathonUnited Arab Emirates | Global | 21,000 | — | 21,000 | — | 21,000 | — | Official |
| 22 | Twin Cities MarathonUnited States | Global | 20,500 | — | 20,500 | — | 20,500 | — | Official |
| 23 | Rome MarathonItaly | Global | 16,000 | — | 16,000 | — | 16,000 | — | Official |
| 24 | Istanbul MarathonTurkey | Global | 16,000 | — | 16,000 | — | 16,000 | — | Official |
| 25 | Stockholm MarathonSweden | Global | 15,500 | — | 15,500 | — | 15,500 | — | Official |
| 26 | Copenhagen MarathonDenmark | Global | 15,500 | — | 15,500 | — | 15,500 | — | Official |
| 27 | Athens MarathonGreece | Global | 15,500 | — | 15,500 | — | 15,500 | — | Official |
| 28 | Vienna City MarathonAustria | Global | 12,500 | — | 12,500 | — | 12,500 | — | Official |
| 29 | Gold Coast MarathonAustralia | Global | 10,500 | — | 10,500 | — | 10,500 | — | Official |
| 30 | Toronto Waterfront MarathonCanada | Global | 10,500 | — | 10,500 | — | 10,500 | — | Official |
Race news
Fresh from the running calendar: race announcements, medal reveals and entry deadlines, curated and linked to their original sources.
The seven races run in seven cities across four continents. Click an orange marker for a race overview, then jump straight to its course.
Seven classics in seven cities. Open any card to load its course map and records below.
One interactive map per race. Switch tabs to follow the start (orange), the finish (teal) and the landmarks along the way.
Among the world's largest marathons. From the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge the course crosses five bridges and all five boroughs before the finish inside Central Park.
City marathon directory
Beyond the seven course guides: 213 city marathons in 71 countries, each with its next edition date, course character and climbing — filterable by month, country and profile.
Course guides
Beyond the seven headline courses, every race in the directory carries its own written guide — the route, the climbing, the city on race day. All 213 are indexed on one page, grouped by continent and country.
Field sizes and course records side by side. Records were set in different years, and Berlin and London have both seen world records fall, so read across with care.
Dates are for the next announced edition; records are the latest published figures.
| Race | City | Start and finish | Men's record | Women's record | Field | Next edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City MarathonTCS New York City Marathon | New YorkUnited States | Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island→ Central Park, Manhattan | 2:04:58Tamirat Tola, 2023 | 2:19:51Hellen Obiri, 2025 | 59,2262025 finishers | First Sunday of November2026-11-01 |
| Boston MarathonBoston Marathon presented by Bank of America | BostonUnited States | Hopkinton→ Boylston Street, Copley Square | 2:01:52John Korir, 2024 | 2:17:22Sharon Lokedi, 2025 | 28,5062025 finishers | April, Patriots' Day2027-04-19 |
| London MarathonTCS London Marathon | LondonUnited Kingdom | Greenwich→ The Mall, by Buckingham Palace | 2:01:25Kelvin Kiptum, 2023 (WR) | 2:15:25Paula Radcliffe, 2003 | 56,6402025 finishers | Late April2027-04-25 |
| Paris MarathonSchneider Electric Paris Marathon | ParisFrance | Champs-Élysées, by the Arc de Triomphe→ Avenue Foch | 2:04:21Elisha Rotich, 2021 | 2:18:34Shure Demise, 2026 | ~54,000recent finishers, approx. | Early April2027-04-11 |
| Berlin MarathonBMW BERLIN-MARATHON | BerlinGermany | Straße des 17. Juni→ Brandenburg Gate | 2:01:09Eliud Kipchoge, 2022 (WR) | 2:11:53Tigst Assefa, 2023 (WR) | ~60,0002026 entries, approx., all events | Late September2027-09-26 |
| Tokyo MarathonTokyo Marathon | TokyoJapan | Tokyo Metropolitan Government→ Gyoko-dori, by Tokyo Station | 2:03:37Tadese Takele, 2026 (CR) | 2:14:29Brigid Kosgei, 2026 (CR) | ~38,000recent field, approx. | First Sunday of March2027-03-07 |
| Sydney MarathonTCS Sydney Marathon | SydneyAustralia | Miller Street, North Sydney→ Sydney Opera House | 2:06:06Kiros, 2025 | 2:18:22Sifan Hassan, 2025 | 20,2702025 finishers, Major debut | August or September2027-08-29 |
The World Marathon Majors launches with Boston, Chicago, London, New York and Berlin as founding races.
Tokyo joins the Majors, completing the six-race circuit.
Sydney becomes the seventh member, taking the series global.
A historic independent classic, included here on merit alongside the Majors.
The Majors are the headline circuit, but two global bodies grade race quality across the whole sport. Every race with a full course guide here carries all three credentials.
The invitation-only series of city marathons. Six founding cities plus Sydney since 2025 — and this site adds Paris, the historic independent classic, alongside them.
Certified by World Athletics (WA) across Platinum, Gold, Elite and Label tiers — Paris, Xiamen, Beijing and Dubai among them. The label certifies the highest standards of organisation: anti-doping, elite fields, timing, safety and broadcast.
Member races of AIMS, the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races. Courses are measured to the international standard, so finish times count for records and for qualifying standards such as Boston's.
World Athletics labels are re-awarded each season; the labels shown follow the current WA calendar.
