World
It’s Official: Sydney Marathon Becomes the Seventh World Marathon Major
After launching a bid to become a World Marathon Major in 2022, the Sydney Marathon has officially been named the newest member of the race series.
The World Marathon Majors (WMMs) announced the news on November 3. Sydney now joins the original six marathon majors: Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York City, and Tokyo.
The race was evaluated over a three-year period on more than 100 criteria, including runner experience, drink stations, and finisher total. In 2022, the marathon had approximately 5,000 entrants, but at at this year’s race on September 15, the finisher total was just over 20,000.
The 2025 edition is scheduled for Sunday, August 31.
The marathon course starts in North Sydney, takes runners over the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge, and eventually finishes in front of the Sydney Opera House. The course will have the most net elevation of any major at 1,040 feet of gain. (Boston and NYC climb just over 800 feet, for comparison.)
There have been clues that Sydney was on the cusp on becoming a major. The race was the host of the 2024 World Age Group Championships marathon, which has previously been held in conjunction with other WMMs. And over the summer, the event picked up a prominent title sponsor, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which also sponsors the New York City and London marathons.
The six star medal—awarded to people who complete all six majors—will still be in place. Going forward, it will only be given to people who complete the original six. But the WMMs has said that new medals will be added as the race series expands. The highly-sought-after award, which was introduced in 2016, has helped increase demand for the each of the six WMMs and has made Boston, particularly, difficult to get in to. Since then, over 17,000 runners have joined the six-star club.
The World Marathon Majors have eyed a target of nine races since 2017, when they opened up the candidacy process. That year, the Singapore Marathon announced it would bid to join the ranks, but in 2021, it dropped out of the program.
The Chengdu Marathon, founded in 2017, became a candidate in 2019, but the Chinese race struggled to advance in the process. Last month, the WMM announced that the Shanghai Marathon would replace Chengdu as a candidate marathon.
The Cape Town Marathon is also in the running to join the now-seven strong circuit. Like Chengdu, it has experienced some hiccups in the process, but if everything goes to plan, the race could become a major in 2026.
Theo Kahler is the news editor at Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner who has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
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