The Biggest Marathons in the World
Scale changes a marathon: 50,000 runners means unmatched crowds and atmosphere, but also corrals, congestion, and lotteries. Here are the biggest fields in the sport and what that size means for your race.
- 1
London Marathon
MajorLondon, United Kingdom · April · 127 m gain · -34 m net
Fast, slightly net-downhill tour of the Thames with the deepest crowds in the sport. The first 5 km drop ~30 m; from there it's flat with grinding cobbled corners around the Tower of London late.
PR score 8/10 - 2
Paris Marathon
Paris, France · April · 164 m gain · +7 m net
The most beautiful big-city course in Europe — Champs-Élysées start, Louvre, Bastille, Eiffel Tower — but rolling throughout, with drags in both parks and a long false-flat on the riverside expressway. Pace the hills honestly and enjoy it.
PR score 6/10 - 3
New York City Marathon
MajorNew York, USA · November · 246 m gain · -5 m net
The hardest of the majors to race fast: five bridges (no crowds, plenty of wind), rolling Central Park finish, and a Verrazzano opening kilometre that climbs 40 m. You run New York for the experience — or pace the bridges honestly and surprise yourself.
PR score 4/10 - 4
Chicago Marathon
MajorChicago, USA · October · 74 m gain · +1 m net
Pancake-flat loop through 29 neighborhoods with enormous crowd support. The only 'climb' is a highway overpass at kilometre 41. Tall buildings can confuse GPS early — run by feel and the split clocks.
PR score 9/10 - 5
Berlin Marathon
MajorBerlin, Germany · September · 73 m gain · -6 m net
The fastest marathon course in the world on paper: wide boulevards, gentle curves, and virtually no climbing. More world records have fallen here than anywhere else. Pacing discipline is the only hazard — the course gives you no excuse to slow down.
PR score 10/10 - 6
Tokyo Marathon
MajorTokyo, Japan · March · 60 m gain · -38 m net
Gently net-downhill first half through Shinjuku, then flat out-and-back sections along wide avenues. Several 180° turnarounds late require patience, but conditions and surface make this a genuine PR course.
PR score 8/10 - 7
Osaka Marathon
Osaka, Japan · February · 85 m gain
Japan's second-biggest marathon and a genuinely quick one: flat city streets, immaculate organisation, and cold late-winter air. A short rise around the 33 km mark is the only feature that needs respecting.
PR score 8/10 - 8
Boston Marathon
MajorBoston, USA · April · 248 m gain · -140 m net
Net downhill but deceptively hard: the first 25 km drop steadily and wreck quads that go out too fast, then the Newton hills (km 26–34, capped by Heartbreak Hill) arrive exactly when glycogen runs out. Even splits here means banking restraint, not time.
PR score 6/10 - 9
Valencia Marathon
Valencia, Spain · December · 60 m gain · -5 m net
The 'ciudad del running' earns it: dead flat, wide, sheltered streets, December air, and a field stacked with PR-hunters. The blue-carpet finish over the City of Arts lagoon is one of the sport's great closing images. If you want one fast race in Europe, this is it.
PR score 10/10