Sydney Marathon 2025: Harbour City to host its first race as a World Marathon Major

• Marathon Tourism (or Exercise Tourism) is starting to pick up as a travel trend around the world.
• Sydney Marathon welcomed 20 per cent more marathon runners this year, helping them get the race approved to become the 7th World Major Marathon
• Sydney joins cities like New York, London and Reykjavik in hosting some of the world’s most rewarding runs.

Sydney is warming up to welcome tens of thousands of runners and spectators next weekend, as the TCS Sydney Marathon presented by Asics gears up for its first race since being crowned the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major. On Sunday, August 31, 2025, the city will take its place alongside New York, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Boston and Chicago as part of the world’s most prestigious marathon series.

Marathon tourism hits its stride

Did you know that people are travelling the world to run in beautiful locations?

Marathon tourism has been a major trend over the past few years. Also dubbed “exercise tourism,” the hardier, more active evolution of wellness tourism has cities around the world scrambling to register their biggest races.

And Sydney got a big leg up in November, when the Sydney Marathon was awarded Abbot World Marathon Majors (AWMM) status. Perfectly timed to help kick the city’s tourism industry into high gear.

According to data from social media-like exercise app Strava, there was a 20 per cent increase in marathon runners in 2023 compared to previous years. Is the allure of running very long distances a relic of the pandemic? Or is it more to do with awareness of jogging’s long-established health benefits? Whatever the case, having Sydney’s epic 42.195-kilometre race become a part of a global network of gruelling-yet-pretty challenges is a major flex for the Harbour City.

Sydney’s major milestone

To qualify, organisers cut the traditional half-marathon and put their full attention on the full Sydney Marathon. The efforts paid off. Last year’s Sydney Marathon attracted a record-breaking 25,000 runners which helped them slide into the same category as some of the world’s most coveted marathons including popular runs in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

Experts predict that this year’s race will attract around 33,300 runners from around the world, with that figure leaping to 37,800 in 2027.

“I am thrilled that Sydney will become the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major,” said AbbottWMM CEO Dawna Stone.

“The team in Sydney has been working towards this day, every day, for more than three years, and to see the improvement in their operations and event experience to the point where we can now call them a Major has been deeply impressive.”

Nine Star ambitions

Sydney’s inclusion brings runners closer to the next big prize: the AbbottWMM Nine Star medal.

Currently, the program awards a Six Star medal to runners who successfully complete all registered races. According to AbbottWMM, this will remain in place even when the Nine Star medal is introduced.

They’re calling it Nine Star because, after Sydney, there are still two major races potentially being included in the program in the next few years.

Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and Shangai Marathon are currently being considered. If successful, both will be part of the AbottWMM by the end of 2017, facilitating the Nine Star medal and giving the world’s most enthusiastic amateur and professionals runners a new aspiration.

Sydney finishers can start counting the race toward their Nine Star in 2025.

But for those who consider one marathon plenty enough, they still walk away with a souvenir. AbottWMM have introduced a special coin for each race. Sydney Marathon now has it’s own coin, for example, and custom displays can be purchased to showcase a runner’s achievements from two races to all seven currently registered.

The event is more than just a race. Tourism analysts estimate the Sydney Marathon will inject $73 million in visitor expenditure over the next three years, thanks to international participants, their families, and the thousands of spectators lining the course. Combined with Sydney’s nightlife revival and major infrastructure projects like the new Sydney Metro, the marathon is another drawcard cementing the city as a global destination.

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Sydney Marathon 2025

When: The Sydney Marathon will take place on Sunday, August 31, 2025.

Registrations closed a while ago, but you can still get involved by cheering on participants from the sidelines of the 42.2km route.

Where: The start line is in North Sydney on Miller St and the route takes runners across Sydney Harbour Bridge, around Pyrmonth, through King’s Wharf, past Hyde Park to Kingsford, before winding back through Centennial Park and the Royal Botanic Garden to the finish line at Sydney Opera House.

Find out more at tcssydneymarathon.com.