Sydney Marathon will create history this Sunday as the largest marathon ever held in Australia as the bid to become an Abbott World Marathon Major becomes ever important. If successful Sydney Marathon will join the pantheon of great marathons of the world, including New York, Boston, Chicago, London, Tokyo and Berlin.
This years event will host 17,000 registered runners more than doubling the previous record of 8,100 set by the Melbourne Marathon in 2019.
After last year becoming the first marathon in the Southern Hemisphere to achieve Platinum Label status, the Sydney Marathon is now in its second year of a three-year candidacy period to become a major marathon.
Adding to the historic event, this year’s field of elite runners will see the fastest marathon pack ever assembled for an Australian marathon, including 2022 Men’s World Champion, Tamirat Tola; 2023 Boston Marathon Men’s runner up, Gabriel Geay; 2022 Paris Marathon Women’s Champion, Judith Jeptum Korir and Australian men’s and women’s record holders, Brett Robinson and Sinead Diver.
Sydney Marathon is already recognised as one of the world’s best marathons and a bucket list event for recreational marathon runners across the globe, uniting people of all backgrounds to enjoy an unforgettable running experience in one of the great sporting event cities of the world.
Inclusion in the Abbott World Marathon Majors would make it one of the most coveted marathon events on earth as these marathons are generally oversubscribed by running enthusiasts who aim to compete in all World Marathon Majors. In 2019 the Tokyo Marathon received over 330,000 applications for a field of 37,000. In the same year, the London Marathon received over 424,000 applications for a capacity of 56,000 runners.
Achieving World Major status would present an opportunity for the Sydney Marathon to attract the world’s elite runners and global media attention, along with tens of thousands of visitors each year to experience one of the world’s greatest running events, providing a significant boost to the NSW visitor economy.
This year, the Sydney Marathon is also enhancing its profile as a spectator event, with the inclusion of four spectator live sites in Pyrmont, The Rocks, Surry Hills, and Moore Park, offering entertainment, free coffee, food trucks, custom sign workshops, DJs, drag queen performances, prize giveaways and large screens broadcasting the marathon live.
The NSW Government through Destination NSW is proud to support Sydney Marathon’s push to become a World Marathon Major, which will not only create a world-class community participation event for the people of Sydney but will also have significant tourism benefits for the city.
Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:
“We are excited to host the best recreational road runners from across the world in our beautiful harbour city.”
Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham said:
“The Sydney Marathon is the sole remaining legacy event of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and continues our celebrated history of hosting major international sporting events in this city. No city in the world has a greater combination of natural beauty and iconic infrastructure for hosting a marathon than Sydney.”
“With so many incredible vantage points and entertainment hubs added to the event, the Sydney Marathon is going to provide a festival atmosphere for spectators and runners. I encourage Sydneysiders to get out on the course this Sunday, cheer on the runners, enjoy the community created by the Sydney Marathon and support its push to become a World Marathon Major.”