Everything you need to know about the 2025 Sydney Marathon: Ballot, course route and more

Last year, it was announced that the Sydney Marathon had passed its first assessment in its attempt to join the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM) series. Now, World Marathon Majors has officially named the race the newest member of the series, alongside Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City.

Rest assured, though, the Six Star Medal — awarded to people who complete all six majors — will still be in place. But the AWMM has said that new medals will be added as the race series expands.

The Sydney Marathon is the first of the Majors to be held in the southern hemisphere. The race launched in 2001 as a legacy race of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. According to race director Wayne Larden, that’s why it has previously taken place in September each year. ‘It’s the yearly anniversary of the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics,’ he said.

Earlier this year, RW caught up with Larden to chat about the race’s growth. According to him, the Sydney team had been working closely with other AWMM race directors in the build-up to 2024’s event.

‘They’re all a little bit different,’ he told RW. ‘We pick up little nuggets here and little nuggets there. And we’re trying to incorporate what we can into each year’s development.’

Got your eye on a ticket Down Under in 2025? Here’s what you need to know.

The 2025 Sydney Marathon will take place on Sunday 31 August 2025. This is a little different to previous years, when the race has been held in the second week of September. Presumably, this is because the Berlin Marathon falls on the last weekend of September, and now that Sydney Marathon has officially joined the Majors series, the races need to be staggered further apart.

In its first year, there were just 1,200 finishers at the Sydney Marathon. Even when Larden took over as race director in 2005, there were still only 2,300 finishers.

But the marathon’s participation has seen rapid growth in the last couple of years. ‘In 2022, we had 5,300 registrations,’ said Larden.

‘Then, with a full year of marketing, community engagement, working with the running community and run clubs, and our candidacy to become a World Major, we saw a swing really quickly. In 2023, we grew to 16,800 entries – 48% of those 16,800 runners were first time marathoners.’

In 2024, the finisher total was just over 20,000. Around 35,000 runners are expected to tow the start line in 2025.

If you’re familiar with the Majors, you’ll know that they are all quite different in their elevation profiles and routes. (In fact, we’ve ranked them from easiest to hardest here). In general, Berlin, Chicago, London and Tokyo are flat and fast. Boston and New York City, on the other hand, have a few hills to content with. Where will Sydney rank in this?

‘Sydney’s not a flat city,’ said Larden. ‘It’s an undulating city. So, to put [the Majors] into these pockets, I’d say we’re more aligned with the New York City Marathon. It will be more of a scenic, beautiful experience running through Sydney and over the Harbour Bridge. One of my goals is to make the Sydney Marathon one of the funnest Abbott World Marathon Majors.’

In fact, the course will have the most elevation gain of any major at 1,040 feet, but overall, it’s net downhill. (Boston and NYC climb just over 800 feet, for comparison.)

According to Larden, the 2024 route had some ‘significant changes’ from 2023, based on operational feedback from Abbott.

‘We needed to move the start line so we had more space to accommodate growth,’ saidLarden. ‘The old start line only had one train platform to the start area. The new start line [just a little bit further north] has four different train stations beside it.’

The footprint for the race has grown, too, meaning the team has been able to ‘get rid of the out and back sections’ – and there’s two lanes the whole way.

Starting in North Sydney, the route heads down across the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and loops around Darling Harbour into the Pyrmont suburb. From there, runners turn around and head back toward the Harbour Bridge before moving into the Royal Botanic Gardens. The course then sweeps all the way south to Kingsford (a new part of the route for 2024), before coming back on itself, looping around the Centennial Park and finishing at the Sydney Opera House.

‘We’re spending a lot of money on spectator zones, entertainment zones and marketing and communications to the local community to get out and support these marathon runners on their journey,’ Larden adds.

Previously, all you needed to do to run the Sydney Marathon was to sign up and pay the entry fee. (Yes, it really was as simply as that.)

However, for the 2025 race, a ballot system has been introduced to cope with increased demand. There are two ballots in place: the Candidacy Club and the general ballot.

The Candidacy Club is for those who have completed the TCS Sydney Marathon during its candidacy period (2022, 2023 and/or 2024). All of these runners will be offered guaranteed entry in one of the next three events (2025, 2026 or 2027) now that the TCS Sydney Marathon is an Abbott World Major.

The general ballot opened on 10 December and closes on 30 December (23:59 AEDT). All successful applicants will be notified and charged between 8-9 January 2025 AEDT, with a confirmation email to follow. You can enter the ballot here.

Since the race is a platinum level marathon, it has to have an elite international field, said Larden.

‘And that will be something that we maintain. So, we will be investing in the elite fields. We probably won’t see world records at the Sydney Marathon, but we will attract some of the best runners in the world.’