The TCS Sydney Marathon, which will take place on August 31, 2025, joins six races including the Tokyo Marathon, the Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America, the TCS London Marathon, the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the TCS New York City Marathon as part of the greatest marathon series in the world.
The Sydney Marathon is the largest marathon in Oceania and saw a record 20,272 finishers during its 2024 race on September 15, allowing it to pass its second consecutive assessment and become an Abbott World Marathon Major.
“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.
“We cannot wait to see our community embrace this race as a Major and start planning their visits to run the streets of one of the finest cities in the world. Runners, your Sydney star awaits.”
Sydney will form part of the journey towards the next Major milestone, the new Nine Star medal, which will begin when two more races are added to the series; however Sydney finishers can start counting the race toward their Nine Star in 2025.
Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and Shanghai Marathon, which are currently in the candidacy process, could join the series in as early as 2026 and 2027 respectively should they pass two years of assessments.
The current Six Star program will remain in place for runners striving to complete the original six Abbott World Marathon Major races. AbbottWMM has committed to keeping the Six Star medal which will continue to be awarded for this amazing achievement even when the Nine Star medal becomes available.
To help commemorate every runner’s journey and race achievements, AbbottWMM also introduced a commemorative coin for each race and Sydney now has one. Custom displays can be purchased to showcase the runner’s achievements from two races to all seven. The full range is available here.
Wayne Larden, race director of the TCS Sydney Marathon said: “Becoming the seventh Abbott World Marathon is just incredible for the event, the city of Sydney and State of New South Wales. We could not have achieved the incredible growth and uplift in delivery to make it into the Majors if it wasn’t for the support of the NSW Government and Destination NSW plus our key partners TCS and ASICS. Our team are first rate and have put in so much work to make this happen. It is really special for all of us.
“This amazing milestone is going to have a profound impact on running in Australia, inspiring the community to become marathoners and do something special for themselves, their families and friends. Community health will benefit alongside a huge increase in fundraising.
“We are so excited to deliver the 2025 event as part of the greatest marathon series on the planet!”
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said: “We’re thrilled Australia’s only global city, Sydney, is now a member of the World Marathon Majors club, following the great marathon cities of Boston, Chicago, New York, Berlin, Tokyo and London.
“Achieving Major marathon status is a huge honor and we are proud to be a funding and strategic partner of the Sydney Marathon.”
Melissa Brotz, chief marketing and communications officer from Abbott, the series title sponsor, said: “Marathoners from around the globe are committed to being their best and healthiest selves. The addition of Sydney to the Abbott World Marathon Majors races gives more people the opportunity to celebrate what you can achieve when you focus on your health.”
Criteria used to assess candidates in the current evaluation process include every aspect of the runner experience from Expo to race course, the standard of elite athletes recruited, all operational procedures, safety standards and much more. The most recent race to be admitted to the series was the Tokyo Marathon in 2013.