Based on finishers’ numbers, the five largest marathons in the world have been New York, Berlin, London, Chicago, and Paris. Four of these races comprise the World Marathon Majors (New York, Berlin, London, and Chicago, in addition to Boston), a series of events launched in 2006, which also encompasses the Olympic Marathon and the IAAF World Championships Marathon.
Five Largest Marathons in the World in 2008
The following data is provided by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races and is based on the number of reported finishers.
- In 2008, the New York Marathon had the most finishers, maintaining its title as the World’s Largest Marathon. The New York Marathon boasted 38,096 finishers, 66 percent of whom were men and 34 percent women.
- The Berlin Marathon had 35,786 finishers in 2008, with men making up 81 percent of its finishers.
- The London Marathon had an impressive 34,417 finishers, with 68.5 percent men and 31.5 percent women among the race completers.
- The Chicago Marathon is the most evenly divided among the sexes in the top five largest marathons in the world. Of its 31,343 finishers in 2008, 55 percent were men and 45 percent were women.
- In the Paris Marathon of 2008, the men made up 83 percent of the 28,846 total finishers.
Interestingly, these five marathons have held the top five positions for number of finishers since 2003, although the races have switched positions over the years. New York has held onto the number one slot since 2004. According to AIMDR, Tokyo, Boston, Honolulu were the only other marathons with more than 20,000 finishers in 2008.
What is the World Marathon Majors?
As mentioned, four of the five marathons – New York, Berlin, London, and Chicago - comprise the World Marathon Majors. The Majors event was conceived to bring attention to the sport of marathoning and draw elite runners to these large running venues.
One million dollars is split between the top male and female marathoners in the world at the conclusion of the World Marathon Majors cycle, based on points awarded over a two year series period to the top five men’s and women’s finishers in each qualifying event. Each athlete must compete in four events over the two year cycle, with at least one race in each of the event cycle years.
The World Marathon Majors website describes the event series qualifications as such:
Each of the five races that make up the World Marathon Majors boasts an international elite field for both men and women, has a mass participatory field completing the same course as the elites, takes place in a major international market, has a history of 25 years or more and is regarded among the very best in the industry.
There were 340 marathon races run in the United States in 2007, and the numbers worldwide push the total into the thousands. There are 1156 marathons listed at 42k195.com, which touts itself as “one of the exhaustive directories of marathons available on the internet”, including races in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and at every conceivable location – including Antarctica and the South Pole. In 2008 alone, almost twenty new marathons debuted in the U.S. With the explosion of marathon races and marathon runners, the sport’s popularity continues to grow but the big five – New York, Berlin, London, Chicago, and Paris – seem firmly entrenched at the top.
For more information about the state of marathoning in the world, see the Running USA Road Running Information Center’s annual marathon report.
Dianna Brodine - Dianna is a professional writer and editor with more than 15 years of experience in the publishing, marketing, fundraising, and insurance ...
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