Every marathon course compared
The ranking pages each answer one question and stop at twenty courses. This is the whole catalogue in one table — total ascent and descent, net elevation change, the hardest kilometre and what it costs over flat effort, field size, and which elevation model each figure came from. Sort by any column. Every number is computed from the course's own GPS trace clipped to the official 42.195 km, not from what the organiser advertises.
All 32 courses
| Course | Location | Difficulty | Ascent | Descent | Net | Hardest km | Its cost | Field | Elevation from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Marathon | Austin, TX, US | 5/5 | 1,070 ft (330 m) | 1,020 ft (310 m) | +40 ft (10 m) | km 1 (mile 0.5) | +16% | 6,000 | terrain |
| Athens Marathon | Athens, GR | 5/5 | 1,260 ft (380 m) | 1,030 ft (310 m) | +230 ft (70 m) | km 30 (mile 18.5) | +18% | 20,000 | surface |
| Boston Marathon | Boston, MA, US | 4/5 | 770 ft (240 m) | 1,230 ft (370 m) | −450 ft (140 m) | km 33 (mile 20.5) | +9% | 30,000 | terrain |
| New York City Marathon | New York, NY, US | 4/5 | 770 ft (230 m) | 790 ft (240 m) | −30 ft (10 m) | km 37 (mile 23) | +12% | 55,000 | terrain |
| Sydney Marathon | Sydney, NSW, AU | 4/5 | 970 ft (300 m) | 1,230 ft (380 m) | −260 ft (80 m) | km 2 (mile 1) | +13% | 25,000 | terrain |
| Vancouver Marathon | Vancouver, BC, CA | 4/5 | 980 ft (300 m) | 1,170 ft (360 m) | −190 ft (60 m) | km 9 (mile 5.5) | +28% | 5,000 | terrain |
| Charlotte Marathon | Charlotte, NC, US | 4/5 | 1,010 ft (310 m) | 1,010 ft (310 m) | −0 ft (0 m) | km 13 (mile 8) | +12% | 11,000 | terrain |
| Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, CA, US | 4/5 | 940 ft (290 m) | 1,170 ft (360 m) | −230 ft (70 m) | km 6 (mile 3.5) | +13% | 27,000 | terrain |
| Mexico City Marathon | Mexico City, MX | 4/5 | 1,360 ft (410 m) | 1,510 ft (460 m) | −150 ft (50 m) | km 31 (mile 19.5) | +16% | 30,000 | surface |
| California Marathon | Sacramento, CA, US | 3/5 | 590 ft (180 m) | 930 ft (280 m) | −340 ft (100 m) | km 18 (mile 11) | +7% | 9,000 | terrain |
| Grandma's Marathon | Duluth, MN, US | 3/5 | 530 ft (160 m) | 650 ft (200 m) | −110 ft (30 m) | km 35 (mile 21.5) | +8% | 9,500 | terrain |
| Philadelphia Marathon | Philadelphia, PA, US | 3/5 | 740 ft (230 m) | 720 ft (220 m) | +20 ft (10 m) | km 15 (mile 9.5) | +14% | 30,000 | terrain |
| Twin Cities Marathon | Minneapolis, MN, US | 3/5 | 680 ft (210 m) | 690 ft (210 m) | −10 ft (0 m) | km 2 (mile 1) | +16% | 11,000 | terrain |
| Marine Corps Marathon | Arlington, VA, US | 3/5 | 770 ft (230 m) | 730 ft (220 m) | +40 ft (10 m) | km 3 (mile 2) | +22% | 30,000 | terrain |
| Dublin Marathon | Dublin, IE | 3/5 | 760 ft (230 m) | 780 ft (240 m) | −20 ft (0 m) | km 4 (mile 2.5) | +8% | 22,500 | surface |
| London Marathon | London, GB | 2/5 | 410 ft (120 m) | 520 ft (160 m) | −110 ft (30 m) | km 20 (mile 12.5) | +3% | 50,000 | terrain |
| Barcelona Marathon | Barcelona, ES | 2/5 | 350 ft (110 m) | 390 ft (120 m) | −40 ft (10 m) | km 1 (mile 0.5) | +4% | 28,000 | terrain |
| Toronto Marathon | Toronto, ON, CA | 2/5 | 380 ft (120 m) | 420 ft (130 m) | −40 ft (10 m) | km 32 (mile 20) | +4% | 8,000 | terrain |
| Bayshore Marathon | Traverse City, MI, US | 2/5 | 350 ft (110 m) | 350 ft (110 m) | +0 ft (0 m) | km 28 (mile 17.5) | +3% | 2,000 | terrain |
| Mesa Marathon | Mesa, AZ, US | 2/5 | 260 ft (80 m) | 1,120 ft (340 m) | −860 ft (260 m) | km 8 (mile 5) | +17% | 3,000 | terrain |
| Detroit Free Press Marathon | Detroit, MI, US | 2/5 | 210 ft (60 m) | 220 ft (70 m) | −10 ft (0 m) | km 13 (mile 8) | +5% | 23,000 | terrain |
| Honolulu Marathon | Honolulu, HI, US | 2/5 | 440 ft (140 m) | 450 ft (140 m) | −0 ft (0 m) | km 12 (mile 7.5) | +15% | 25,000 | terrain |
| Paris Marathon | Paris, FR | 2/5 | 520 ft (160 m) | 480 ft (150 m) | +40 ft (10 m) | km 8 (mile 5) | +8% | 55,000 | terrain |
| Rome Marathon | Rome, IT | 2/5 | 1,240 ft (380 m) | 1,240 ft (380 m) | −0 ft (0 m) | km 30 (mile 18.5) | +11% | 30,000 | surface |
| Manchester Marathon | Manchester, GB | 2/5 | 340 ft (100 m) | 360 ft (110 m) | −20 ft (0 m) | km 20 (mile 12.5) | +6% | 40,000 | terrain |
| Berlin Marathon | Berlin, DE | 1/5 | 230 ft (70 m) | 230 ft (70 m) | +0 ft (0 m) | km 27 (mile 17) | +4% | 55,000 | terrain |
| Chicago Marathon | Chicago, IL, US | 1/5 | 230 ft (70 m) | 230 ft (70 m) | +0 ft (0 m) | km 28 (mile 17.5) | +2% | 52,000 | terrain |
| Tokyo Marathon | Tokyo, JP | 1/5 | 170 ft (50 m) | 300 ft (90 m) | −130 ft (40 m) | km 7 (mile 4.5) | +1% | 38,000 | terrain |
| Chevron Houston Marathon | Houston, TX, US | 1/5 | 270 ft (80 m) | 260 ft (80 m) | +10 ft (0 m) | km 37 (mile 23) | +4% | 9,000 | terrain |
| Osaka Marathon | Osaka, JP | 1/5 | 240 ft (70 m) | 270 ft (80 m) | −40 ft (10 m) | km 32 (mile 20) | +7% | 34,000 | terrain |
| Valencia Marathon | Valencia, ES | 1/5 | 260 ft (80 m) | 280 ft (90 m) | −20 ft (10 m) | km 32 (mile 20) | +2% | 35,000 | terrain |
| Amsterdam Marathon | Amsterdam, NL | 1/5 | 200 ft (60 m) | 200 ft (60 m) | −0 ft (0 m) | km 3 (mile 2) | +2% | 18,000 | terrain |
Ascent and descent are rounded to ±10 m: a digital elevation model carries 5–10 m of noise on a flat course. "Terrain" marks a bare-earth model that measures the ground; "surface" marks a model that measures rooftops too and therefore reads high. 28 of 32 courses use a terrain model.
Frequently asked questions
- Which marathon has the most elevation gain?
- Mexico City Marathon — 1,360 ft (410 m) of total ascent over the official 42.195 km. Tokyo Marathon sits at the other end with 170 ft (50 m). Total ascent is the best single predictor of what a course costs beyond its flat-ground equivalent, though it says nothing about whether the climbing arrives in one wall or fifty rises.
- Which marathon course is flattest?
- Tokyo Marathon, at 170 ft (50 m) of climbing. Bear in mind that elevation models carry 5–10 m of noise, so the gaps between the flattest handful are inside measurement error — and a flat course is not automatically a fast one, since wind, field size and start-corral congestion never show up in an elevation profile.
- Where do these elevation figures come from?
- Each course is traced from GPS and sampled against a digital elevation model, then clipped to the official 42.195 km. 28 of the 32 courses use a bare-earth terrain model, which measures the ground. The remaining 4 use a global surface model, which measures rooftops and vegetation too and therefore reports more climbing than a runner experiences — those rows are marked "surface" in the table, because no open terrain model covers those countries yet.
- How many marathon courses are on HAM.RUN?
- 32 courses across 13 countries, each with a full elevation profile, grade-adjusted split tables and a pace calculator for any goal time.
- Why do your elevation numbers differ from the race organiser's?
- Organiser figures often come from a surface model, an older survey, or a marketing decision, and cumulative-ascent numbers are extremely sensitive to how the profile is smoothed — an unsmoothed trace can report several times the real climbing. These figures come from bare-earth terrain models where one is available, smoothed consistently across every course, so the comparison between two courses is like for like even where an absolute figure is debatable.
Ranked one question at a time
- The flattest marathon courses — Courses ranked by total elevation gain, least first.
- The hilliest marathon courses — Courses ranked by total elevation gain, most first.
- Net-downhill marathon courses — Courses ranked by net elevation change, biggest drop first.
- The hardest marathon courses, ranked by difficulty — Every course rated 1–5 on climbing, descent and altitude.
- Marathons with the hardest finish — Courses whose toughest stretch lands after 30 km, ranked by how hard it bites.
- World Marathon Majors: course profiles compared — Every Major course, ranked flattest to hilliest.
- The biggest marathons by field size — Courses ranked by the number of runners on the start line.