World Marathon Majors compared
The Majors are the six — now seven — races most runners build a decade around. They are not remotely equivalent as courses: the spread in total ascent between the flattest and the hilliest is larger than the spread across most of the rest of the catalogue, which is why a Berlin time and a Boston time are not the same performance. Ranked here flattest first.
The ranking
| # | Course | Location | Measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tokyo Marathon | Tokyo | 170 ft (50 m) of climbing |
| 2 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, IL | 230 ft (70 m) of climbing |
| 3 | Berlin Marathon | Berlin | 230 ft (70 m) of climbing |
| 4 | London Marathon | London | 410 ft (120 m) of climbing |
| 5 | New York City Marathon | New York, NY | 770 ft (230 m) of climbing |
| 6 | Boston Marathon | Boston, MA | 770 ft (240 m) of climbing |
| 7 | Sydney Marathon | Sydney, NSW | 970 ft (300 m) of climbing |
Frequently asked questions
World Marathon Majors compared: which is number one?
Tokyo Marathon — 170 ft (50 m) of climbing. The full ranking covers 7 courses and is computed from each course's own elevation profile rather than from race organiser claims.
How are these rankings calculated?
From the elevation profile of each course, built from GPX traces and digital elevation models, clipped to the official 42.195 km. Elevation figures carry roughly ±5–10 m of DEM noise, so small differences between flat courses are measurement error rather than a meaningful gap.
Other course rankings
- Every marathon course compared — all of them in one sortable table.
- 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.
- The biggest marathons by field size — Courses ranked by the number of runners on the start line.