Table of Contents
Some of the most beautiful places on Earth are best crossed on foot. They wait along ocean cliffs, through Highland glens, past Alpine glaciers, and beneath a skyline straight off a postcard. And once a year they belong to runners.
In this article we have gathered 15 epic marathons that run point to point, starting in one place and finishing in another, so every mile takes you somewhere new. They range from the major races with 50,000 runners to remote courses with a few hundred.
1. Boston Marathon
- When: April
- Where: Hopkinton to Boston, USA
- Website: baa.org
Boston has been run every spring since 1897, which makes it the oldest annual marathon in the world.
You start in the small town of Hopkinton and head east into the city, dropping downhill for much of the way (except Heartbreak Hill near mile 20, which wrecks hundreds of personal bests).
Boston is one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and the race most runners dream of. Most bibs go to runners who beat a strict qualifying time for their age. Even hitting that time is no guarantee, because far more people qualify than the race can hold.
2. New York City Marathon
- When: November
- Where: Staten Island to Manhattan, USA
- Website: tcsnycmarathon.org
It is the largest marathon on the planet and one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, with more than 55,000 finishers most years and two million spectators on the streets. The wall of noise on First Avenue is something runners remember for years.
The race begins on Staten Island at the foot of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, crosses five bridges and all five boroughs, and finishes in Central Park.
Getting in is the hard part, though. More than 200,000 people apply, and most enter a lottery with odds near one in a hundred.
3. Big Sur International Marathon
- When: April
- Where: Big Sur to Carmel, USA
- Website: bigsurmarathon.org
Around the halfway mark, high above the Pacific, a man in a tuxedo plays a grand piano while you run past. The whole course carries that kind of drama.
The route follows Highway 1 down the California coast from Big Sur to Carmel, past cliffs, redwoods, and open ocean. The long climb up Hurricane Point gains about 560 feet (170 m) straight into the wind, and the payoff is the view from the top and the run down toward the Bixby Bridge.
The number of runners is limited to about 4,500, so a spot is not easy to get, and the race counts as a Boston qualifier. Runner's World ambassador Bart Yasso called it a marathon to do once in your lifetime.
4. Grandma's Marathon
- When: June
- Where: Two Harbors to Duluth, USA
- Website: grandmasmarathon.com
The course starts out in the woods, runs along the shore of Lake Superior for mile after mile, and ends in the heart of Duluth. The course drops gently downhill and often has a tailwind, which makes it one of the most popular places in the country for a first Boston qualifier or a personal best.
It ranks among the ten largest marathons in the United States.
5. California International Marathon
- When: December
- Where: Folsom to Sacramento, USA
- Website: runsra.org
When a runner is chasing a personal best, they often pick this one. The California International Marathon, known to almost everyone as CIM, runs downhill from Folsom to the State Capitol in Sacramento, and it has sent thousands of people to Boston and to the Olympic Trials.
The net drop is about 350 feet (107 m), spread over rolling hills so it never feels steep. Cool December air helps too.
With close to 10,000 finishers, it ranks among the ten largest marathons in the country and holds a name as the place to run fast in late season.
6. Athens Marathon. The Authentic
- When: November
- Where: Marathon to Athens, Greece
- Website: athensauthenticmarathon.gr
This is the route that started it all. After the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, the messenger Pheidippides is said to have run this path to Athens to announce the Greek victory, then collapsed. The race follows the same road.
You finish inside the Panathenaic Stadium, the marble arena built for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The course does not hand it to you. It climbs almost without a break from around 10 km (6 miles) to 31 km (19 miles), so the middle miles ask a lot before the long descent into the city.
For many runners the history alone is worth the hard road.
7. Great Ocean Road Marathon
- When: May
- Where: Lorne to Apollo Bay, Australia
- Website: greatoceanroadrunfest.com.au
Australia's most scenic race comes with a twist. It is longer than a marathon. The main event covers 44 km (27 miles) rather than the standard 42.2, so crossing the line earns you a little extra.
The course runs along the Great Ocean Road in the state of Victoria, from Lorne to Apollo Bay, with the sea on one side and green hills on the other. Surf beaches, cliffs, and pockets of rainforest fill the miles.
Around 8,000 people take part across the festival's shorter events, though the coastal marathon is the reason most of them come.
8. Queenstown Marathon
- When: November
- Where: Arrowtown to Queenstown, New Zealand
- Website: queenstown-marathon.co.nz
Queenstown calls itself the world's most beautiful marathon, and the views speak for themselves.
The course starts near Arrowtown and follows trails past Lake Hayes and the Shotover River to the shore of Lake Wakatipu, with the Remarkables mountains standing over the whole run. It stays mostly flat and runs largely on hard-packed trail, which makes it kind to a first-timer. The race finishes in the heart of Queenstown, close enough to walk to from your hotel.
9. Auckland Marathon
- When: November
- Where: North Shore to central Auckland, New Zealand
- Website: aucklandmarathon.co.nz
Once a year, runners get to do something no one else can. They run across the Auckland Harbour Bridge on foot, on the one day it opens to people instead of cars.
The race starts on the North Shore, climbs about 33 m (108 ft) to the high point of the bridge, then drops into the city and finishes near the waterfront. It runs in spring, when the weather is mild, and the harbour views from the crossing are the part people talk about afterward.
10. BMO Vancouver Marathon
- When: May
- Where: Vancouver, Canada
- Website: bmovanmarathon.ca
Forbes, CNN, and others keep naming this one of the best destination marathons anywhere, and it is easy to see why. The point-to-point course threads through the city past beaches and parks and along the Seawall, the longest uninterrupted waterfront path in the world.
Run in early May, it passes snow-capped mountains and long stretches of ocean shoreline, with cherry blossoms out across the city. It is a Boston qualifier and draws runners from more than 60 countries.
11. Shanghai Marathon
- When: Late November or early December
- Where: The Bund to Shanghai Stadium, China
- Website: shang-ma.com
China's biggest race could soon join the sport's top tier: the Shanghai Marathon is a candidate to become a World Marathon Major, which would place it beside races like Boston, London, and New York.
The course begins at the Bund, the old riverfront lined with grand stone buildings, and runs past temples and city landmarks to finish at Shanghai Stadium. It is flat and fast, and close to 38,000 people take part across its events.
12. Loch Ness Marathon
- When: September or October
- Where: Loch Ness to Inverness, Scotland
- Website: lochnessmarathon.com
Bagpipes send the runners off, and the course rolls out along the most famous lake in Scotland. The race starts on open moorland, so buses carry everyone to the remote start, then follows the loch north to the city of Inverness.
The Highlands scenery does most of the work here. You run beside the water for miles, through forest and low hills, often in the kind of cool, damp weather that keeps you moving. Around 8,000 people join the wider festival each autumn.
13. Jungfrau Marathon
- When: September
- Where: Interlaken to Eigergletscher, Switzerland
- Website: jungfrau-marathon.ch
Most races on this list run on roads. This one climbs a mountain. The Jungfrau Marathon starts in Interlaken and gains about 1,953 m (6,407 ft), finishing high on a glacier below the Eiger.
The first 10 km (6 miles) stay flat and gentle, and then the road tilts up and keeps climbing nearly to the finish. Alphorn players and flag throwers line parts of the route, and the closing miles open onto the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau peaks. Around 4,000 spots sell out every year.
It is a marathon in distance and an ultra in effort.
14. Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon
- When: May
- Where: Everest Base Camp to Namche Bazaar, Nepal
- Website: everestmarathon.com
No marathon starts higher than this one. Runners spend weeks trekking up to Everest Base Camp at 5,364 m (17,600 ft), then race back down toward the village of Namche Bazaar.
The route runs mostly downhill, but that word hides the truth of it. You cross rocky trails, stone steps, and swinging suspension bridges, all on thin mountain air, through Sherpa villages under the highest peaks on Earth.
The number of runners is limited to about 250, and the race is held each May to mark the first climb of Everest in 1953. Just reaching the start line is an expedition of its own.
15. Comrades Marathon
- When: June
- Where: Durban to Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
- Website: comrades.com
When you think of a race from one point to another, the legendary, historic Comrades Marathon is the first that comes to mind. Strictly speaking it is not a marathon at all but an ultra, yet this list would not be complete without such an iconic race.
Comrades has run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg since 1921, switching direction each year so one year climbs and the next descends. The distance comes to about 87 to 90 km (54 to 56 miles), and more than 20,000 runners take it on with a 12-hour cutoff.
They call it the Ultimate Human Race, and in 2027 it reaches its 100th edition.
So, which one goes on your list first, and who are you taking with you? Send this to the friend you would want at the start line.
