The New South Wales government says having Sydney on the host-city roster for international marathon races will be a tourism ‘bonanza’. Sydney will join New York, Boston, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo in March next year as one of the ‘marathon majors’.
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00:00It's seventh heaven for Sydney, joining Rare Air as one of the next major marathons.
00:09The World Major Marathon program already features three events in the United States, another
00:14race in the United Kingdom, one in Germany and one in Japan.
00:18But this is the very first to take place in the Southern Hemisphere and it will do so
00:23in August 2025.
00:25It comes after a concerted lobbying effort from both race directors and leadership of
00:30the Sydney Marathon as well as the New South Wales government who believe the advent of
00:35runners not just locally but also internationally will be a major economic boon.
00:41The economic impact on the city is fantastic, $300 million over a decade, but you can just
00:47imagine the number of people that see Sydney on television or attend the city as a spectator
00:54or a participant who want to bring their family and friends in the years ahead.
00:57I think the multiplier on that is much, much bigger and we'll be able to see the tourism
01:02benefits of being one of the majors in the years ahead.
01:06As major status has been conferred onto Sydney, some things about the race will change, among
01:11them how to actually enter the race.
01:14Already 25,000 people ran in this year's Sydney Marathon, a record number across Australia.
01:20Next year they're expecting more runners, about 35,000.
01:24Typically it was first come first serve, however now we're expecting to see a different form
01:30take place.
01:31That's in part to the sheer demand that competition organisers are expecting.
01:36Essentially most amateur runners will have to enter a ballot where people will be randomly
01:41selected as to whether or not they're able to race.
01:44There will be some spots marked for elite runners who compete in the major marathons
01:50for championship glory, as well as other places allocated to those raising funds for charity,
01:55as well as tourism companies built entirely around running.
02:00Simon Bryan from the Sydney Marathon says all of this shows just how significant an
02:05event the Sydney Marathon will become now that it's achieved majors status.
02:10For the running community of Australia and obviously Sydney it's massive, I mean the
02:14world majors is the pinnacle of running as I mentioned before, so to see Sydney become
02:19part of that global stage is incredible.
02:23So we will see an uplift in running, the boom of running will continue no doubt and we hope
02:28to jump on the back of that as well.
02:30The success and explosion of popularity of not just marathon running coincides with a
02:35marked shift in the type of people running.
02:38There are now a lot more young people participating in the sport, according to those familiar
02:43with the data, particularly Generation Z, or Zoomers, who have become part of running
02:49clubs right across Australia from big cities to small towns.
02:53These prolific clubs are in part credited with growing the sport and indeed the knock-on
02:58effects are felt at the most significant events such as the Sydney Marathon.