Sydney will join the world’s most iconic running club when it becomes the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major in 2025, joining New York, London, Boston, Tokyo, Berlin and Chicago in the elite group.

The announcement that Sydney would be included in the elite marathon course was made overnight at the New York Marathon, capping years of campaigning by organisers, which Abbott WMM CEO Dawna Stone said was “hugely impressive”.

“The team in Sydney have been working towards this day day in and day out for over three years and it is extremely impressive to see the improvement in their operations and event experience to the point where we can now call them Majors,” she said. Stone said.

“We can’t wait to see our community embrace this race as a Major and start planning their visits to run the streets of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Runners, your Sydney star is waiting for you.

The Sydney Marathon is the largest marathon in Oceania, with a record 20,272 finishers running the 2024 race on 15 September; this allowed the race to pass the qualifying criteria for the second consecutive year to join the Majors roster.

The Harbor city’s inclusion in the Abbott series is expected to make the race a bucket list event for runners around the world, generating more than $73 million for the NSW economy over the next three years and an extra $300 million over the next decade.

Sydney Marathon organizers pushed for the event to be included in the senior series over an intensive three-year evaluation period; during this time the event grew from just over 5000 participants in 2022 to over 25,000 in 2024.

The number of runners reaching the starting line is expected to increase to 33,000 in 2025 and 38,000 in 2027.

To meet the judging criteria, the event required significant government funding of over $10 million. Daily Telegraph.

NSW Premier Chris Minns told the newspaper the Sydney Marathon’s inclusion in the Abbott series was a “huge honour” and would be a boon for the state’s economy, particularly tourism. He said it was a “feather in our cap.”

TCS Sydney Marathon race director Wayne Larden said the entry was “really special” for his team.

“Being the seventh Abbott World Marathon is incredible for the event, the city of Sydney and the State of New South Wales,” he said.

“Our team is top-notch and we put a lot of effort into making this happen. This is really special for all of us.”

Mr Larden predicts the event’s promotion to the big leagues will “have a profound impact on running in Australia” and inspire thousands of people to take up the sport to “do something special for themselves, their families and friends”.

“Community health will benefit as well as the huge increase in fundraising,” he said.

The Sydney Marathon is considered one of the most beautiful courses in the world: taking runners across the Sydney Harbor Bridge, past Barandaroo and the Royal Botanical Gardens, and then finishing at the Opera House. It is the same running track used in the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

The last city to be included in the Abbott World Marathon Major list was Tokyo in 2013.

When two more races were added to the series, Sydney became the seventh series in what was expected to be a Nine Star series, following the Six Star medal won by the Abbott Majors for completing six marathons.

The Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and Shanghai Marathon are currently in the nomination process and could join the series as early as 2026 and 2027 if they pass two-year evaluations.