https://www.marathontrip.com/races/amsterdam-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/amsterdam-long-cut.webp Amsterdam: the Olympic Stadium, the Rijksmuseum and the Amstel One loop from the Olympic Stadium of the 1928 Games that never gets more than 4 metres from sea level. Nearly a third of it, 13 km, runs below sea level, and it climbs about 22 metres in the whole race. At 4 km it runs straight through the Rijksmuseum, in the passage under the building. 11.6 km of it runs beside the Amstel, out to the turn at Ouderkerk and back up the east bank. The lowest point is in the Watergraafsmeer, a lake drained in 1629: 3.9 metres below sea level at 31.2 km. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/diHhsoUUU8E 229 2026-09-29T03:15:06-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/antwerp-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/antwerp-long-cut.webp Antwerp: one loop run twice, the Scheldt quays and the MAS One loop of the city, run twice, and almost no hill at all. It climbs 22 m in 42 km, and 87% of it lies within 3 m of the start's height. But it has 150 corners and 12,376 degrees of turning, the twistiest of the 24 courses we have measured. Lap one starts on the Kattendijkbrug by the docks, passes the Port House, runs along the Meir to Antwerpen-Centraal and out through Zurenborg to its far point, 4.2 km from the start at 12.4 km, then comes back up the Scheldt quays, 2.5 km dead straight, to the start line at 20.1 km. Lap two adds its only new road, 2.4 km round the docks, and runs the same loop again from 22.9 km. The last 200 m leave the quays for the MAS, the museum on the river. The gun is at 09:00 on the Kattendijkbrug, on the Rijnkaai; the film is lit as at 10:00 so that you can see the course. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/u6df5ZHvoO4 239 2026-10-13T05:51:10-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/athens-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/athens-long-cut.webp Athens: 20 km uphill, then down to a marble stadium Athens climbs 281 metres in all, nearly eight times Berlin's 35.9, and every metre of it comes before 31.2 km. From the Rafina junction it climbs 201.7 metres in 13.6 km without a metre of it downhill, to the top at Stavros, 236.6 metres above the sea. From there it is 151.1 metres down to the finish and nothing up. Mesogeion Avenue runs 5.5 km dead straight, and the last 170 metres are run down the arena of the Panathenaic Stadium, where the first Olympic marathon finished in 1896. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Ekt6zPuNJos 236 2026-09-28T04:03:36-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/berlin-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/berlin-long-cut.webp Berlin: the fastest road on earth The Berlin course, end to end. Thirteen world records have been set on this road and almost every explanation credits the flatness; flat is the least interesting true thing about Berlin. The speed is in the geometry: 44 corners, 21 of them before halfway, none of them a hairpin. And the geometry has a cost: six right angles in the last two kilometres, arriving at the point where a runner is least able to pay for them. Berlin is nearly a plane over 42 km. Eighteen metres of relief across a marathon is what makes the fast road fast, and what makes it a trap. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/eTtB-y92zfc 278 2026-09-15T05:39:01-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/boston-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/boston-long-cut.webp Boston: the downhill that costs you the hills Boston drops 137 metres net, Hopkinton to Boylston Street, and gives up most of that before the hills that made it famous get a chance to take any of it back. The course loses 77 metres in its first eight kilometres, eases for the next eight, and keeps falling past the halfway mark to its lowest point near Newton Lower Falls. Commonwealth Avenue then climbs 48 metres back up over four separate rises before Beacon Street and Brookline give 44 of them away again, on the way to a finish on Boylston Street that still sits 137 metres below the start. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/4D39tkSugJ4 192 2026-09-20T07:19:31-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/chicago-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/chicago-long-cut.webp Chicago: flat and square, until the very last bridge Chicago runs 42.195 km inside 9.6 metres of height. The whole course sits between 179 and 189 metres above the sea, and it climbs 19.1 metres in a whole marathon, where Berlin climbs 35.9. It crosses the Chicago River six times, on six movable bridges. What it asks of you instead of hills is corners: 36 of them, three that turn back on themselves, and the sharpest, 150 degrees inside sixty metres, where Canalport Avenue meets Cermak Road. Then, with a kilometre to go, Roosevelt Road: 6.1 metres up in 300 metres, the one climb on the course, before the turn onto Columbus Drive and the last 625 metres down to the finish in Grant Park. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/dtkpNAOmaJs 239 2026-09-24T09:06:47-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/dublin-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/dublin-long-cut.webp Dublin: Phoenix Park, the Liffey and the last hill Dublin climbs 141.9 metres in a whole marathon, almost four times Berlin's 35.9. It tops out at 66.9 metres at 11.2 km inside Phoenix Park, drops 58.8 metres to the Liffey at Chapelizod and climbs straight back up Saint Laurence's Road. The last hill, Clonskeagh and Roebuck Roads, climbs 19.7 metres in 2.5 km and ends at 35.5 km. After it the course falls to 3.2 metres on Merrion Road, the lowest ground of the race, and rises 6.2 metres back to the finish. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Tqibb9EgguY 236 2026-09-25T12:25:19-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/frankfurt-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/frankfurt-long-cut.webp Frankfurt: the skyline, the Main and a finish indoors A flat course that never stays straight for long. It climbs 44 m in 42 km, and 91% of it lies within 5 m of the start's height; the one real rise is 9.5 m from 9 to 10 km. But it has 68 corners, more turning than any of the 22 courses we have measured, and it passes the skyline five times. It crosses the Main twice: into Sachsenhausen on the Alte Brücke at 13.2 km, and back on the Schwanheimer Brücke at 23.9 km. It turns in Höchst at 27.1 km, its far point, and comes home on 4.19 km of dead-straight Mainzer Landstraße, then one more lap through the centre. The finish is indoors, on a red carpet under the dome of the Festhalle, as it has been since 2003. The gun is at 10:00 by the Messeturm; the film is lit as at 11:00 so that you can see the course. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/CRV1iKrtpnE 240 2026-10-09T11:41:20-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/havana-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/havana-long-cut.webp Havana: two laps, 12.9 km on the Malecón It is two laps of one certified circuit, and half of it is sea wall. From the start on Avenida Independencia the course runs east on Carlos III and Reina, down the Paseo del Prado past El Capitolio to La Punta, where it meets the sea at the harbour mouth opposite El Morro. Then it turns west along the Malecón, 2 to 5 m above the sea: 12.9 km of the race, 30% of it, and the lowest point is on it, 2.3 m, at 10.3 km and again at 31.4 km. At 11 km the course turns 180 degrees by the Almendares tunnel, turns its back on the sea and climbs the one real hill: 25 m up Calle 12 in 1.1 km, then 10 m more, gently, along Calle 23 and Avenida 26 to the top of the course, 37 m, at 15.5 km. Then level round the Ciudad Deportiva and downhill from 19 km to halfway, past the José Martí Memorial. 108 m of climbing in the whole marathon, 54 m a lap, and every kilometre of it run twice. The half marathon is the first lap. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Hs6MK0Hp7xo 237 2026-10-16T23:46:34-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/honolulu-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/honolulu-long-cut.webp Honolulu: one hill, climbed twice Honolulu has one hill, and the course climbs it twice. Diamond Head Road rises 31 m in 1 km from the lighthouse at 12.5 km to a first summit at 13 km, and the course comes back to the same summit at 39.6 km from the other side. Between them there is almost nothing: the first 10 km climb 3.8 m in total, and the 15 km from 18.8 km to 34.1 km never rise above 5 m. At the far end the course is a loop, 3.4 km round Hawaii Kai, not a turn, and 44% of the race is run twice. The finish in Kapiolani Park is 3.7 km from the start on Ala Moana Boulevard, and 0.9 m higher. There is no cut-off time. The race starts at 5:00 am, in the dark, under fireworks. The film is lit at 8:00 am so you can see the course. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3-4fFDCoUt4 240 2026-10-01T11:33:56-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/istanbul-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/istanbul-long-cut.webp Istanbul: Asia to Europe, then 30 km by the sea The race starts in Asia and finishes in Europe. Runners are on the Bosphorus Bridge, 64 m above the water, from 0.4 km to 2 km, and Europe begins mid-strait at 1.2 km: a bridge nobody may walk across, run on race morning. The high point comes at 3.8 km, 87.2 m above the sea, and then the course drops 77.8 m down Barbaros Bulvarı to the Bosphorus in 2 km. From 5.8 km to 40.3 km it never rises 10 m above the sea. It runs past Dolmabahçe Palace, crosses the Golden Horn on the Galata Bridge at 9.1 km and rounds Seraglio Point under Topkapı Palace, and then 30.7 km of it is one coast road along the Sea of Marmara, out past Yedikule to a turn at 25.7 km in Yeşilköy and back. The highest point of that whole road is 7.9 m. The last 5 km climb 33.2 m, the steepest of it 2.7% over 500 m from 40.3 km, up through Gülhane Park and past Hagia Sophia to a finish in the Hippodrome, between the Blue Mosque and the Obelisk of Theodosius. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/JNdwkI7z0b0 246 2026-10-09T04:42:26-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/london-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/london-long-cut.webp London: downhill early, flat after London finishes 36.3 metres lower than it starts: 41.4 metres above the sea on Blackheath, 5.1 on The Mall. It spends 35.4 metres of that inside the first 10 km, and from Greenwich to the finish it never rises above 11.2 metres. It still climbs 42.4 metres in a whole marathon, where Berlin climbs 35.9. Start and finish sit 10.7 km apart, a quarter of the race against a limit of half, and the course drops 0.86 metres a kilometre against a limit of one. The downhill is real, and it is spent early. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/bHJ3sov0Pb8 242 2026-09-25T00:40:48-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/marine-corps-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/marine-corps-long-cut.webp Marine Corps Marathon: the hill first, Beat the Bridge, the memorial The hill comes first. From the start on Route 110 the course climbs to its high point on Langston Boulevard past Rosslyn, 66 m (217 ft) up at mile 2.3: 59 m (195 ft) of climbing in the first 2.3 miles, more than half of the race's 112 m (369 ft). Then it all comes back down Spout Run to the Potomac in less than a mile and a half. From mile 7.5 to mile 20.8 the course never rises above 10 m (33 ft): out and back on Rock Creek Parkway, round Hains Point at mile 13.3, its lowest point, and along the National Mall. Beat the Bridge is a clock, not a hill: be at 14th and D Streets by 1:15 p.m., about two thirds of a mile before mile 20 on the 14th Street Bridge. The last 0.2 mile climbs again, 11 m (36 ft), 8.8% at its steepest, to the Marine Corps War Memorial, where the race has finished since 1976. The gun is at 7:20 a.m., just before sunrise; the film is lit as at 10 a.m. so that you can see the course. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/8QzmuhTYINU 240 2026-10-16T03:29:43-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/mumbai-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/mumbai-long-cut.webp Mumbai: Marine Drive, the Coastal Road and the Sea Link A flat course with one hill in it, run twice. 75% of it lies 10 metres or less above the sea, and the Coastal Road and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link give 4.1 km of road over the sea without touching land, the longest straight of the race on the bridge. The hill is Pedder Road. The first time, at 9 km, is the gentle side. The second, at 35.2 km, is the steep side: 30 metres in 1.05 km, to the highest point of the race at 36.3 km. This film flies the route as run in 2026; the 2027 route is not published yet. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/iYu9WE73ewQ 238 2026-09-28T04:26:47-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/new-york-city-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/nyc-long-cut.webp New York: five bridges, five boroughs, one last hill The 2026 New York course, from the gun at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island to the finish in Central Park. The first climb is the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge itself, crested at 0.95 km, and its 2.4 km of deck is the longest of the five bridges. Brooklyn is about 18 km of the race, and Fourth Avenue runs 6.5 km without a turn. Queens Plaza has a 177 degree turn, the sharpest on the course, and then come 1.9 km on the Queensboro Bridge's lower deck. First Avenue runs 6.2 km without a turn up to the Harlem River. The Bronx section changed in 2026 for the first time in 15 years, and the film flies the new route. The last real hill is Fifth Avenue: 26.0 m up in 2.5 km from 35.9 km, to the top of the course at 38.4 km, then 3.8 km and 9.5 m lower to the finish. The film is lit at 10:00 am on race day; the waves start between 8:00 and 11:30. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/oCSZAZJBFNk 242 2026-10-02T03:15:17-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/rotterdam-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/rotterdam-long-cut.webp Rotterdam: the Erasmus Bridge, De Kuip and the cube houses Rotterdam's biggest climb is a bridge, and the race crosses it twice. It starts on the Schiedamsedijk and goes straight up the Erasmus Bridge, 10 m in 320 m, over the Nieuwe Maas past the Swan's 139 m pylon into the towers of the Kop van Zuid. 63% of the race runs south of the river, past De Kuip, Feyenoord's stadium. From 8.3 km it runs below sea level for 13.6 km without a break, and the lowest point is 4.9 m below sea level at 34.5 km, by the Kralingse Plas. The finish on the Coolsingel is 879 m from the start. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/yK0JVu4NIXw 235 2026-09-30T21:53:41-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/tokyo-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/tokyo-long-cut.webp Tokyo: fast, flat and 42 corners Tokyo gives you 38.8 metres of downhill in the first 10 km, from Shinjuku, 40.76 metres above the sea, to 3.6 metres on Chuo-dori. Then it runs 32.2 km on ground that never stands more than 4.69 metres above the sea. It climbs 16.2 metres in a whole marathon, where Berlin climbs 35.9. What it is not is straight: 39 corners and five U-turns, the widest of them at Tomioka Hachimangu. Fast, then. Not straight, and not once easy. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/mw1pIhGKAvQ 235 2026-09-23T08:29:11-07:00 yes https://www.marathontrip.com/races/valencia-marathon/ https://www.marathontrip.com/film-posters/valencia-long-cut.webp Valencia: low all the way, downhill at the end Valencia never gets high: 1.9 metres above the sea behind the beach, 25.1 at its highest, at 35.0 km by Avinguda de les Tres Creus. From there to the finish it never climbs, and it gives back 21.6 metres in the last 7.2 km. It still climbs 41.8 metres in a whole marathon, where Berlin climbs 35.9. Start and finish sit 219 metres apart, and the course drops 0.14 metres a kilometre against a limit of one. The last 2.2 km run down into the City of Arts and Sciences. https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/GrCt13Gf0Tw 224 2026-09-25T09:40:55-07:00 yes