In 2025, the TCS Sydney Marathon becomes the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major.
The Sydney Marathon will be the hilliest and arguably the most challenging course of the seven Majors, and with 35,000 runners – including the great Eliud Kipchoge – expected to take on the Sydney Marathon in 2025, here’s our guide to how runners should train for the Sydney Marathon, including essential tips how to train for hilly races.
Want to run the Sydney Marathon? Here’s how to enter each of the World Marathon Majors.
WHEN IS THE SYDNEY MARATHON & WHEN DOES IT START?
The 2025 Sydney Marathon takes place on Sunday 31 August.
The Sydney Marathon begins at 6.30am, just after sunrise. The final start wave will cross the start line by 8.15am. The race has a seven hour cut off from the final starters (3.15pm).
WHAT IS THE SYDNEY MARATHON COURSE LIKE?
The Sydney Marathon starts outside the North Sydney Oval and finishes in front of the Sydney Opera House, crossing over and under the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the way – those landmarks are iconic sights on the Sydney Marathon.
It’s a scenic race which also takes you around Darling Harbour, The Rocks, Centennial Park, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and then to that incredible finish by the Opera House.
Here’s a map of the Sydney Marathon course (full course details on the Sydney Marathon website).
IS THE SYDNEY MARATHON HILLY?
Yes, the Sydney Marathon is hilly. But Sydney isn’t a mountain race, and it’s more of a gradually undulating course, that’s changing elevation throughout. There are no sections of the course which are especially long, steep or difficult.
Runners *may* be pleased to know there’s more overall downhill than uphill in the race (but don’t be mistaken: there’s a lot of uphill in Sydney!).
Net elevation gain: 317 metres (1,040ft)
Net elevation loss: 400 metres (1,312ft)
Total elevation change: -83 metres loss (272ft)
The course is hilly throughout, and you’re almost always on either an uphill or downhill, with virtually no truly flat sections in the race. Don’t worry about this, but do train specifically to run the Sydney Marathon.
The first 4km features significant elevation loss, but also takes you up over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This is a great start to any marathon, but don’t go out too fast or your quads may blow up later in the race.
While the elevation map looks dramatic, rarely are the hills dramatically steep.
The first kilometre is -4% to -6% gradient
Sydney Harbour Bridge is around +2.5% gradient on the way up, and -3% coming down
The incline along Oxford Street is +3%
The longer incline from 24-27k is only around +1%
The return down Oxford Street and to the Botanical Gardens is -3%
The final hill is a bit of a mean one, coming so late in the race, and averages around +3%
Then it’s a nice steady 400m downhill (around -3%) to the finish line
HOW DOES SYDNEY MARATHON COMPARE TO THE OTHER MAJOR MARATHONS?
Here’s how Sydney compares to the other hilly Marathon Majors in Boston and New York. The marathons in Tokyo, London, Berlin and Chicago are all flat courses with minimal elevation change.
Here are the course elevation profiles compared (in order: Boston, NYC, Sydney).
SYDNEY MARATHON WEATHER
What will the weather be like at the Sydney Marathon? Below is a look at the weather from the previous six years.
The temperatures are high/low overall for the day. The average temperature at 6am from the past six years is 13ºC (55ºF), with a range from 9-17ºC (48-62ºF). You can probably expect some stronger winds through the race.
GENERAL TIPS FOR TRAINING FOR THE SYDNEY MARATHON
The course is marked in kilometres, so if you run to miles then you may want to become familiar with translating distances and paces.
The race starts at 6.30am, which is the earliest of all the Majors.
Be prepared for a range of weather conditions on the start line.
You need to be doing more strength training for your legs to help withstand the hills, especially the downhills which will impact your quads.
The Sydney Marathon is not likely to be a course for lowering your personal best (unless you’re quite new to marathons and have trained very well for the course), instead it’s a race to take on and enjoy the course, the views and the crowds. It may not be the fastest marathon, but Sydney wants to hold the most fun marathon.
Expect to have some extra tender quads in the days after the race – 400m of downhill is going to make your legs sore!
TOP TIPS FOR TRAINING FOR THE SYDNEY MARATHON
PRACTISE RUNNING EARLY IN THE DAY
The Sydney Marathon starts at 6.30am. That’s very early!
For most runners, it’ll mean waking up around 3.00-3.30am.
If you routinely run at 6am, then continue doing that in your training. But if you’re someone who runs in the middle or end of the day, then try to do at least one or two early morning long runs (it doesn’t need to be quite as early as 6.30am if that feels like too much).
This will help you to understand if there’s anything you need to do differently for a morning race, plus your body can become more familiar with working hard at that time of the day. If you only ever run at 6pm but then suddenly ask your body to run hard at 6.30am, it can feel extra challenging.
BASE TRAINING FOR THE SYDNEY MARATHON
Your standard marathon training programme still works for Sydney. You still need to be doing the typical plan that builds over 12-20 weeks, with a weekly long run increasing to 16-22 miles / 25-35km / or up to 4 hours. You should also aim to add in at least one faster session a week, featuring intervals, tempo runs or threshold runs (here’s every type of run explained).
The specific training you’ll want to be doing for the Sydney Marathon involves running on hills as often as possible.
As we’ve seen from the course profile, the majority of hills are under +/-4%, so if you can find some hills around that gradient then that’s ideal. Running on steeper hills will also be great practise.
DO HILLY EASY RUNS
If you’re the kind of runner who plans their routes to avoid all hills, then that’s going to have to change. You’re now a runner who seeks out all the hills you can possibly find. Never bypass a hill. Go out of your way to run up and down hills.
To begin, these will feel more challenging, but you’ll quickly build up much stronger legs. Just be cautious with adding too many hills, too soon – allow your body to adapt to them over a few weeks. If you start to feel any niggles, then work on whatever strength weakness you have.
Be comfortable and confident running on hill routes before adding any intensity on hills.
DO FARTLEK WORKOUTS
A fartlek workout is one which adds in faster reps alongside recovery reps without taking any rest. So for example, after a warm up you’ll do two minutes fast then two minutes easy, and repeat that five times without pausing or taking any recovery.
Fartlek workouts are a great way to feel changes in pace and effort during a continuous run, and they are great preparation for the Sydney Marathon because with the constant elevation change you’ll find that it’s difficult to settle into a rhythm with your pace, and this mimics that.
DO HILLY LONG RUNS
You’re going to be doing a hill marathon, so aim to do a few hilly long runs where you surpass the total elevation of the Sydney Marathon. Going for longer trail runs is a great way to do this.
As you get closer to race day, try to do some sections of this hilly route at race effort.
DO HILLY WORKOUTS
These may make the biggest difference in your training because you’ll be running at a harder effort up hills, and also down hill. Always add in some downhill reps.
The dream route to find is one with hills that are 800-1200m (0.5-0.75 mile), and 3-8% gradient. That could be a long undulating road, or it could be one hill that you run up and down numerous times.
You can do any classic running workout on these hills. Try tempo runs, 1k reps, 1 mile reps, 400m rep, etc. But always do downhills as well as the uphills. Running faster than race pace down hill is going to be great stimulus to help your body prepare for the race. Just be aware that harder hill sessions may require an extra rest day or easy day after you complete them.
Also try to add in hill strides (just do these on the uphill). If you can do these at least once a week then they could be very beneficial.
For hill strides, look for a hill that’s 3-8% gradient and 50-100m long. Run up the hill as fast as you can then walk back down again. Repeat to 3-8 reps.
HOW TO TRAIN FOR THE SYDNEY MARATHON IF YOU LIVE IN A FLAT AREA
If you live in a very flat area, then how can you train for a hilly race?
Try to find any hill nearby. Even if it’s just an overpass. If you’ve got a hill of around 3-5% gradient that’s at least 50-100m long, then you can definitely use it for hill strides.
If you run in a gym, then do some runs on a treadmill. You can do short intervals on a gradient (try alternating goal race pace for two minutes at +5%, then two minutes at 0%).
You could also do a longer tempo run where you regularly change the elevation to mirror the course. Look at 24-37k of the race and try the following at around race effort:
1k warm up 0%
2k at +3%
2k at 0%
2k at +3%
2k at 0%
2k at +3%
2k at 0%
It’s going to be really beneficial if you can find an area that you can travel to do some of your long runs. This could be a trail or a hill road route. Either way, it will really help your legs to prepare for the extra demands of the course.
MAKE SURE YOU DO REGULAR STRENGTH TRAINING
This one is essential for hilly races.
You need to be doing some strength training. Focus on the key leg muscles: glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves, plus your core and back to help stabilise you. Moves like squats, deadlifts, lunges and calf raises are all great to add in.
Try to do at least one weight workout a week, and do two if you’re able.
Here are some of the basic moves to begin with.
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If you’re training to run the Sydney Marathon then best of luck! It’s an incredible course and while it might be hilly overall, there’s nothing to worry about – it’s a big city road marathon, not an alpine trail run. You can train for Sydney like any other marathon, just make sure you regularly find some hills and run up and down them.
