What fitting Sydney’s iconic landmarks into the city’s marathon route means for runners

During the 20 years that Wayne Larden has set the course for the Sydney Marathon, he’s had to negotiate the city’s hills, its most recognisable landmarks, and, of course, Sydney Harbour.

In 2023, while vying for the race to be upgraded to “major” status, he knew the course would have to prove it was worthy of attracting the likes of two-time Olympic gold medallist Eliud Kipchoge.

As race director, he arranged a committee to adjust the course. He also conferred with the state government and Transport for NSW.

The result of their efforts had major implications for runners. First, the event won the revered major marathon status, and secondly, (after some tweaks between 2023 and 2025), they’d be running a course with the most elevation gain of any major marathon, with runners gaining 253 more metres than they do in the Tokyo Marathon.

“I think it’s as good as you’re going to get in Sydney. Obviously, Sydney is a hilly city. We take in all of the great tourist icons on the route,” Larden said with six days to go until the race. “I can’t see anywhere we could improve it without adding more hills to it.”

While it could be the most difficult of the majors and likely won’t see any world records broken, Larden believes the trade-off is worth it. The elevation gain required to traverse the Harbour Bridge and to finish at the Sydney Opera House was key to its viability as a global race. Larden’s work will be there for all to see on Sunday.

“Unless you want to push the marathon out to somewhere where you don’t have all the icons, it’s just unavoidable,” Larden said. “Having the highest elevation profile doesn’t mean it’s the hardest. Steeper hills where you can’t keep a rhythm – and it’s a hard slog – are tougher than gradual hills.”

In paying homage to the 2000 Olympics marathon course, parts of the 2025 course will follow the original blue line that is still partially visible in Moore Park. Another feature of the design is that the course loops back on itself multiple times, which for some runners is a grievance but for others is a chance to see the front-runners.

Esteban Garcia will run his third Sydney Marathon, and first major, on Sunday. He began running marathons two years ago after his health, affected by ulcerative colitis, improved. He’s been part of the course’s trial runs.

“They tried to design this course, and they ended up just making it too long at Centennial Park, and everyone just complained,” he said. “They’ve been tweaking based on the feedback ... I think it makes it more world-class.”

Garcia also believes the views are worth the elevation.

“The first thing that comes to my mind is the view. I know I haven’t run all over the world and I know people have been to so many marathons, but I’ve watched the live races [of other major marathons]… the views are not as nice,” he said.