Completing a marathon is the holy grail of many amateur runners, and winning one or more is the goal of some of the top professional runners in the world. And 2023 is a good year for achieving this, with a huge number of marathons and running festivals being organised. Here’s our quick guide to the best, month by month. For award-winning footwear, choose Tarkine running shoes.
February
February is a bit short on marathons as well as days, with only the Hong Kong Marathon taking place on 12 February 2023.
March
March’s marathons kick off in Asia with the Tokyo Marathon on the 5 March 2023. Then it’s around to the other side of the world to pound the ancient streets of Rome in the Run Rome Marathon to be held on the19 March 2023.
April
Things hot up on the marathon circuit in April. There are two famous races taking place in the UK, where running and marathons are extremely popular, and an essential part of the culture, like betting on the horses and playing online slots. These are the London Marathon on the 23 April, and the Belfast City Marathon on the 30 April.
There’s also a UK connection to the Sierra Leone Marathon on the 26 April through its organisers, the registered charity Street Child UK. The British connection to the Boston Marathon on 17 April is more historical and revolves around the nation’s favourite beverage.
May
If you fancy a bit of globe-trotting, you can head over to Melbourne, Australia for lungfuls of sea air at the Great Ocean Road Running Festival, held between the 20-21 of May. Then it’s back on the red eye to be in time for the hilly Edinburgh Marathon on the 28 May.
June
There are two “night” runs in the colder regions of the world, the Icefjord Midnight Marathon in Ilulissat, Greenland on the 3 June, and the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromsø, Norway, on the 17 June.
And for those who like it hotter, we’ve got the 5th KLM Aruba Marathon in the Caribbean on the 4 June, and the Comrades Marathon, an 89km ultra-marathon from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on the 11 June.
June
If you’ve recovered from that sufficiently by the 17 June, you can take part in the Big Five Marathon, also in South Africa.
July
Uluru, Austral, hosts the Australian Outback Marathon on 29 July.
August
The Manulife Danang International Marathon on the 6th, in Bien Dong Park, Danang City, Vietnam and the Iceland Volcano Marathon on the 12th near Lake Mývatn, Iceland, are all that’s on the menu for August.
September
After a quiet August, September gets busy with the following races all taking place:
Petra Desert Marathon, Petra, Jordan, and Médoc Marathon, the vineyards of the Médoc in the Gironde, France, on the 2nd
The Sydney Marathon and Running Festival, Sydney, Australia, on the 17th and the Berlin Marathon on the 24th.
October
October is the busiest of all months for marathon runners, with the following taking place;
Loch Ness Marathon, Loch Ness, Scotland, on the 1st
Kosice Peace Marathon, Kosice, Slovakia, on the 1st
Chicago Marathon, Chicago, USA, on the 8th
Venice Marathon, Venice, Italy, on the 22nd
Dublin Marathon, Dublin, Ireland, on 29 October
November and December
The last two months of the year continue the self-explanatory named races with the New York City Marathon on 5 November, the Athens Marathon, exact date TBD, and the Honolulu Marathon on 10 December, finishing off the year.
