Marathon season within the United Acknowledged performs host to greater than 1,000 races annually as the nice and the nice get their sneakers on to cross the 26.2-mile end line. However whereas well-known places like Boston and New York are sometimes prime of an athletes listing of locations to take part, a brand new research has crunched its personal knowledge to provide you with the very best listing.
Regardless of your degree of marathon experience, whether or not lacing up for the primary time or trying to smash an existing PR, evidently some cities are simply higher arrange for marathon racing. That’s why SIXT, a leading vehicular rental firm checked out every thing from the variety of native run golf equipment and sportswear shops by to which programs provide the very best end instances.
SIXT explains that its methodology made use of MarathonGuide.com to determine the U.S. cities that can host marathons in 2025, together with their common end instances. To judge race-day facilities, they used Google to seek out the variety of 4.5-star (user-reviewed) lodges, along with the variety of operating golf equipment and meetups in every metropolis. Moreover, the research authors used Yelp to find out the variety of sportswear shops and native points of interest. Right here’s how the highest 3 marathon places panned out.
1) Ocala, Florida
“Ocala tops the listing as the last word marathon host metropolis, boasting seven marathons in 2025—greater than every other metropolis we analyzed,” concluded the report. In line with the researchers, Ocala gives a relaxed tempo with a mean end time of 6 hours and 53 minutes, that means that it’s a super selection for newbies. Location clever, there’s additionally lots to do in your downtime, from kayaking with manatees in Silver Springs to exploring the town’s scenic trails or enjoyable in Sholom Park.
2) Las Vegas, Nevada
“With six marathons scheduled for 2025, 65 native sportswear shops, and 240 points of interest, runners and spectators alike will discover lots to get pleasure from,” say the consultants. With the common operating time for a Vegas marathon clocking in at a gentle 5 hours, and an unbelievable end line that sees the volcano on the Mirage resort erupt as runners full their run, what’s to not love right here?
3) New York Metropolis, New York
“Though New York ranks third on our listing, its marathon is likely one of the most iconic on this planet,” explains the report. “Whereas the town hosts only one marathon in 2025, its race-day vitality is unmatched.”
There are 35 native operating golf equipment and 171 sportswear shops within the space too, that means that runners have loads of prospects on the subject of enhancing their efficiency on the pavement. Vacationers from far and large can even discover top-tier lodging in New York Metropolis, with 131 extremely rated lodges within the space. Because of its enduring recognition, New York is understood for its aggressive nature and so this marathon has a mean end time of 4 hours and 31 minutes, making it superb for skilled runners. Members additionally get to race by all 5 boroughs earlier than crossing the end line and celebrating in Central Park.
So, whether or not you want to discover a brand new marathon for its native points of interest or discover a course that most closely fits your end time, there are a whole bunch of potential locations to discover. SIXT ranked a whole bunch of places in its full report, naming Winter Park, Florida as fourth, Oakland, California as fifth, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin as sixth.
