Sydney Marathon-2025

The TCS Sydney Marathon in…Sydney, Australia!

Sydney Marathon- Sunday, August 31, 2025

Haven’t done it yet but this will be my:

  • 21rst Marathon

  • 4rth Marathon of 2025

  • 4rth Abbott World Major Marathon

  • 1rst Marathon in the Southern Hemisphere

But apart from those reasons why run the Sydney Marathon?

The main reason? I got in! Entry for a world major marathon means registering for a lottery and getting lucky enough to be accepted in a random drawing.

There is a short window of time to register for each marathon, and I mark my calendar and enter many drawings throughout the year. For 2025 I was disappointed that I did not get picked for: Chicago, London, New York, and Berlin…but I got into Sydney!!

This is exciting because this is the inaugural year that the Sydney Marathon is considered an “Abbot World Major”. The Abbott World Majors are a collection of elite big city marathons that have hit a threshold of popularity, and status that attracts the most elite runners of the world…and the rest of us.

Since 2006 runners have been chasing the dream of capturing all Abbott World Majors. Originally five with Boston, Chicago, New York, London and Berlin, then Tokyo in 2013 made it six, and now this year Sydney makes seven.

How many world major “stars” have I collected? Three: New York, Chicago, and Berlin.

How many Abbott World majors have I completed? Seven: New York-three times, Chicago-four, and Berlin. This coming September I will have completed nine because after Sydney I’m running the Berlin Marathon again. I didn’t get into the lottery, but I got a race bib through an international tour package. Yay! But that’s a month away. I’m getting way ahead of myself.

I have to focus on Sydney…and hopefully cross the finish line.

Why run Sydney? Honestly? Because it’s crazy!

Years ago I visited Sydney for a project I was working on. My hotel was downtown and I got up each morning and ran past the Sydney Opera House and over the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the two main landmarks and icons of Sydney.

But that was twenty years ago! As a personal journey it will be exciting to go back and run the marathon and cross the finish line right in front of the Sydney Opera House. Back then I could not have thought or even believed that I would return twenty years later to run the Sydney Marathon. Again…feels just a bit crazy.


Preparations and travel

August 22, 2025

I’m not in Sydney yet. I fly out next Wednesday, lose a day and land early on Friday. I have most of Friday, all of Saturday, then Sunday is the Marathon. Monday I fly back early in the morning. Crazy.

I will spend 30 hours on the plane. I’ve already paid extra and chosen window seats…or should I have chosen aisle? Oh man…I don’t know…the nervousness and second guessing is already starting.

It’s been hot the past 6 weeks. Not insanely hot, but hot enough to make long runs tough. I have tried to get up early on weekends, but at the last hour of my run the temperature is definitely a challenge. I’ve been very consistent so I have acclimated, and I’m hoping this will give me a little advantage when I am experiencing Australian Winter…which will still only be in the upper 50s and low 60s.

Running Shoes. I bought a pair a few months back that I had in the box up until last week. I broke them out and started to break them in to make sure they were okay. So far they have been great. The ones I have been training with definitely lost their cushion. With my new shoes I feel very springy.

Final Prep. What am I doing these last few days leading up to the trip? Eating healthy, resting, recovering, taking vitamins, eating vegetables, stretching, and doing some cross training. Running miles in training is important, but I tend to shortchange myself on cross training, even just going on walks is really important.

Final Runs. The last two marathons I ran, I did a half marathon the weekend before. I don’t know if that was a good idea or not. I should do a healthy run this weekend, maybe just 9 miles. I don’t know. Overall I’m just very grateful that as of right now my legs and feel feel good. No injuries, or twinges or aches. No blisters or shin splints.

I did get a little sunburned last weekend, so even if it is overcast in Sydney, I’m going to make sure I put on sunblock that morning. It’s on the list, a very long list of things to bring. It’s crazy how long the list is. Everything from band-aids, to salt tablets, Insurance card/ID cards, fuel gels, earbuds, safety pins, tiny ziplock bags, and so on. I will admit some of it is just the nervousness and worry and it’s like holding onto a security blanket. but at the same time a little packet of Vaseline can be a lifesaver. So many lessons learned from the past trying to be applied to prevent some small thing that in a marathon can be a big thing.

And now I have to get to bed early so I can sleep well and get up early to beat the heat and do one of my final training runs.

Ronald Binion