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Which of the Abbott World Marathon Majors Has the Best Weather?

A historical comparison of temperature, dew point, and wind speeds

Brian Rock
Runner's Life
9 min readDec 21, 2024

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DanHuddleston, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

With participation at marathons surging, there’s no shortage of interest in the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

Berlin and New York City set records for the size of their fields, and the Boston qualifying field is shaping up to be another big one. Since Sydney joined the Majors, it has jumped in size as well, and organizers expect that to continue to grow at a rapid rate.

I’ve been working on a series comparing these seven races — New York City, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, London, Tokyo, and Sydney. So far, we’ve looked at the gender distribution and which race had the oldest (or youngest) runners.

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Comparing the World Marathon Majors

5 stories

This week, we’re going to look at the weather.

The weather can make or break a race, and it’s probably the single greatest race day variable that can…

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Runner's Life
Runner's Life

Published in Runner's Life

Runner's Life is a publication for advice and stories from the intersection of running and life. By runners, for runners.

Brian Rock
Brian Rock

Written by Brian Rock

I'm an avid runner, focusing on longer distances like the marathon. I also enjoy being out on the trails, walking my dog, and making beer. And I'm a data nerd.

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