This list of the largest running events in the world is based on the number of participants. If available, the number of "registered" participants or finishers may be specified. Not all participants will actually complete a race. Running USA's Road Running Information Center estimates that, on average, 80%-85% of registrants will complete a race.[1] If a yearly event has consistently high participation, the year in which that event had the largest number of participants has been listed.
With 110,000 participants, the Bay to Breakers race held on May 18, 1986, in San Francisco, California was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest footrace.[2] On October 10, 2010, 116,086 out of 160,000 registered runners in Manila were reported to have finished a run entitled "10.10.10 A Run for the Pasig River".[3] An official for the ABS-CBN Foundation said that documentation of the event was being forwarded to Guinness World Records.[3] The Guinness World Records certified Run for the Pasig River as having the most participants in a racing event on December 26, 2010.
On 6 August 2023, Kalaignar Centenary Marathon which was held at Chennai, India is officially recognized and approved by Guinness World Records having 65,762 people taking part and considered as the Largest Running Race Series held in the world.[4]
Since 2014 the Wings for Life World Run is the largest run, though not confirmed by Guinness World Records.[5] [6]
parkrun, a series of weekly 5 km events held on Saturday mornings in 22 countries around the world, has for some time been the largest running event in the world. On a regular Saturday, around 300,000 people take part across nearly 2000 events. The highest ever attendance was on 11 January 2020 where 369,213 people took part across the 1635 events taking place that day.
The largest fun run overall is city2surf on August 11th 2024 won by Samuel Joseph Weaver running for kids with cancer
Position | Race name | Location | Country | Date | Distances | Participation | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Global | Global | 11 Jan 2020 | 5 km | 369,213[7] | |||
2 | Wings for Life World Run | Global | Global | 4 May 2024 | set own goal | 265,818 | ||
3 | A Run for the Pasig River | Manila | Philippines | 10 October 2010 | 10 km, 5 km, 3 km | 116,086 | ||
4 | Bay to Breakers | San Francisco, California | United States | 18 May 1986 | 12 km | 110,000 | ||
5 | Cursa El Corte Ingles | Barcelona | Spain | 5 June 1994 | 11 km | 109,457[8] | ||
6 | Royal Run | Copenhagen/Frederiksberg, Aarhus, Fredericia, Brønderslev and Kalundborg | Denmark | 20 May 2024 | 10 km, 5 km, 1 mile | 95,330[9] | ||
7 | Broloppet/Broløbet | Malmö / Copenhagen | Sweden / Denmark | 12 June 2000 | Half-Marathon | 92,266, 79,837[10] | ||
8 | City2Surf | Sydney | Australia | 9 August 2020 | 14 km | 86,696, 68,930[11] | ||
9 | Dam tot Damloop | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 20 September 2009 | 10 miles, 4 miles and kids runs | 74,020 | ||
10 | Kalaignar Memorial International Marathon | Chennai | India | 6 August 2023 | Marathon, half-marathon, 10 km, 5 km | 73,206[12] [13] | ||
11 | Hong Kong Marathon | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 15 January 2015 | Marathon, half-marathon, 10 km, 10 km wheelchair race, 3 km wheelchair race | 73,070[14] | ||
12 | Round the Bays | Auckland | New Zealand | 10 March 2013 | 8.4 km | 70,000[15] | ||
13 | JPMorgan Corporate Challenge | Frankfurt | Germany | 7 June 2018 | 5.6 km | 64,377 | ||
14 | Lilac Bloomsday Run | Spokane, Washington | United States | 5 May 1996 | 12 km | 61,298[16] | ||
15 | United We Run | Beirut | Lebanon | 10 April 2005 | 5 km, | 60,000[17] | ||
16 | Vancouver Sun Run | Vancouver, British Columbia | Canada | 15 April 2012 | 10 km | 89,000,[18] 44,167[19] | ||
17 | Holmenkollstafetten | Oslo | Norway | 4 May 2024 | 18,8 km | 72,000[20] | ||
18 | Göteborgsvarvet | Gothenburg | Sweden | 21 May 2011 | Half-Marathon | 59,417[21] | ||
19 | Peachtree Road Race | Atlanta, Georgia | United States | 4 July 2008 | 10 km | 58,000,[22] 54,954 | ||
20 | Panipat Pinkathon | Panipat, Haryana | India | 8 March 2019 | 21 km, 10 km, 5 km or 3 km run/walk | 55,498[23] [24] | ||
21 | Great North Run | Newcastle, England | United Kingdom | 26 September 2004/ 19 September 2010 | Half-Marathon | 54,500[25] | ||
22 | Bolder Boulder | Boulder, Colorado | United States | 26 May 2008 | 10 km | 54,040[26] | ||
23 | Course de l'Escalade | Geneva | Switzerland | 2-3 December 2023 | 20.5 km, 7.3 km, 4.8 km, 9 km walk and kids runs | 53,800[27] | ||
24 | New York City Marathon | New York City | United States | 4 November 2018 | Marathon | 53,121, 52,812[28] | ||
25 | City to Surf | Perth | Australia | 25 August 2013 | Marathon, Half-Marathon, 12 km, 4 km and Regional Series (Karratha, Geraldton, Albany and Busselton) | 50,756[29] | ||
26 | London Marathon | London, England | United Kingdom | 2 October 2022 | Marathon | 50,097[30] | ||
27 | Carrera Día Olímpico 5k Olympic Day Run 5K | Medellín | Colombia | 23 June 2013 | 5 km | 50,000[31] | Carrera día olimpico, 24 June 2013.[32] | |
28 | Kabaka Birthday Run | Kampala | Uganda | 7 April 2019 | 21 km, 10 km, 5 km | 50,000[33] [34] | ||
29 | Paris Marathon | Paris | France | 14 April 2019 | Marathon | 49,155[35] | ||
30 | Grete Waitz-løpet | Oslo | Norway | 4 May 1996 | 5 km | 48,461[36] | ||
31 | Ottawa Race Weekend | Ottawa, Ontario | Canada | 23/24 May 2014 | Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 10K, 5K, 2K, Kids Run | 47,387[37] | ||
32 | Bogotá Half Marathon | Bogotá, Cundinamarca | Colombia | 1 August 2010 | Half-Marathon, 10 km | 44,186[38] | ||
33 | Lidingöloppet | Lidingö, Stockholm | Sweden | 24 September 2011 | Cross country, 30 km | 43,230[39] | ||
34 | Monument Avenue 10K | Richmond, Virginia | United States | 2 April 2011 | 10 km | 43,214[40] | ||
35 | Vienna City Marathon | Vienna | Austria | 12 April 2015 | Marathon | 42,657[41] | date=April 2015 | |
36 | San Silvestre Vallecana | Madrid | Spain | 31 December 2018 | 10 km | 42,500[42] | ||
37 | BUPA Great Manchester Run | Manchester, England | United Kingdom | 18 May 2014 | 10 km | 41,300[43] | ||
38 | Women's Mini Marathon (10k) | Dublin | Ireland | 2 June 2014 | 10 km | 41,006[44] | ||
39 | Mumbai Marathon | Mumbai, Maharashtra | India | 20 January 2013 | Marathon, Half-Marathon, Dream Run(6 km), Senior Citizens Race (4.3 km), Champions with Disability category (2.4 km) | 40,000 | ||
40 | Deejay Ten | Milano | Italy | 14 October 2018 | 10 km, 5 km | 40,000[45] | ||
41 | Jerusalem Marathon | Jerusalem | Israel | 15 March 2019 | Marathon | 40,000[46] | ||
42 | Broad Street Run | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | United States | 5 May 2013 | 10 miles | 38,144[47] | ||
43 | Chicago Marathon | Chicago, Illinois | United States | 7 October 2012 | Marathon | 37,455[48] | ||
44 | Boston Marathon | Boston, Massachusetts | United States | 15 April 1996 | Marathon | 35,868[49] | ||
45 | Berlin Marathon | Berlin, | Germany | 16 September 2018 | Marathon | 44,000[50] | ||
46 | Baloise Antwerp 10 miles | Antwerp | Belgium | 23 April 2023 | 10 miles | 37,500[51] | ||
47 | 20 km of Brussels | Brussels | Belgium | 28 May 2023 | 20 km | 36,692[52] | ||
48 | Sydney Running Festival | Sydney | Australia | 18 September 2011 | Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10 km, 3.5 km | 35,033[53] | ||
49 | OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon | Indianapolis, Indiana | United States | 4 May 2008 | Half-Marathon | 35,000[54] | ||
50 | Great Ethiopia Run | Addis Ababa | Ethiopia | November 2010 | 10k | 35,000[55] | ||
51 | Athens Classic Marathon | Athens, Attica | Greece | 9 November 2014 | Marathon, 10k, 5k | 35,000[56] | ||
52 | Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle | Chicago, Illinois | United States | March 25, 2012 | 8k | 34,369[57] | ||
53 | Bridge to Brisbane | Brisbane | Australia | 11 September 2011 | 10 km, 5 km | 42,546, 34,146[58] | ||
54 | HBF Run for a Reason | Perth, Western Australia, Australia | Australia | 22 May 2016 | 4 km, 12 km and 21 km | 33,744[59] | ||
55 | Cooper River Bridge Run | Charleston, South Carolina | United States | 27 March 2010 | 10 km | 33,000[60] | ||
56 | Grand Prix von Bern | Bern | Switzerland | 10 May 2014 | 10 miles, 4.7 km, 1.6 km | 32,116[61] | ||
57 | Philadelphia Marathon | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | United States | 17 November 2013 | Marathon, Half-Marathon, 8K | 31,471[62] | ||
58 | Zevenheuvelenloop | Nijmegen | Netherlands | 16 November 2014 | 15 km, 7 km | 31,307[63] | ||
59 | Run to Feed the Hungry | Sacramento, California | United States | 23 November 2023 | 5 km, 10 km | 31,285[64] | ||
60 | Amsterdam Marathon | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 19 October 2014 | Marathon, Half-Marathon, 8K | 31,197[65] | ||
61 | Tokyo International Marathon | Tokyo | Japan | 28 February 2010 | Marathon | 30,170[66] | ||
62 | Saint Silvester Road Race | São Paulo | Brazil | 31 December 2018 | 15 km | 30,000[67] [68] | ||
63 | City-Bay | Adelaide | Australia | 18 September 2011 | 12 km, 6 km | 29,715[69] | ||
64 | JPMorgan Corporate Challenge | Chicago | United States | 23 May 2019 | 5.6 km | 28,418 | ||
65 | Pat's Run | Tempe, Arizona | United States | 18 April 2020 | 4.2 Miles | 28,000[70] | ||
66 | Honolulu Marathon | Honolulu, Hawaii | United States | 8 December 2002 | Marathon | 26,382[71] | ||
67 | CPC Loop Den Haag | The Hague | Netherlands | 8 March 2015 | Half-Marathon, 10K, 5k | 25,425[72] | ||
68 | Gold Coast Marathon | Gold Coast | Australia | 2 July 2017 | Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10k, 5.7k, 4k, 2k | 24,909[73] | ||
69 | Great South Run | Portsmouth, | United Kingdom | 30 October 2011 | 10 miles | 24,000[74] | ||
70 | Marine Corps Marathon | Washington, D.C. | United States | 28 October 2012 | Marathon | 23,519[75] | ||
71 | La Parisienne | Paris | France | 9 September 2012 | 6.5 km | 23,510[76] | ||
72 | Rotterdam Marathon | Rotterdam, | Netherlands | 12 April 2015 | Marathon, 1/4 Marathon | 23,403[77] | ||
73 | Los Angeles Marathon | Los Angeles, California | United States | 8 March 2020 | Marathon | 28,300 | ||
74 | Clean Thagadur Marathon-5K | Dharmapuri, Tamilnadu | India | 6 January 2019 | 5K | 21,222[78] | ||
75 | Seoul International Marathon | Seoul | South Korea | 13 March 2005 | Marathon | 21,067[79] | ||
76 | Naha Marathon | Naha | Japan | 6 December 2009 | Marathon | 20,860 | ||
77 | New York City Half Marathon | New York City, New York | United States | 16 March 2014 | Half Marathon | 20,828[80] | ||
78 | Cardiff Half Marathon | Cardiff, Wales | United Kingdom | 6 October 2019 | Half Marathon | 20,309[81] | ||
79 | Bix 7 | Davenport, Iowa | United States | 21 June 1999 | 7 miles | 20,117[82] | ||
80 | Comrades Marathon | KwaZulu-Natal Province | South Africa | 16 June 2000 | 87.6 km | 20,047[83] |