Seoul Marathon ranks world's fourth-best marathon

The 2026 Seoul Marathon, South Korea's only World Athletics Platinum Label event, has been recognized as the world's fourth-ranked marathon in World Athletics' performance rankings for the first half of the year.

The Seoul Marathon organizing committee announced Saturday that the race finished fourth in the marathon category with an overall score of 10,016 in World Athletics' official event rankings. The London Marathon led the standings with 11,307 points, followed by the Tokyo Marathon with 10,497 and the Boston Marathon with 10,185.

World Athletics compiles its rankings using three measures: the quality of the field, based on the world rankings of participating athletes; race performances, based on officially ratified times recorded by elite runners; and bonus points awarded for world records.

Race performance accounts for the largest share of the overall score. Points are awarded based on the finishing times of the top five men and top five women, with faster races earning higher marks. As a result, events such as London, famous for its fast, flat course, and Boston, whose route features extended downhill sections, have traditionally enjoyed an advantage.

Seoul, however, outscored Boston in that category this year, earning 9,811 points to Boston's 9,800. The organizing committee said the result underscores the quality of the Seoul course and its ability to produce world-class performances.

This year's race offered plenty of evidence. Six runners in the elite men's field remained in contention while maintaining a sub-2:05 pace, setting up a thrilling finish. Ethiopia's Hailu Teklu Assefa, 26, successfully defended his title in a course-record 2:04:22, the fastest marathon ever run in South Korea. Fellow Ethiopian Getaneh Molla Tamire, 32, followed just one second later. In the women's race, Ethiopia's Haben Hailu Desse, 28, captured the title in 2:19:09, adding another elite performance to the day's results.

"The World Athletics rankings show that the Seoul Marathon has become a top-tier international event attracting the world's leading runners and marathon enthusiasts," the organizing committee said. "Building on this achievement, we will continue working to establish the Seoul Marathon as one of the world's premier marathon races."