This week on The Marathon Handbook Podcast, Michael Doyle, Alex Cyr, and Katelyn Tocci break down the newest World Marathon Major: the Sydney Marathon (00:00). We cover the hilly course and its reputation as possibly the toughest major (06:55), the race’s rapid rise to global status (13:00), and whether adding more majors—like Cape Town or Shanghai—helps or hurts the brand (19:00).

Then, we preview the elite fields: Kipchoge at 40 and what a win or loss would mean for his legacy (53:30), and Olympic champion Sifan Hassan’s dominance and challengers (45:00). Finally, we rank the majors from best to least best in our 2025 power rankings (1:08:00).

This episode is sponsored by Skratch Labs. For a free starter pack (just pay for the shipping!) go to skratchlabs.com and enter the promo code: MARATHONBUNDLE

📩 Email us your questions: podcast@marathonhandbook.com

🎤 Leave us a voice memo question: marathonhandbook.com/podcast

📸 Instagram: @marathon.handbook

📘 Facebook: @marathonhandbook

📰 Daily newsletter (265k+ runners): marathonhandbook.com/newsletter

📺 Watch the podcast on YouTube + video version also available on Spotify.

#SydneyMarathon #WorldMarathonMajors #EliudKipchoge #SifanHassan #MarathonHandbook #MarathonPreview