World Marathon Rankings - Methodology

The Sub-3 World Marathon Rankings are the only global performance tables focused exclusively on sub-3-hour marathon performances. Built from verified 2025 results, these rankings are designed to show where fast amateur running is actually happening — not just where the big names or mass participation events are.

Sub-3 remains one of the clearest and most respected benchmarks in amateur distance running. These rankings aim to help serious runners identify the courses and conditions most likely to support that goal, and to offer a consistent, evidence-based view of competitiveness across the global marathon calendar.

Whether you’re looking for a breakthrough race or simply curious about where others are running fast, this project is built to inform, not impress — and we’re improving it all the time.

What Makes a Marathon Eligible?

Only officially measured and certified road marathons (42.195km) are included in the rankings.

Each race must:

• Take place in 2025, with verified official results
• Be open to the general public (directly or via qualifying times)
• Have at least 1,000 official finishers
• Include at least one sub-3-hour performance

We exclude elite-only races, invitation-only events, trail marathons, relays, ultras, and novelty formats. This ensures that all rankings reflect open, competitive opportunities for serious amateur runners.

We include only marathons with 1,000 or more finishers in our core rankings. This reflects both resource considerations and a belief that races of this scale make the most sense for sub-3 aspirants. These runners typically structure months of focused training and often invest heavily in travel and accommodation. Larger events offer reliable organisation, accurate timing and pacing support, all of which matter when chasing a specific time goal. While there are excellent smaller races, their data is often less stable and harder to compare. We may highlight some in future editions and welcome suggestions. For now our focus is on the bigger, more established events that represent a meaningful commitment for serious runners.

All sub-3 times are based on official chip time (net time) rather than gun time, wherever this data is available. This ensures consistency and reflects the standard used by most serious amateur runners and race organisers.

How the Rankings Are Calculated

Each marathon is scored using a three-part formula, grouped into clear performance pillars:

🧭 Depth (45%)

The proportion of finishers who run under 3 hours.
This captures how competitive the field is relative to the size of the event.

📈 Scale (45%)

The absolute number of sub-3 finishers.
This rewards events that attract or produce large volumes of fast performances.

🏁 Speed (10%)

The fastest winning time.
This adds a small bonus for overall course speed and race-day conditions.

This scoring system allows both large and small events to rank highly — provided they deliver on sub-3 performance. All rankings are gender-agnostic and based on total verified sub-3-hour finishers, regardless of sex.

How the Data Is Presented

We use performance bands to group marathon statistics. This makes comparisons easier across races of different sizes and conditions.

✅ % of Finishers Under 3 Hours

• <0.5%
• 0.5–1%
• 1–2%
• 2–5%
• 5–10%
• 10–15%
• 15%+

✅ Number of Sub-3 Finishers

• <10
• 10–49
• 50–99
• 100–499
• 500–999
• 1000–1999
• 2000+

✅ Total Finishers

• 1,000–3,000
• 3,000–10,000
• 10,000–20,000
• 20,000–30,000
• 30,000–40,000
• 40,000+

Each race profile also includes the winning time and a short factual summary of the course and 2025 conditions, where known.

Monthly Editions

Rankings are published monthly and include:

• A Top 10 list of the strongest sub-3 marathons that month
• A full rankings table of all eligible events
• Short profiles of each marathon, including course layout, conditions and banded performance data
• Links to marathon-specific pages within the Sub-3 site

This monthly rhythm allows runners to see how the global picture of sub-3 performance changes throughout the year - and which races are consistently delivering fast results.

Annual Edition

In December 2025, Sub-3 will publish the full World Marathon Rankings – 2026 Edition, summarising all verified results from the calendar year. This will include:

• The Global Top 100 marathons
• Regional and country-specific highlights
• Themed rankings (e.g. highest sub-3 percentage, strongest small-field races)

We are also reaching out to race organisers to help verify official data for this annual edition, where possible. While responses may vary, we’ll continue to base all rankings on publicly available results, with accuracy and consistency as top priorities.

An Evolving Project

This is the first year of the Sub-3 World Marathon Rankings. Like any serious sub-3 attempt, it’s built on a foundation of discipline, data and a willingness to improve over time.

We’ve made every effort to ensure that the rankings are consistent, fair and based on verified results. But we also recognise that the sub-3 community is wide and knowledgeable — and we’re open to your insight.

Over time, we may refine the methodology, add new features, or explore additional indicators — based on feedback, data availability and what serves runners best.

Get In Touch

If you’ve spotted a potential error, have additional race data to share, or would like to suggest a marathon for inclusion, we’d love to hear from you.

📩 Email: contact@sub3-marathon.com

Your input helps us build a better resource for runners everywhere — and makes the rankings stronger for everyone.