Top 10 Overseas Marathons ยท Ian
The Top 10 Overseas Marathons Korean Runners Love Most, Out of 3,000 Worldwide
We counted Korean runners at each race using official results and organizer data. No. 1 Tokyo had 732 Korean finishers in 2026, up 222 from a year earlier.
An economic impact report the Kobe Marathon posted on its official website in March 2026 contains a telling number. Of the 2,223 international runners in the 2025 race, the largest group by nationality came not from Taiwan or Hong Kong but from Korea: 567 runners on the start line, or 25.5 percent.
A year earlier, Korea's count in that same table was 81. That's exactly sevenfold.
You hear all the time that more Korean runners are racing abroad, but of the more than 3,000 marathons held outside Korea, only a handful publish entrant numbers by nationality. So we ranked these races by the number of Korean runners who ran the full marathon.
For most, we counted Korean finishers using the nationality field in the official results (country of residence for New York, flag icons for Honolulu); for Kobe, we used starters from the organizer's report, and for London, the count in the results list. Tokyo leads with 732, followed by Kobe, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Honolulu, London, and Boston.
Nos. 9 and 10 were picked on circumstantial evidence rather than numbers.
Osaka and Da Nang haven't published nationality figures for recent editions, but local sources singled out Korean runners. The Saipan Marathon also has an announcement from the island's tourism authority that 286 of its 772 participants in 2026 (about 37 percent) were Koreanโbut that figure doesn't separate events, and the race plays at a different scale from Osaka, whose general field alone is capped at 28,420, or Da Nang, where roughly 9,000 ran.
So we left it off this list. Six of the 10 races are Abbott World Marathon Majors (the Majors, from here on), and three are in Japan.
Among the Majors where growth can be measured, the steepest one-year jump came in London, which went from 70 Korean runners to 147.
1No. 1: Tokyo Marathon, 732 Korean Finishers in 2026
"Just one parkrun left: 5K." At 36K of the Tokyo Marathon on March 1, 2026, with cramps starting to set in, the runner behind the Momment channel spotted a sign by the side of the road. Momment was chasing the sub-3:30 that had slipped away at Jeju.
"Whenever we run out to Bulgwangcheon [a stream in Seoul] and back, it's 4 to 5K. Seeing that, I suddenly got this huge surge of energy, and I almost started crying." That day, 732 runners of Korean nationality crossed the finish line.
That was sixth among international finishers, behind the U.S. (4,242), Taiwan (1,456), the U.
K. (1,096), China (999), and Hong Kong (833), and it was up 44 percent from 510 in 2025. Race day happened to fall on March 1 Independence Movement Day, a Korean national holiday.
The day before, Sans had visited the memorial site of Korean independence activist Lee Bong-chang in Tokyo to lay chrysanthemums. After the finish, walking past the area where runners who had completed all six Majors collected their medals, Sans wondered aloud: "Is that how everyone feels once they finish all six Majors?" But the door to Tokyo 2027 (March 7) is all but closed.
The international lottery, the general lottery, and charity entries all wrapped up in September 2026. What's left are packages from the organizer's designated agency, Kinki Nippon Tourist, and its partner agenciesโentries made through any other travel agency will be voided. Momment broke 3:30 that day.
All it took was one sign that brought Bulgwangcheon to mind.
TOKYO MARATHON 2027Sun, March 7, 2027 ยท D-132 ยท Tokyo, JapanSee race details
Kobe, Japan
2No. 2: Kobe Marathon, Where 1 in 4 International Runners Is Korean
The gap to second-place Taiwan (562 runners, 25.3 percent) was five. Kobe is the only race in these rankings where Korea is confirmed as the top international country. The 2026 race takes place November 15, but international registration closed August 31, and if registration opens in mid-April again, as it did in 2026, the next international window will be in spring 2027.
At least three Korean YouTubers chose Kobe for their first marathon abroad: Sweatguy, Yanu, and Cheollini. Sweatguy marveled at the aid stations every 2.5Kโ"Japan's marathon infrastructure is so much better than Korea's"โand Yanu was caught off guard by a cup of fish cake broth just before the 38K marker: "Wait, what is this?" For Dr.
Indigo, it was a first marathon. The runner spent a year preparing on nights after finishing the day at the hospital, but the longest training run was 26K, and a hamstring injury during interval work meant barely any running for more than a month. From 33K, everything locked up.
When a small hill appears, the narration says: "Strangely, I was glad to see it. It gave me an excuse to walk." Past it stood a local residentโnot an official aid stationโholding a bottle of cola and paper cups.
Dr. Indigo crossed the finish line in 4:23, and that cola is a taste the runner will never forget.
KOBE MARATHON 2026Sun, November 15, 2026 ยท D-20 ยท Kobe, JapanSee race details
3No. 3: Berlin Marathon, 330 Korean Finishers in 2025
On September 21, 2025, it was already 23ยฐC (73ยฐF) in Berlin at 7 a.m. The runner behind KWONHWAWOON, who is out to run all seven Majors in under three hours, said before the start, "I came here to get away from the Korean summer, and somehow ran into summer all over again."
The finish came in 2:50:06, inside the sub-3 goal. That day's results list 336 runners with the country code KOR, 330 of whom finished. In Asia, that's second only to China (994) and ahead of Japan (321) and Hong Kong (306).
The 2027 race runs September 26 under a new name, the GENERALI BERLIN-MARATHON, and lottery entries are open through November 12, 2026. The โฌ215 entry fee is due only if you're selected. Dallyeora Juwon missed out in the Berlin lottery two years running before making it to the start line with help from a sponsor.
Others met that heat from the very last start wave. Oneuldo Ppaksiyeon, whose longest race until then had been a half marathon, made a marathon debut that day, which was also a first Major. Running with the Korean flag painted on the face drew shouts of "Let's go, South Korea!"
from locals along the course, and some even cheered in Korean. Cramps hit both calves from 25K, turning the rest into a run-walk, but Oneuldo Ppaksiyeon made it to the end and says at the close of the video: "I think it was the cheering that got me to the finish in one piece."
BMW BERLIN-MARATHONSun, September 26, 2027 ยท D-335 ยท Berlin, GermanySee race details
4No. 4: Chicago MarathonโNo. 1 for Crowds, Says a Runner With 4 Majors Done
Along with Berlin, Chicago is the other Major with entries open right now. Applications for the October 10, 2027, race close at 2 p.m.
CT on October 29โ4 a.m. KST on October 30โand results come out December 8.
In the 2025 results, 350 runners listed their citizenship as KOR, and 300 of them recorded a finish time. That's roughly 17th among countries outside the U.S.
โa small number next to Mexico (4,048) or the U.K. (2,657).
So why do Korean runners' videos score Chicago so generously? For Running Gorab Go Baeu, running a fourth Major, the answer was the crowds. "I've run four Majors, and so far Chicago's been the best.
The cheering along the course never lets up, start to finish." Run Juho, who had raced Berlin three weeks earlier, pointed to the weather: "Berlin was seriously hot, but Chicago is really nice to run." Seeing the race hand out ice after the finish, Run Juho was stunned: nothing like that had ever happened at a race back in Korea.
Hayoung Hi made a marathon debut here without ever having raced a half, getting to Chicago via Toronto after 13 hours in the air and a 12-hour layover, and at the shakeout run the day before, managed only 3.5K before walking. The next day, knees wrapped in tape and braces, Hayoung Hi left this message for the camera at 23K: "The longest I've ever run is a half, so I'm breaking my distance record in real time. It's hard, but it's going way better than I thought.
Maybe I'm built for this?"
Bank of America Chicago MarathonSun, October 10, 2027 ยท D-349 ยท Chicago, United StatesSee race details
5No. 5: New York City Marathon, Korean Finishers Up From 153 to 191 in a Year
"It's so loud I can't even hear myself talk. The cheering is so intense, it's unreal." On November 2, 2025, running New York as a sixth Major, 262wave held up the camera and could barely get the words out.
Back in the start village, the worry had been the coldโabout 2 hours, 40 minutes of holding out before the gun. After finishing in 2:37:06, the verdict was the same: "Today I figured out why New York means cheering. It's unreal."
As you'd expect from someone with several Majors done, 262wave gets specific about the course. Boston's Heartbreak Hill had seemed like the toughest climb, but nothing compared with the nearly 1.4-kilometer uphill that starts at 37K in New Yorkโand even with the Chuncheon Marathon a week earlier still in the legs, New York did more damage. At that point, 262wave had just one Major left: London, in April 2026.
That year, 191 finishers in New York's official results had the country code KOR, 38 more than the 153 in 2024. New York appears to list country of residence in its results, so Koreans living in the U.S.
were likely left out. The 2026 race is November 1 and registration has already closed; as of October 19, 2026, the 2027 drawing schedule hasn't been announced. If New York is your target, before you think about the crowds, pack clothes that can handle more than two hours of November morning wind before the start.
TCS New York City MarathonSun, November 1, 2026 ยท D-6 ยท New York City, United StatesSee race details
6No. 6: Honolulu Marathon, Korean Registrations Up 289% in 1 Year
"South Korea, we're up 289% from last year." That's what the Honolulu Marathon's race president said in September 2025 on Hawaiสปi Public Radio, describing that year's registrations. Three months later, at the December 14 race, 172 full-marathon finishers carried the Korean flagโbehind only Japan (6,664) and Canada (350), not counting the host U.
S. On the same day, another 168 Korean runners did the Start to Park 10K. Honolulu has no cutoff.
The 2026 race starts at 5 a.m. on December 13; the international entry fee is $320 through December 3, after which the only option is on-site registration at the expo ($460).
Of the races on this list, Honolulu is effectively the only one you can sign up for now and still run in 2026. Bobs Life and Metdwaeji Runner also ran their first marathons here. Bobs Life had hoped to finish under 4 hours, took 5 and a half, and cried after the finishโbut what stuck was less the time than the roadside, where people came out of house after house to hand out candy and juice.
"My first goal was this Honolulu marathon," Metdwaeji Runner admits, adding that the plan had been to come even if it meant walking, but once there, walking was the last thing the runner wanted. The once-injured hamstring flared up again from 12K, the hips started hurting past 30K, and at 34K, a discarded water bottle underfoot rolled an ankle too. Still, having vowed not to stop that day, Metdwaeji Runner fought off every urge to walk, all the way to the finish.
JAL Honolulu MarathonSun, December 13, 2026 ยท D-48 ยท Honolulu, United StatesSee race details
7No. 7: London Marathon, Where the Korean Count Doubled to 147 in a Year
If you're a Korean runner holding a 2027 London bib, there's something to check before you book flights: Is your start on Saturday or Sunday? The 2027 race is spread over two days, April 24 (Saturday) and April 25 (Sunday), with the elite men racing Saturday and the elite women Sunday. Mass participants are assigned a day through the ballot (lottery) and can't switch.
The general ballot has already closed, so the remaining routes in from overseas are official international tour operators and charity entries. In the 2026 results, 147 runners were listed with the nationality KOR, more than double the 70 in 2025. That still ranks only around 30th among countries outside the U.
K. One runner, who posted a solo trip report titled "Nonstop Cheering for the Full 42.195K," described London by comparing it with Berlin. "When I ran Berlin, there were quite a few spots where the cheering dropped off, but in London, people cheered for the whole 42.195 kilometers, except where it was physically impossible to stand."
The best moment was running across Tower Bridge. There were gripes, too: after the finish, they handed out drinks but no bread. "I trashed the JTBC Marathon for not giving out bread, so I guess I have to trash this one too."
While the runner waited for a bus, the driver passed everyone else, pulled up right in front, opened the door, and said, "Congratulations." The runner had come alone, but getting congratulated by everyone was heartwarming.
TCS London MarathonSat, April 24, 2027 ยท D-180 ยท London, United KingdomSee race details
8No. 8: Boston Marathon, Where Korean Finishers Actually Fell to 129
Boston's Korean finisher count actually went down: 150 in 2025, 129 in 2026. Most of the field gets in by beating qualifying standards set by age and gender, and for the 131st race in 2027 (April 19), applicants needed to be 5:17 faster than their standard. The qualifying time for ages 18 to 34 is 2:55 for men and 3:25 for women.
Of the applicants who fell outside that cutoff, about 1,000 were picked through a newly introduced random lottery. The running coach behind Yuchanghan Haru, who started the 130th race in 2026 from the very last wave, led with the crowds. "The cheering never stops, until you're worn out from being cheered.
But there's so much of it, it feels like running in a dream." On the course's reputation for being tough, the coach disagreed: there are more downhills after the climbs than you'd expect, so there are stretches to recover. Gear check drop-off and pickup took less than a minute, and from a distance, the medal's design looked like the Korean flag.
The parting words at the end of the video: "The Boston Marathonโseriously, highly recommend." If you're aiming for the 2028 race, the clock is already running. The qualifying window for that race opened September 19, 2026, so any marathon you run from now on could be the time that gets you in.
Boston MarathonMon, April 19, 2027 ยท D-175 ยท Boston, United StatesSee race details
Osaka, Japan
9No. 9: Osaka MarathonโNo Official Numbers, but on the Ground, "There Were a Lot of Korean Runners"
The most recent nationality data the Osaka Marathon has made public is from the 9th edition, in 2019. That year, 634 Koreans entered and 199 actually started, behind Hong Kong (1,510), Taiwan (1,223), Thailand (743), and China (308). The 2026 results don't break out nationality either.
International applications for the 2027 race (February 28) were accepted only online through JTB Sports Station, and the general lottery closed in September. What does exist is a Kansai University survey report on the 2025 race, which includes one volunteer's answer: "ไพๅนดใใใฏ้ๅฝใฎใฉใณใใผใๅคใใฃใใงใใญ" ("There were more Korean runners than in a typical year"). HelloGOMc, back for a second straight year at the February 22, 2026, race, saw the same thing.
"There were so many Koreans. Even more than last year." HelloGOMc added a guess: there's a quota for international runners, and since it's hard to get there from Europe or the U.
S., maybe Koreans apply in big numbers and get picked in big numbers. Calling it lucky to be able to hop over to such a good race so close by, HelloGOMc strongly recommended itโeven for a first marathon.
Run Daddy, there with his family, realized right before the start that he'd left his bib at the hotel. His wife found it, skipped breakfast, and ran down to hand it over. "We're so happy to see each other, there are tears.
Seriously." The whole race, he kept comparing it with races in Korea: toilet lines that zigzag like at an amusement park, aid-station cups stacked 3 tiers high. "Why can't we do this in Korea?"
Cramps from 38.5K cost him his goal time, but he wrapped the video by calling it a race with nothing to fault and saying he wants to come back next year.
Osaka Marathon 2027Sun, February 28, 2027 ยท D-125 ยท Osaka, JapanSee race details
10No. 10: Da Nang International Marathon, Where the Official Announcement Named Korea Right After Vietnam
Then there's the runner who raced a half marathon in a layover city and flew home that same night. LIMPURSER, who posted a video titled "The Last Marathon of a Flight Attendant Who Runs on Layovers," ran the half while working a flight to Da Nang in March 2026. A junior colleague who'd flown to Da Nang two days earlier picked up the bib on LIMPURSER's behalf.
The flight landed at 12:46 a.m. local time and the half started at 4:30 a.
m., which meant leaving the hotel around 3โso there was almost no time to rest. On the course, LIMPURSER passed a runner wearing a hanbok, traditional Korean dress.
Having made this half the last road race for a while, LIMPURSER boarded the flight back to Korea that night. Da Nang's official city tourism website, reporting on that year's opening ceremony, listed the countries with the most participants like this: Vietnam, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia. It gave no numbers, and it wasn't a ranked table, so it can't be nailed down as a ranking.
Still, among runners from 75 countries, Korea was the first name called after the host nation. The 2027 race is March 21, with the full marathon starting at 3 a.m.
Register after December 15, 2026, and you won't get a bib with your name printed on it, and you'll start in the last wave. Bibs are handed out only on March 19โ20, not on race morning. For a race that starts at 3 a.
m., race day really begins two days earlier.
Danang International MarathonSun, March 21, 2027 ยท D-146 ยท Da Nang, VietnamSee race details
Editor's pick
If it's your first marathon abroad, go with Kobe or Osaka. Kobe has aid stations every 2.5K, Osaka stacks its cups 3 tiers high, and both have a 7-hour cutoff, so neither will rush you through your first 42 kilometers. As HelloGOMc puts it, both are good races close to Korea.
But if both stick to their 2026 schedules, the next registration windows won't open until 2027, so for now all you can do is mark the dates. If you're collecting Majors stars, put your name in for both the Berlin and Chicago lotteries. Both charge the entry fee only after you're selected, so entering costs nothing.
If you're worried about your time, Honoluluโwith no cutoff at allโis the right fit, and it's also the one race here where you can still toe the line in 2026. Tokyo is No. 1 by the numbers, but for 2027 the only way in is an official travel agency package.
So if you're picking just one, make it Kobe. Of these 10 races, it's the only one where one in four international runners is Korean.
The deadlines come in this order: Chicago's application closes at 4 a.m.
KST on October 30, Berlin's lottery on November 12, Honolulu's online registration on December 3, and Da Nang's name-printed bibs on December 15. If Kobe and Osaka follow their 2026 schedules, their next windows open in spring and summer 2027.
Entry period ยท Accommodation
| Races | Itinerary | Entry period | INFO. |
|---|---|---|---|
| TOKYO MARATHON 2027 | Sun, March 7, 2027 | Fri, August 14, 2026 ~ Fri, August 28, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| KOBE MARATHON 2026 | Sun, November 15, 2026 | Fri, April 17, 2026 ~ Mon, June 1, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| BMW BERLIN-MARATHON | Sun, September 26, 2027 | Thu, October 1, 2026 ~ Thu, November 12, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| Bank of America Chicago Marathon | Sun, October 10, 2027 | Thu, October 8, 2026 ~ Thu, October 29, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| TCS New York City Marathon | Sun, November 1, 2026 | Wed, February 4, 2026 ~ Wed, February 25, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| JAL Honolulu Marathon | Sun, December 13, 2026 | Fri, May 22, 2026 ~ Thu, December 3, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| TCS London Marathon | Sat, April 24, 2027 | Fri, April 24, 2026 ~ Fri, May 1, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| Boston Marathon | Mon, April 19, 2027 | Mon, September 14, 2026 ~ Fri, September 18, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| Osaka Marathon 2027 | Sun, February 28, 2027 | Tue, July 28, 2026 ~ Fri, August 28, 2026 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
| Danang International Marathon | Sun, March 21, 2027 | Wed, July 8, 2026 ~ Sun, January 31, 2027 | Accommodation ยท See race details |
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