The 2024 Sydney Marathon

The 2024 TCS Sydney Marathon ran on Sunday 15 September 2024, starting near North Sydney Oval and finishing at the Sydney Opera House forecourt - and here in Bondi we watched with more than the usual interest, because this was the race that clinched Sydney's place as the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major. I've cheered friends across that finish line, so here's my local's guide to the day and how you'd tackle it from this side of town.

Why the 2024 edition mattered

For years the Sydney Marathon was our city's best-kept running secret. The 2024 event was its final candidacy assessment for the Abbott World Marathon Majors - the elite club that includes Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Tokyo. It passed, with a record field crossing the line, and in November 2024 Sydney was officially confirmed as the seventh Major, the first ever in the southern hemisphere. If you ran it in 2024, you were part of that history.

Date

Sunday 15 September 2024

Start

Miller Street, North Sydney (near North Sydney Oval)

Finish

Sydney Opera House forecourt

Distance

42.195 km (full marathon)

Milestone

Confirmed as 7th Abbott World Marathon Major

The course, and why it's a stunner

This is one of the most scenic marathon routes I know. Runners leave North Sydney and cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the first few kilometres - closed to traffic, which almost never happens - with the harbour opening up on both sides. From there the course rolls through The Rocks and Circular Quay, out along the water past Pyrmont, and through the green calm of Centennial Park before the run home to the Opera House. It's a genuine highlight reel of Sydney, and that Bridge crossing at dawn is the moment everyone remembers.

• Sydney Harbour Bridge - the early, iconic crossing with harbour views
• The Rocks & Circular Quay - historic laneways and big early crowds
• Pyrmont waterfront - a calmer, breezy stretch beside the water
• Centennial Park - leafy green respite before the final push
• Sydney Opera House - the finish, with the sails as your backdrop

Doing it from Bondi - spectating and getting there

Bondi isn't on the marathon course, but it's an easy base, and race morning is early. The start is over on the north side of the harbour, and public transport is the only sensible way in - roads around the Bridge, the CBD and the finish close for hours. From the eastern beaches I'd catch a bus toward the city and connect to a train, and I always check the Transport for NSW trip planner the night before, because event-day timetables shift.

If you're spectating, Circular Quay and the Opera House forecourt are the spots I'd aim for - the early-race energy near the Quay, or the raw emotion of the finish by the sails. Get there early and bring layers for a cool September morning. When the medals are handed out, you've the perfect excuse to head back east and let the runners recover with a flat white and a swim at Bondi.

Whether you ran it, cheered it, or watched the Bridge crossing on the news, the 2024 Sydney Marathon was a landmark day - it turned a much-loved local race into a global one, and gave everyone from North Sydney to Bondi a reason to feel proud.