Sydney Marathon 2025 LIVE updates: Olympic champions Kipchoge and Hassan headline world’s seventh major

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6.40am

Who is Sifan Hassan?

Sifan Hassan ditched the World Athletics Championships for the first time in 15 years so she could be here to try her shot at winning the first-ever major Sydney Marathon.

The 32-year-old is a three-time Olympic gold medallist she became the first woman to claim a historic treble in the marathon, 10000m and 5000m.

Sifan Hassan during a press call at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday.

At the pre-race press conference on Thursday, Hissan said choosing not to compete in the world championships was a difficult decision to make.

“It was so hard, this decision – since 2015 I have never skipped any world championships. And it is also in Tokyo, and I have great memories of there, after becoming Olympic champion,” she said.

“But I really want to be part of the Sydney marathon because it is a first major marathon. Who doesn’t want to be part of that? I really wanted to be part of this because of, also, the history of having hosted the 2000 Games, an Olympic city. It was a very hard decision – but this was more exciting.”

She’s now made it to the Harbour Bridge alongside the other race leaders.

If you’d like to read more on Hissan, click here for Iain Payten’s profile of arguably the greatest female athlete alive.

6.33am

Elite runners breach the starting line

This could be the fastest marathon ever run on Australian soil as a loaded starting line features some of the greatest athletes in history.

Here to reclaim her 2024 Sydney Marathon title is Ethiopia’s Wokenesh Edesa. Hoping to stop her from doing that is two-time London and Tokyo Marathon winner Brigid Kosegei and arguably the greatest elite female long-distance runner of all time, Sifan Hassan.

In the men’s event, Kipchoge is in good company with Birhanu Legese and Hailemaryam Kiros, both from Ethiopia.

For Australia Leanne Pompeani, Jessica Stenson and Lisa Weightman lead the line, as do Brett Robinson, Tom de Canto and Sam Clifford for the men’s.

Read what Robinson said about racing with the GOAT, here.

And they’re off.

6.21am

Wheelchair athletes make their start

A selection of the world’s best wheelchair athletes have begun their races on Miller St.

Paralympic gold medallist Susannah Scaroni (USA) and Boston Marathon winner Eden Rainbow Cooper (GBR) are the ones to watch in the women’s event.

In the men’s, London and Boston winner Josh Cassidy (USA) and Tomoki Suzuki (JPN), who has too many wins to count.

Olympian Sam Rizzo is an Australia to watch as well.

6.08am

Who is Eliud Kipchoge?

If you know anyone at all interested in the marathon, you’ll know Eliud Kipchoge’s in town.

Considered by many to the greatest marathon runner of all time, he’s won back-to-back Olympic gold medals, broke the world record, and became the first man (albeit unofficially) to run a marathon in under two hours.

Eliud Kipchoge during a press call at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday.

He was a major recruit for the Sydney Marathon, announced in March after almost three years of courting from race organisers for the star to come run in Sydney.

Read more about Kipchoge, and the online hate that almost broke the star athlete, in this fantastic feature from Iain Payten.

6.01am

A runner’s perspective

The Herald’s Megan Levy is entering the marathon and has noticed some differences about this morning’s commute to those in years past.

Megan Levy’s view of the Victoria Cross metro station this morning, filled to the brim with athleisure.

5.49am

The most elevation of any major marathon course

What does Sydney have that other major marathon host cities New York, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Boston and Paris, don’t have? Loads of hills.

The Sydney Marathon was first opened to the public in 2001 as a way for your average Joes to get a chance to complete the course that the best athletes in the world had run at the 2000 Olympics. It’s changed in the years since, but will still feature some of the original course, including its most appealing features.

Highlights will include running across the Harbour Bridge, the gruelling final uphill lap to Mrs Macquaries Chair, and a finish in front of the Opera House. The trade-off for getting these landmarks all in one course, is elevation, with runners gaining 253 more metres than they do in the Tokyo Marathon.

Race director Wayne Larden said the course was “as you’re going to get in Sydney. Obviously, Sydney is a hilly city”.

It’s a fact which is sure to test even the best, as Hassan herself said on Thursday that she was “not good at hills”. More on Hassan soon.

5.42am

A guide to the city’s road closures

If you’re waking up this morning and thinking of traversing the city for anything other than watching the marathon, think again.

Major road closures begun at 2am and will last until 4pm and include the Harbour Bridge, Cahill Expressway, College Street, Oxford Street, Macquarie Street and parts of Anzac Parade. As a result, Sydneysiders have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel, and spectators are encouraged to use public transport to get to the sidelines .

The Cross City Tunnel will be toll-free between 5am and 4.30pm, and public transport will be free across the city on Sunday for anyone participating in the event.

A full guide to road closures is available on the Sydney Marathon website and on the Transport for NSW website.

5.39am

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the first-ever major Sydney Marathon.

My name is Frances Howe and I am here to help shepherd you through the road closures, the who’s who of this year’s entrants and around one of the trickiest major marathon courses yet.

The train and metro station in North Sydney have been inundated with lycra and fluoro as a record number of runners make it across the city to the start line.

Wheelchair athletes will take off from 6.15am and the first pool of elite runners from 6.30am. The race will be streamed on channel 7.