Highest Paying Marathons in the World Ahead of Boston Marathon 2024

• The Boston Marathon is one of the most lucrative marathons in the world
• Evans Chebet and Hellen Obiri will defend their titles in the 2024 edition
• Sports Brief has looked at a list of highest-paying marathons in the world

Sports in itself is always a high-paying venture for the winners, which often compensates them for the long periods of time and energy they put into training.

Marathons have some of the biggest payouts in track and field, with winners usually taking home handsome figures at the end of the two-plus kickabouts.

This season has already seen the Tokyo Marathon pass by, with the Boston Marathon coming in today (April 15) and the London Marathon a week later.

Afterwards, the three other majors (New York, Berlin and Chicago) will follow the Paris Olympics, but which are the highest-paying marathons in the world?

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Highest-paying marathons in the world

Sports Brief has compiled a list of some of the most lucrative races in the men's and women's open divisions. The marathons have been ranked according to how much the winners earn and not in terms of the total prize kitty.

5. Tokyo Marathon

The first marathon major of the year had a kitty of $286,000 when Benson Kipruto and Sutume Asefa swept to victory in March. Kipruto and Asefa were each awarded approximately $78,100, as reported by RRM Online.

4. New York City Marathon

Last year, the New York Times reported that the top finishers of the New York City Marathon shared a purse of $900,000.

Of the total kitty, the men's and women's winners got $100,000 each. Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola and Kenya's Hellen Obiri are the reigning champions.

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3. Chicago Marathon

Like the New York City Marathon, the Chicago Marathon winners take home $100,000. The course is now the fastest in the world after the late Kelvin Kiptum ran an astonishing 2:00:35 last year. Kiptum also got an additional $50,000 for smashing the course record - which was also the world record.

Sportico reports that the total prize kitty was $560,000.

2. Boston Marathon

The Boston Marathon is the best-paying marathon major in the world, with the winners raking in $150,000 each. In fact, a second-place finisher in the Boston Marathon earns more than a winner in the Berlin Marathon, as captured on the BAA website.

Second place in Boston gets you $75,000 while winning in Berlin gets you $50,000.

Evans Chebet and Hellen Obiri are the defending champions and are both back to defend their titles in 2024.

1. Nagoya Women's marathon

Surprisingly, the marathon at the top of the list is not one of the majors and is a women's exclusive race. The Guinness World Records has recognised it as the largest women's marathon in the world.

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The winner goes home $ 250,000 richer, as captured on the organiser's website.

Honourable mentions

As already mentioned, the Berlin marathon winners get $50,000, while winning in London gets you $55,000. The Paris Marathon winners get around $53,000 each.

Evans Chebet speaks ahead of 2024 Boston Marathon

Ahead of the 2024 Boston Marathon, Sports Brief spoke to double champion Evans Chebet who was surprisingly omitted from the Kenyan marathon squad for the Paris Olympics.

The 35-year-old beat Eliud Kipchoge, among other elite athletes, to win his second crown in Boston last year, and touched on the legacy left by the late world record holder, Kiptum.