Two of the fastest marathon courses on earth, two very different races. Here's every stat, side by side, to help you pick.
Indicative — based on GPX data. Both courses normalised to start at 0m.
✓ marks the better number on that stat.
The two marathons with the strongest claim to history. Athens follows the original 490 BC route from the town of Marathon into the city — a genuinely uphill course (335m of gain, net +60m) that climbs for much of its first half. Boston, run continuously since 1897, is the oldest annual marathon in the world and requires a qualifying time to enter, unlike Athens' open registration.
Neither course is fast — Athens' 2:10:34 course record and Boston's 2:01:52 reflect very different terrain (Boston nets downhill, Athens very much doesn't) but both attract runners chasing meaning over a fast time. If the actual birthplace-of-the-marathon route matters most, Athens is unmatched; if the qualifying-time achievement and America's oldest race is the draw, Boston wins that argument.