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.
Berlin is flat, fast, and a full World Marathon Major (2:01:09 course record, ballot entry); Paris is hillier (225m of gain against Berlin's 58m), open registration, and not a Major, but still draws one of the largest fields in the sport at over 57,000 finishers.
Paris's course record (2:04:21) trails Berlin's by three minutes, a fair reflection of the extra climbing on its route past the Eiffel Tower and along the Seine. If the fastest, flattest course and Majors medal matter, Berlin is the clear pick; if open entry and one of Europe's biggest, most scenic city tours appeal more, Paris delivers a genuinely different kind of marathon.