Road races are among the highest-paying events in the world of athletics and most athletes go there not only to compete but also to win and earn the hefty prize money.
Currently, the reigning champions of all five Abbott World Marathon Majors (Berlin Marathon, New York City Marathon, Boston Marathon, Tokyo Marathon, London Marathon) are either from Kenya or Ethiopia.
1) Nagoya Women’s Marathon
The Nagoya Women’s Marathon was launched in 2012 and it is among the highest-paying marathons in the world. It is the largest women’s marathon in the world, certified by Guinness World Records, and the only women’s race with a World Athletics Platinum Label status.
Since 2022, the race has offered the largest first prize money in the world marathon running at US$250,000 which is approximately Ksh 30,000,000.
Race organisers also note that every finisher will receive a beautiful, specially designed pendant from a global luxury jeweler, Tiffany & Co., as a memento of their achievement.
The 2023 edition of the marathon was won by Kenya’s Ruth Chepng’etich, a former World Champion and two-time Chicago Marathon champion.
2) Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is one of the oldest road races in the world. The event awards winners a whopping $150,000 (Approximately Ksh18,000,000).
The second-place finishers will pocket Ksh 11,298,750 while athletes who finish third will pocket Ksh 6,026,000. Evans Chebet won the 2023 edition of the marathon in style ahead of Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay and Benson Kipruto.
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3) Chicago Marathon
The Chicago Marathon is also one of the highest-paying marathons in the world with the winners of the 2023 edition of the event having to pocket a whooping Ksh 14,870,000. The second-place finishers walked away with Ksh 7,435,000.
The athletes who finished third and fourth pocketed Ksh 3,717,500 and Ksh 2,229,000 respectively. The athletes who crossed the finish line fifth pocketed Ksh 1,486,000.
Kelvin Kiptum won the 2023 edition in a world record time of 2:00:35 to be awarded an additional Ksh 7,435,000 for the outstanding achievement.
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4) Tokyo Marathon
The Tokyo Marathon is also among the highest-paying marathons in the world. Back in 2019, the marathon offered prize money of Ksh 55,879,560, including Ksh 14,813,810 each for the winners.
For breaking a course record, an athlete was also guaranteed an additional reward of Ksh 4,023,690. Also well-paid are the wheelchair racers, with nearly Ksh 1,507,000 in victory bonuses.
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5) New York City Marathon
The TSC New York City marathon winners were awarded $100,000 (Approximately Ksh12,000,000), making the marathon to be among the highest-paying marathons in the world. The total amount of prize money set aside is Ksh 131,109,000.
The winners of the 2022 edition of the marathon were Sharon Lokedi and Evans Chebet. Chebet will not be returning to defend his title while Lokedi will be returning to the event in a quest for title defense.
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6) London Marathon
Back in 2019, the Virgin London Marathon distributed a prize money of Ksh 47,137,800 and an additional Ksh 128,010,000 for time bonuses.
The winners were rewarded with a fixed sum of Ksh 8,283,000. However, the prize money was almost halved for the elite race in 2020 due to the Corona pandemic. In 2021, the prize money for the winners was increased again to Ksh 8,283,000.
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7) Paris Marathon
By European standards, the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon is one of the most generous marathons.
Both the winner and the runner-up receive Ksh 7,986,468 as a reward for their performance, but only if they run under a given time.
This limit of 2:11:45 hours for the men is not a big hurdle for the top athletes anyway, and the limit is also realistically achievable for the women.
The other podium places will also be well paid with Ksh 4,795,058 and Ksh 3,196,705 respectively. There is prize money for the top 10, provided they stay under the time limit given above.
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8) BMW Berlin Marathon
The BMW Berlin Marathon is also among the top 10 highest-paying marathons in the world. The event which is held annually in the German capital awards a winner of the 42km category Ksh 7,530,000.
The second-place and third-place-finishers will walk away with Ksh 3,841,575 and Ksh 1,883,125 respectively. The marathon awards the top 10 finishers. The fourth-place finishers will walk away with Ksh 1,103,250 respectively.
The fifth-place finisher will bag Ksh 735,500 while the sixth-place to 10th-place finishers will walk away with Ksh 441,300 each. Eliud Kipchoge is the winner of the 2023 edition of the men’s marathon while Tigst Assefa won the women’s marathon.
