Gothenburg is ready to welcome runners to the start line on September 19, 2021

The largest half-marathon in the world just got bigger!

2021 will mark the City of Gothenburg turning 400. To celebrate this historic occasion, The Göteborg Athletic Association will launch a brand-new, totally one-off marathon. Welcome to the Göteborgsvarvet Marathon, a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The scenic course will wind through the beautiful city of Gothenburg, taking in major landmarks including the historic King Gustaf statue, the spectacular Älvsborg Bridge over river Göta Älv and the former Eriksberg docks where runners will marvel at the iconic red harbour crane and will also get the chance to enjoy the wide city centre boulevards. The course will also incorporate a full loop of the world famous Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon route. Twice the distance, twice the fun.

The Göteborgsvarvet Marathon 2021 has 6,800 registered runners, which already makes it the second-largest running event in Sweden. A capacity has been set at 15,000 with a proportion of those coming from the rest of Europe / UK.

“We wanted to create a new event to mark this historic occasion. The marathon distance is the pinnacle of road running and it’s fitting that runners will see so many landmarks in the city on this incredible course,” said race director Annika Knutsson.

A carefully-selected team of UK running ambassadors have been chosen to run the marathon and detail their training and inspirational journeys to the start line. This includes marathon blogging sensation Charlie Watson @therunnerbeans, endurance athlete, record-breaker and commentator Susie Chan @susie_chan_ and last year’s winner of The Running Awards’ best personal blog, James Dunn @themorningcoffeerun.

Two of the team will take on the challenge of running both ‘the double’: the Half and the Marathon in the same year with the others running the marathon. Their progress can be followed by searching for #göteborgsvarvet #teamuk

The Göteborgsvarvet Marathon 2021 is part of the illustrious family which includes The Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon, recognised as the largest half-marathon in the world with over 60,000 runners on race weekend. It also includes seven further events, from a children’s race, a relay and a trail run, offering something for everyone.

Over 200,000 spectators line the route and the city comes alive to cheer on the runners in an atmosphere like no other.

Gothenburg is ready to welcome runners to the marathon start line on September 19, 2021.

See goteborgsvarvet.se/en/