Sydney has ranked as the third-best city in the world for runners

If you thought Sydney’s running mania peaked with the pastry-related run club boom of early 2024, think again. This year, membership of Sydney’s running clubs is on the rise, our city is playing host to Australia’s first World Major Marathon, Nike's After Dark tour is making a comeback, and Sydney has just been crowned the third-best city for runners in the world.

Running had a real moment in 2024, with every second Aussie lacing up for a half marathon or joining a run club. Inspired by the trend, the health insurance experts at Compare The Market set out to uncover the best running cities in the world. They ranked 50 hotspots based on eight factors, ranging from the number of running events, run clubs, parks and trails to the air quality and average rainfall.

Sydney bagged the bronze medal for a number of reasons: boasting more running events (15), clubs (6,150) and trails (545) than anywhere else in Australia. Locals hardly have an excuse not to lace up, with Sydney being one of the safest cities for outdoor activities and having a low average rainfall that ensures pleasant running conditions year-round. It wasn’t factored into the study, but we’d argue that Sydney is also home to many of the world’s most breathtaking running routes, whether it’s a sunrise sprint from the Sydney Opera House to Mrs Macquarie’s Chair or a coastal jog from Bondi to Bronte.

London and New York led the pack as the highest-ranking cities for running worldwide, but Australia officially outpaced the rest of the world on the countries front – with the most top-rated cities for running on the planet. We had four cities included in the top-ten ranking, while the US and Spain both had two, and the UK and Sweden had only one each.

Melbourne just missed out on a podium finish, ranking as the fourth-best city for running on Earth. It didn’t quite match Sydney, tallying only four major running events and 4,850 run clubs, but it made up for it with a higher number of parks (146) to stretch your legs.

Perth is chasing Melbourne's tail, being named as the world’s sixth-best city for running, while Canberra was the final Aussie city included in the ranking, landing in ninth place. Ready to take your running shoes on a global tour? You can check out the full rankings below.

The top 10 cities for running in the world:

1. London, UK
2. New York City, USA
3. Sydney, Australia
4. Melbourne, Australia
5. Los Angeles, USA
6. Perth, Australia
7. Madrid, Spain
8. Valencia, Spain
9. Canberra, Australia
10. Stockholm, Sweden 

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