The marathon boom is straining the sport – and reshaping its future | Canada Voices

Distance running, for its sustained popularity, has officially graduated from a trend to a lifestyle. Completing a marathon, once mostly the domain of elite athletes and the office weirdo, lately feels as commonplace as playing a game of tennis. Everyone is doing it.

This explosion of popularity has a troubling underbelly: the sport is bursting at the seams. The odds of securing a spot through the London Marathon lottery have dipped below one in 20. Qualifying times to the Boston marathon are in free fall. Runners complained about crammed streets and punishing heat in Berlin last autumn. Even the solution that seems obvious on paper – expanding the World Marathon Majors – comes with complications. As soon as a race is elevated to major status, demand surges, and start lists saturate.

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At the same time, the tools around running are evolving rapidly. Wearables now allow for highly specific training. Fuelling technology is improving season by season. Tracking systems are changing the experience for spectators as much as for athletes. The marathon of the future, many in the sport argue, won’t simply be bigger. It will be smarter – really, it has no choice.

To understand where the sport may be headed, we spoke with two people thinking deeply about its next phase: Bill Quinn, a foresight strategist and consultant at major marathon sponsor Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Charlotte Brooks, event director at Canada Running Series, which hosts six annual races, four in Toronto and two in Vancouver. Their view is clear: the pressure on marathons isn’t going away. But innovation may make the strain manageable.

Tech we can use

The challenge for runners of today isn’t a lack of data. It’s the opposite. Training watches, sleep trackers, recovery metrics and even glucose monitors generate oceans of information, often stored in separate silos. Mr. Quinn sees artificial intelligence as the bridge between raw numbers and meaningful insight.

“One of the big challenges is you buy all this stuff, get excited about using it, and then get drowned in all the data,” he said. “That’s where AI gets exciting is that it will make it easy for the average runner to understand.”

Rather than scrolling through charts, runners could receive clear guidance from their wearables: when to push, when to rest, how to adjust fuelling or sleep. Mr. Quinn believes the shift from data to actionable information is close. “I think we’re a handful of years away” from runners gaining clarity rather than confusion, he said.

Looking further ahead, he points to nanotechnology and smart equipment. Nanobots, ingestible pieces of tech, could circulate the bloodstream and share physiological data in real time that could offer suggestions on pace and fueling.

Meanwhile, shoes could one day provide real-time feedback on stride efficiency or muscular imbalances. Nike already holds a patent for a midsole that can change its properties during a run, to offer support to a runner’s fatiguing stride. These advances may still be years – or decades – away, but the direction is clear: increasingly personalized marathoning.

Rethinking the start line

Technology may also make races safer and more efficient. One of the biggest logistical challenges for large marathons is how to corral tens of thousands of runners in carefully timed waves so they can keep moving without causing chaos. That’s easier said than done: New York City and London now host roughly 60,000 runners apiece. London received 1.1 million applications for its 2026 race. Sydney, newly added to the World Marathon Majors, has become the fastest-growing marathon in the world and is on track to double its 2024 finisher total of 20,000 next year.

Mr. Quinn believes AI could fundamentally change how corrals are assigned. Instead of relying on a qualifying time run months earlier, races of the future could draw on recent training data to group runners more accurately. “It would allow us to safely put more runners on the course – being able to have more people be able to participate in those races could be really exciting.”

Early versions of this thinking are already being tested. The Canada Running Series has been working with Manchester-based crowd scientist Marcel Altenburg since 2019 to optimize race starts and reduce bottlenecks, particularly at narrow points on course and in finish areas, Ms. Brooks said.

The changes are subtle, but significant: longer, more staggered starts; tighter control of arrival times; and rethinking how many runners are allowed into staging areas at once. The trade-off is complexity. Longer corral windows affect permits, transportation planning and how early runners must arrive. But Ms. Brooks sees it as necessary as fields grow ever larger.

Smarter fuelling and on-course safety

Fuelling has become one of the most discussed topics in endurance sport, and not just among elites. As fields expand, ensuring that aid stations are properly stocked – and that runners in distress are identified quickly – becomes critical.

Mr. Quinn imagines a near future where wearable patches monitor runners’ vital signs in real time. He envisions an AI device that will measure racers’ biometric feedback, and prompt a medical team to send resources to runners in trouble.

“It’s not just about putting more people on the course, it’s about being able to make sure that it’s safe when we do so.”

Technology could also reshape logistics behind the scenes. Drones might be used to shuttle supplies to depleted aid stations.

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Racing in a warming world

A warming climate is already forcing change. The 26 C heat at this year’s Berlin Marathon was a reminder that traditional fall race calendars are no longer immune to extreme conditions. Many runners questioned the race’s relatively late morning start times, staggered between 9:15 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. Ms. Brooks said start times are becoming a bigger consideration, with the Canada Running Series increasingly opting for earlier morning launches, often being 7:30 a.m. starts.

Equipment may also adapt. Mr. Quinn points to emerging materials that could respond dynamically to weather. Through advanced 4D or 5D printing, fabrics could change their properties mid-race – insulating runners at the start, then becoming lighter and more breathable as temperatures rise. In rain, the same material could turn hydrophobic.

Toward a more sustainable marathon

Few sporting events generate as much visible waste as a marathon. Paper cups, gel packets and discarded clothing line the course.

One idea gaining traction is circular hydration: edible or biodegradable pods that replace single-use cups. Runners could bite into a water “pearl,” consume it safely and drop the casing without environmental harm. In future iterations, Mr. Quinn suggested, the outer layer could even double as an energy gel, combining hydration and carbohydrates in one package.

Then, post-race, waste-sorting robots could manage the mountains of discarded cups and packaging more efficiently.