Put together a list of global cities and contrast that with lists of important annual marathon races and there is overlap:

The Chicago marathon is the fourth largest in the world in terms of finishers, based on races from 2024 to 2026, according to Marathon Handbook. The top five are London (59,830 finishers), New York City (59,226), Paris (55,499), Chicago (54,351) and Berlin (54,280)…

And because it’s a flat course, the Chicago Marathon is known as a fast race. It’s a prime choice to reach personal records or try to qualify for the elite Boston Marathon, the country’s oldest marathon.

For the 2027 Boston Marathon, the top five most popular qualifying races were the 2026 Boston Marathon (4,448 entrants), followed by last year’s Chicago Marathon (2,043 entrants), the New York City Marathon (826 entrants), the California International Marathon (812 entrants) and the 2026 London Marathon (610 entrants), according to the Boston Athletic Association.

It is one of eight Abbott World Marathon Majors — some of the largest and most renowned marathons globally. They include Tokyo, Boston, London, Cape Town, Sydney, Berlin, New York City and Chicago.

When you look at the list of cities cited above, you see a number of global cities. Here are some possible reasons global cities can also be marathon cities:

1. They have the local infrastructure to support such an event. You need roadways, organizers, and transportation systems that help the event go smoothly. Thousands of runners and visitors need travel, hosting, and related services.
2. There is a strong local running culture. These events attract participants from all over the world but you need a local base on build on.
3. These are high status cities that people want to visit. If runners are going to go through all the effort to train and prepare, they want to go somewhere worthwhile.
4. These cities were early on the marathon circuit and had an early advantage.
5. Global cities have big local and national media footprints. Events in these cities attract media attention, which is good for the sport and the city.

Put another way, almost any place could try to host a marathon. People just need a 26.2 mile course to run. But hosting a marathon is not just about the course and global cities offer a lot of other attractive features. Global cities might typically be defined by business, cultural, and governmental activity but these features also contribute to hosting major sporting events.

(It would also be interesting to look at global cities that are not listed among the big marathons in the article above. Hong Kong? Shanghai? Dubai?)