Before a single runner crosses a finish line on Sunday, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will have already started its clock. World Athletics has confirmed the marathon qualification window opens November 1, 2026 and runs through April 30, 2028. Five major races are happening on that exact Sunday. Every elite on those start lines is also competing for a ticket to LA, chasing a standard nobody has officially confirmed yet.
The entry standards go to a World Athletics Council vote in December. So right now, the path to Los Angeles has one clear shortcut: a top-five finish at a World Athletics Platinum Label race counts as Olympic qualification, full stop. That makes one race on Sunday considerably more important than the rest. But all five are worth your attention, for very different reasons.
Welcome to the FatMarathoner Weekend Ahead. Every Monday we preview the biggest races on the coming Sunday’s calendar. This is the first edition, and we have picked a good week to start.
| Race | City | WA Label | Field | FM Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TCS New York City Marathon | New York, USA | Platinum | ~60,000 | Read guide → |
| Türkiye İş Bankası Istanbul Marathon | Istanbul, Turkey | Gold | 20,000+ | Read guide → |
| JTBC Seoul Marathon | Seoul, South Korea | WA Label | TBC | Read guide → |
| Geely Auto Hangzhou Marathon | Hangzhou, China | Gold | 36,000 | No guide yet |
| ASB Auckland Marathon | Auckland, New Zealand | — | 15,000+ | Read guide → |
TCS New York City Marathon 2026: The Race Where the Olympic Window Opens
The 55th New York City Marathon is also the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course, first run in 1976 to celebrate the US Bicentennial. NYRR will mark the occasion with past champions at race-week events, including 1976 men’s champion Bill Rodgers. But the storyline on race day itself is firmly pointed toward 2028.
Three defending champions return to headline the professional field. Hellen Obiri comes back to defend the women’s title she won in 2025 while breaking a 22-year-old course record. Benson Kipruto defends the men’s title he won by less than one second in the closest men’s finish in recent race history. Marcel Hug goes for an eighth wheelchair title. On the men’s debut side, Deresa Geleta (personal best 2:02:38) and CyBrian Kotut make their New York bows, as does Andreas Almgren, who won the world half marathon title in Copenhagen in September and is running his first marathon on one of the most demanding courses on the circuit. The US women’s field is led by Weini Kelati, the American half marathon record holder, making her marathon debut.
The Bronx route has also been altered for the first time since 2011, a change confirmed as permanent. Live coverage begins at 8am Eastern on WABC-TV in New York, streaming on ABC7NY.com.
Read the full FatMarathoner guide to the NYC Marathon →
Istanbul Marathon 2026: One Race, Two Continents
The 48th edition of the Türkiye İş Bankası Istanbul Marathon is impossible to describe without a map. Runners start in Asia and finish in Europe. In between, they cross the Bosphorus on the July 15 Martyrs Bridge with Istanbul’s skyline stretching in both directions. No other urban marathon in the world offers this, and no photograph quite captures what it looks like from the middle of that bridge at race pace.
The race carries a World Athletics Gold Label and draws participants across the full marathon and a 15km distance. November in Istanbul typically brings cool, overcast conditions that suit fast running. If your bucket list has a race that is genuinely unlike anything else, this is it.
Read the full FatMarathoner guide to the Istanbul Marathon →
JTBC Seoul Marathon 2026: Korea’s Capital Goes to the Start Line
A quick note for anyone navigating the Seoul marathon calendar: this is not the spring Seoul Marathon, which runs in March and holds a Platinum Label. The JTBC Seoul Marathon is a separate event, organised by JTBC, one of South Korea’s major broadcasting companies, and it holds its own World Athletics Label. The full marathon starts at Gwanghwamun Square, one of the most recognisable locations in the country, framed by the Gyeongbokgung Palace and the Bugaksan mountains directly behind it. The 10K starts separately at Sangam World Cup Park.
The course passes through the historical heart of Seoul before crossing three bridges over the Han River, taking in sites from the 1988 Olympics and the 2002 World Cup. As a race-day backdrop it is extraordinary. International runners should note registration is handled through third-party platforms since the official site does not accommodate overseas entries directly.
Read the full FatMarathoner guide to the JTBC Seoul Marathon →
Geely Auto Hangzhou Marathon 2026: China’s Most Underrated Gold Label Race
The Geely Auto Hangzhou Marathon does not get the global coverage it deserves. It is a World Athletics Gold Label event with a field of 36,000 runners, and the 2026 course connects two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, West Lake and the Grand Canal, in a single route. No other marathon in the world does that. The race starts at 7am at Huanglong Sports Center, and the full marathon finishes at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, a venue most runners will recognise from the 2023 Asian Games.
For 2026, the organisers have introduced AI-assisted medical support, drone monitoring on course and automated race number assignment. Hangzhou is also one of the most technologically advanced cities in China, and race day reflects that. It remains almost invisible in English-language running media, which is part of why we think it is worth flagging here. We do not yet have a dedicated FM guide for Hangzhou but it is in the pipeline.
ASB Auckland Marathon 2026: The Day Starts Early in the Southern Hemisphere
While the rest of the world is watching New York, Auckland will already be done. The ASB Auckland Marathon starts at 6am from Devonport on Auckland’s North Shore, which means finishers will be collecting medals and eating bananas while Central Park is still warming up. With over 15,000 registered participants across five distances, from a full marathon down to a 2.2km kids run, it is New Zealand’s largest annual running event.
The course’s defining moment is the crossing of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, with open views across the Waitematā Harbour and Rangitoto Island. Runners finish at Victoria Park in the city centre. Late October to early November conditions in Auckland are typically mild and clear, which is about as good as marathon weather gets in this part of the world.
Read the full FatMarathoner guide to the Auckland Marathon →
New York is the headline and the LA28 angle makes it the most consequential start line of the morning. In the men’s race, watch the final 5km in Central Park: Kipruto defending by a margin of less than one second tells you everything about the depth of this field, and a Geleta debut at 2:02 pace sets the ceiling. On the women’s side, Obiri looked untouchable last year. The question is who runs into second and third, because those two spots are also Olympic tickets.
Outside New York, Hangzhou is the underrated story of the day. A Gold Label race connecting two UNESCO sites with 36,000 runners and almost no English-language coverage. We will be watching it.