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We start in Vancouver, often rated one of the world's most beautiful cities. As our little group will run bike paths, not city streets, Vancouver offers us what may be our best course. That is the 7 mile circuit of the Stanley Park Seawall, running central in the city.

Our adventure continues on the original Hawaii Ironman run course, still used for the Honolulu Marathon today. Legend says three friends in a Honolulu bar argued over who's endurance event was the toughest, then stringing swim, bike, and marathon run end to end and calling the winner the Ironman.

Cherry-blossom season showcases Tokyo at its most beautiful, the heart of one of the world's great cities. The capital has witnessed marathon history from world records in the 1930s, to Abebe Bikila's shod 1964 Olympic record, to Rob de Castella's 1981 mark at nearby Fukuoka.

Seoul has served as Korea's capital across dynasties for thousands of years, today an economic powerhouse and the home of K-Pop. Host of the 1988 Summer Olympics, the city now stages multiple major marathons, with the Seoul Marathon producing winning times comfortably under 2:05.

Once an 18th-century fishing village, Dubai has become the New York of the 21st century, a wonder of modern construction and home to some of the world's tallest, most striking buildings. Its elite, super-flat marathon has produced a course record of 2:03:34.

Founded as Byzantium and renamed Constantinople, this city anchored the ancient world for a thousand years behind the mighty Theodosian walls. Now Istanbul, it straddles Europe and Asia, and its marathon crosses the Bosphorus from one continent to the other, the world's only intercontinental footrace.

Often called the cradle of Western civilization, Athens is also where the first marathon finished. This year marks the 2,516th anniversary of that run, and the modern Athens Marathon follows the original course every November. The event was revived here at the first modern Olympics in 1896.

Rome is the Imperial City, capital of the ancient world. Our view is Piazza Navona, shaped by the ancient Stadium of Domitian still buried beneath. At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Abebe Bikila launched African distance running with a barefoot world record in the marathon.

From the Industrial Revolution to today, London ranks among the world's most important cities, from Westminster Abbey to the Shard. We are running time zones, and time itself starts here at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. In 2026 London hosted the first sub-2-hour marathon world record.

Millions come to Orlando to visit the attractions of Walt Disney World and some of them are runners. Many a recreational marathoner has got their start in a Disney race, the ultimate of which is the Disney World Marathon held every year in January.

Home to more than 20 million people, Mexico City is North America's largest metropolis, once the heart of the Aztec world and a former Olympic host. At an average elevation of 7,350 feet, its thin air produces great distance runners and challenges every visiting marathoner.

The pictures of Mexico City and Denver are deliberately similar. Like Mexico City, Denver is backed by lofty peaks and known as the Mile High City for its elevation. A modern Wild West of urban culture and mountain adventure sends our runners home with one final high-altitude marathon.