The Marathon Project Race Weekend Brings an International Field to Arizona

December 18, 2025

CHANDLER, Ariz., (December 18, 2025) /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – The Marathon Project presented by HOKA will complete its comeback this weekend with three days of experiences and races at Wild Horse Pass Resort in Chandler, Arizona. Originally held in 2020 during the Pandemic as a chance for professional athletes to compete when no other options were available, the event returns in 2025 with a bolder vision that includes an expo on Friday, December 19, a marathon for high level amateurs and a 5k on Saturday, December, 20 and a professional marathon on Sunday, December 21 where the course record of 2:08:59 is expected to go down.

Overall, athletes from 39 States and 17 countries registered to compete. The Gold Wave—the amateur marathon Saturday—will feature runners with personal bests between 2 hours, 20 minutes and 3 hours, 30 minutes with pacers being flown in from all over North America to help lead 15 total pace groups. Gold Wave participants are being treated to a VIP experience that includes the ability to have their own personal bottles on the race course. Sponsored by Blank’s Sports Nutrition, the program allows athletes to drink or take in whatever hydration or fueling product they use in practice as opposed to a specific product that the race provides.

Sam Grotewold, General Manager of Professional Athletes for the New York Road Runners, will serve as The Marathon Project’s personal bottles coordinator. Grotewold said that offering personal bottles to all participants will really set The Marathon Project apart.

“Everybody knows that a key piece of performing at your best in the marathon is proper fueling, and it only makes sense that chances of success are maximized when an athlete can race using the same nutrition and drinks that they use in training,” Grotewold said. “I’m excited to help The Marathon Project provide this opportunity to all its participants.”

The Gold Wave athletes will also be treated to an indoor warmup area, bag drop right at the start, and swag that includes a pair of HOKA Rocket X 3 super shoes. But perhaps the number one attraction for all of the participants is the fast, flat, criterium-style course. At The Marathon Project 2020, Sara Hall ran 2:20:32—then the second-fastest American female marathon ever, and seven U.S. men broke the 2:10:00 barrier—the first and only time that has been done in one race.

Located on the grounds of the Wild Horse Pass Resort with a start and finish area adjacent to the Rawhide Event Center, the course is six loops with virtually no elevation gain. The loops allow the competitors to settle into a smooth rhythm and the fans to see their favorite runners up to 12 times just by staying in one place.

2020 men’s champion Martin Hehir, who has since received his medical degree and will return to The Marathon Project as its medical director, said that the race was one of the highlights of his career.

“I’ll never forget crossing that finish line and joining some of the fastest Americans in history,” Hehir said.

The 2025 Professional Race will include top Americans as well as an international field with athletes from Canada, Germany, Kenya, Sweden, and South Africa. The favorites on the women’s side are Kellyn Taylor and Paige Wood from the United States alongside Germany’s Blanka Dörfel. Taylor and Wood both ran The Marathon Project in 2020 with Taylor finishing third in 2:25:22 and Wood seventh in 2:28:43. It will be Dörfel’s debut.

The men’s race features two-time Olympic medalist at 5,000 meters, Paul Chelimo (USA), up-and-coming German star, Johannes Motschmann, 2023 Canadian marathon champion, Thomas Broatch, and a whole host of others. The race is wide open and the lead pack will likely also feature American athletes like JP Flavin, Nick Hauger, Dillon Maggard and Brian Shrader, as well as South Africa’s Nadeel Wildschutt, Canada’s Thomas Fafard and Ireland’s Barry Keane.

Fans can watch a live broadcast of the Professional Race on Sunday, December 21 with coverage beginning at 9:00 a.m. EST on Flotrack. Live tracking will be available on the The Marathon Project app.

About The Marathon Project
The Marathon Project aims to create a premier race weekend experience for professionals and amateurs alike, providing each participant the opportunity to run as fast as possible. For more information, please visit www.themarathonproject.com.