One runner spent $40,000, another took a second job. Marathoners are making big sacrifices to chase medals worldwide.

When some people travel, they collect fridge magnets or shot glasses. Eugen Godun collects marathon medals.

Last March, the 34-year-old software developer earned the coveted Six Star medal for running the Boston, Chicago, New York City, London, Berlin, and Tokyo marathons, known as the original World Marathon Majors. When Godun crossed the finish line in Japan, he burst into tears, overcome by a mixture of pride, happiness, and pure exhaustion.

Godun started running in 2014 and completed his first international marathon in Poland the following year, shaving an hour off his previous time of 4 hours and 6 minutes. Over the past decade, his pursuit of medals and faster finishes has taken him from his home in Kyiv to eight countries across Europe, the US, and Asia.

For amateur runners like Godun, destination races kill several birds with one stone: a trip abroad, a major athletic achievement, and some serious bragging rights. Godun is particularly proud to be one of only 60 Ukrainians recorded as having received a Six Star medal.

For all their rewards, international marathons demand plenty in return: vacation days, family time, and money. In 11 years, Godun said he has spent roughly $40,000 on international marathon trips, or $5,000 a race on average.

Godun sometimes wonders where he'd be financially if he'd saved the money instead. "Maybe if I switched these marathons for saving money, I'd be able to buy my own apartment,” he said.

Even so, he thinks it was worth it. "I like to spend my money on experiences, not on things," Godun added.

The pursuit of far-flung finish lines

Running’s pandemic-era boom shows little sign of fading, and Americans are prioritizing fitness and experience-led travel.

More than 52.3 million Americans went road-running in 2025, up more than a million from 2024, according to the Outdoor Industry Association's 2026 Running Report, which is based on data from the Physical Activity Council. In KPMG's summer 2026 consumer survey, half of respondents named physical fitness as their top wellness priority, while 54% of those planning to travel more were seeking a specific experience or event. Destination marathons combine the two.

Godun has plenty of company in the expensive pursuit of far-flung finish lines. Demand for marathon spots has grown in recent years, with international competitors accounting for an increasing share of participants, according to data shared with Business Insider by five of the now-seven World Marathon Majors, the global series of marathon races.

Since 2023, international applications for the London Marathon have almost tripled, from 89,108 in 2023 to 258,502 in 2026, when the race drew 854,452 applicants overall. The Boston Marathon’s share of international runners has risen from about a quarter of the field in 2023 to roughly a third of the 30,000 participants in each of the past three years. The Sydney Marathon has seen even more dramatic international growth. The number of overseas finishers jumped from 260 in 2022 to more than 13,500 of a total 32,963 runners in 2025, when it became the seventh World Marathon Major.

“People like a challenge, particularly one that is tough but achievable, and completing the six, or now seven, race series has become the ultimate running challenge,” Steven Seaton, the founder of the UK-based sports tourism firm 2:09 Events, said. “The fact that the races are hard and increasingly expensive to enter only seems to fuel greater demand.”

The cost for international competitors entering the World Marathon Majors ranges from about $237 for Sydney to $333 for New York, before accounting for flights, hotels, food, and other costs.

Godun, for example, has tried to cut costs by staying with friends, where possible, and drawn a line on what he’s willing to spend. He gave up a spot in the 2026 Sydney Marathon because he couldn't justify spending thousands of dollars on flights.

He said he has since started setting aside about $1,000 a month, or about 20% of his monthly income, to avoid ruling out future races on cost alone. Godun has found himself working harder at his job, too. “I need to earn more money to be able to do this,” he said.

A second job to keep chasing marathon medals

David Boyce, 59, is so committed to running international marathons that he took on a part-time job lecturing at a local university three years ago to, in his words, “feed my addiction.”

The extra income has helped the Canadian government employee pay for a coach, enter races farther afield, and spend longer abroad exploring the destinations. In the lead-up to a marathon, Boyce prioritizes rest, saving the indulgences for later. “Then you can do all the things that you want to do, like have a beer, have a decadent meal, or things like that,” Boyce said.

In his early 40s, Boyce couldn’t have imagined organizing his vacations around marathons. Then, 16 years ago, he got a frightening wake-up call when his heart began pounding during an uphill bike ride. A stranger called an ambulance, and he ended up in the hospital. “They put a heart monitor on me and figured out nothing was really wrong,” he said. “I was just really out of shape.”

He started with treadmill running, then moved to 10k runs, before completing a local marathon in 2016. Two years later, he traveled to Chicago for his first international runcation. Now, he’s a Five Star finisher, with only Tokyo left to complete the set.

His first marathon took him more than four hours. A decade later, as he approaches 60, Boyce is running closer to 3 hours and 30 minutes and is considering pushing himself further with an Ironman or an ultramarathon.

“For me, it's the sense of accomplishment,” he said. “The personal goal, to see if I can do it, to push myself to a different limit.”

Boyce said the improvements to his health and fitness make the sacrifices, like having a second job, worthwhile. His goal is to keep “beating back the old man.”

Using up almost all vacation days

As well as money, runcations can eat up another valuable resource: time.

Next year, Boyce plans to spend three of his four weeks of vacation in Japan for the Tokyo Marathon. In the past, Godun has devoted as much as 80% of his 20 days of annual leave to runcations. Last year, he used some of the time freed up from earning his Six Star on a two-week beach vacation in Spain. “It's not for me, this type of pleasure,” he said.

Every year, Kevin Lock, a 45-year-old bank employee, and his wife, who is also a marathon runner, meticulously map out their four weeks of vacation days on a spreadsheet. They allot their time off between races and other personal travel, prioritizing races held around federal holidays to preserve vacation days.

The couple doesn't always race together. Since 2022, Lock has run three marathons, including New York, Chicago, and Boston, as well as 16 half-marathons across the US. His wife, meanwhile, ran the Sydney Marathon without him.

The couple, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is equally strategic with money. “I'm fairly crafty at using credit card points,” Lock said. He generally uses his points for flights to and from races, while his wife uses hers for hotels, helping them “minimize the financial impact” of marathon trips.

They draw from a pool of savings, replenish it regularly, and pay off their credit card balances in full each month. “We want to do these things,” Lock said, “but not at the forfeit of going into debt.”

Losing out on family time

Not every cost can be offset with credit-card points, careful budgeting, or a vacation spreadsheet. For Vincent Hsu, a physician based in Orlando, money isn’t a huge concern. The biggest trade-off has been family time.

“I'm trying to balance my wanting to really achieve running goals that I never thought possible with the need to make sure that I am tending to the needs of my family,” he said.

Hsu said he tries to train early in the morning while his wife and 15-year-old son are asleep. Even so, the trips away for races and the sheer amount of time he spends training have both become “stressors” at home. His wife sometimes asks, “Oh, you're running again?”

“I'm a little bit sheepish about that,” he said.

Next March, Hsu plans to run the Tokyo Marathon, but he doesn't know whether his wife, who often likes to come along on trips, can join him. They haven't yet found someone they trust to take care of their teenage son.

For all the sacrifices, running has contributed to significant weight loss, introduced him to new friends, and given him a sense of accomplishment. It has proved hard to stop, too. “It is addictive,” he said.

Hsu said the prestige of joining the Six Star medal club is also part of the motivation. “It's a great goal. It's coveted. It's desired,” he said. “People are jealous. I readily admit that.”

For globe-trotting marathon runners, the medals may be priceless. Collecting them is anything but.