The 2025 Hartford Marathon Is Sold Out

Lately, I’ve been tracking which marathons are selling out and how early they’ve reached capacity. Last week, another race joined that list: the 2025 Eversource Hartford Marathon.

Like many races, the Hartford Marathon peaked over a decade ago. But after declining for a few years before COVID, it’s definitely on the rebound. The field is growing again, and last year it sold out for the first time in recent memory.

Keep reading for some more details about when the race sold out, how big it is, and how it’s changing.

When Has the Hartford Marathon Sold Out in the Past?

According to organizers, the Hartford Marathon had hit capacity in the past, but last year was the first year in recent history that it hit capacity.

Here’s a summary of the race dates in each of the last few years and if/when the race sold out.

Year	Sellout Date	Race Date	Days Before Race
2019	–	10/12/2019	–
2022	–	10/08/2022	–
2023	–	10/14/2023	–
2024	10/12/2024	10/19/2024	7
2025	9/26/2025	10/11/2025	14

The race shifted to a later date last year due to the Jewish holiday (Yom Kippur), so the October sellout date was about a week before the race. The race is typically held on the second Saturday in October.

This year, I was monitoring the race in September to see if and when it sold out. In late September, a Facebook update indicated that the race was nearing capacity. A few days later, on September 26, it was sold out.

It’s not a huge shift from last year, but it is a week earlier. And this is in spite of a significant increase in capacity since last year.

According to the organizers, the capacity each year is a moving target. They start with a projection, which informs the ordering of physical resources (medals, shirts, etc.) and planning for other logistical needs. Early on, there’s some flexibility to increase that capacity. But as race day approaches, the cap becomes firm for that year.

How Big Is the Hartford Marathon?

Early on, the Hartford Marathon typically had around 1,200 to 1,300 finishers. It peaked, along with the sport, in 2014.

The visual below shows the number of finishers in the marathon each year.

The race grew fairly rapidly from 2006 to 2009 and again from 2012 to 2014. Then, it declined in size from 2014 through 2019.

The race returned after COVID with a smaller field of 1200 to 1300. But in the last two years, it has rebounded. Last year, the race had more finishers than it has had since 2016.

After last year’s sellout, the organizers increased the registration capacity to about 2,300. While a number of factors can impact the actual number of registrants who finish, they expect to have about 2,000 finishers this year.

This wouldn’t make it the largest event in Hartford history – but it would be the largest since 2014.

Long term, the race could continue to grow further. But there is a logistical limit to their capacity that may prevent things from getting all the way back to that 2014 peak. The course has changed since then, and the half marathon now runs along with the marathon for the first 8 miles.

How Has the Hartford Marathon Changed Recently?

When asked if they had noticed any particular trends or changes driving registration in recent years, the organizers mentioned two things.

The first change is that age demographics are trending younger. This is a common observation among race directors, and Gen Z runners appear to be a large driving force in the current running boom.

The second change is that the marathon distance is seeing a greater increase in interest than the half marathon distance. For the last fifteen years, the half marathon event has been larger – and that continues to be true. But last year, there were only ~3,600 runner in the half marathon. In 2017-18, when the marathon had a similar number of finishers, the half marathon had well over 4,000.

The Eversource Hartford Marathon is this Saturday, October 11. While the marathon and half marathon are sold out, you can still register for the charity 5k (for the time being).