The World's Most Beautiful Marathons

When: Late April Elevation gain: 660m / 2,180ft Difficulty: Strenuous. Highway One closes to traffic for one morning a year and the field runs north from Big Sur Station to Carmel, with the Pacific on the left the whole way. The climb to Hurricane Point arrives at mile ten, roughly 500 feet over two miles, and takes the road out onto open cliff. At the bottom of the descent, a grand piano is played at Bixby Bridge - a fixture since the 1980s and the reason a good number of people enter. The second half is a series of smaller hills. There is no shade and no way back except the finish line.

When: Early September Elevation gain: Negligible Difficulty: Moderate, for reasons unrelated to terrain. The route runs between the châteaux of the Haut-Médoc and it is not a race in any serious sense. There is a costume theme announced each year, more than twenty wine stations along the way, and oysters, steak and ice cream in the closing kilometres. The cut-off is six and a half hours, which feels generous until the ninth château. The ground is flat, the vines are in full leaf, and the medical tent deals with more indigestion than injury. Entry is by ballot and heavily oversubscribed.

When: May Elevation gain: 1,300m Difficulty: Strenuous. Two hours from Beijing, on a restored Ming-era section of the Wall. Runners cover it twice, once at the start and again at the end, taking in 5,164 steps that are uneven, steep in places and never the same height twice. Between the two passes the course drops into the valley and runs through orchards, farmland and villages where children line the road with their hands out. Temperatures often reach thirty degrees by mid-morning. Finishing times are a poor guide here; most people run an hour slower than usual, and the descents do more damage than the climbs.

When: September Elevation gain: 1,829m Difficulty: Strenuous. Interlaken to Kleine Scheidegg, finishing at just over 2,100 metres. The first half is flat along the valley floor to Lauterbrunnen, which is a trap, because the entire climb sits in the second. The route turns up through Wengen and onto the Wengernalp, then finishes on the moraine directly beneath the north face of the Eiger. The final two kilometres are switchbacks on loose ground with the mountain overhead and a cog railway carrying spectators up alongside. Weather at that altitude in September can be anything, and the organisers hold a shortened wet-course route in reserve.

When: Early September Elevation gain: 700m Difficulty: Strenuous. The start is at the entrance to the archaeological site, with the Siq behind the field, before the route climbs out of the valley and into open desert around Little Petra. The surface alternates between tarmac, compacted sand and loose rock, and the return leg comes back the same way, downhill and considerably faster. It is a hot-weather race run early for that reason: the temperature climbs sharply after eight and the water stations are close together. There is a shorter ten-kilometre route for anyone travelling with people who would rather see Petra on foot at walking pace.

When: Late November Elevation gain: 300m Difficulty: Moderate. Point to point from Arrowtown to Queenstown, largely on trail rather than road. The course follows the Arrow River, passes Lake Hayes, crosses the Kawarau and joins the Frankton track along the shore of Lake Wakatipu for the final stretch, with the Remarkables on the far side of the water. Late November is early summer in Otago and reliably mild, which makes this the most forgiving entry on the list. It is close to flat by the standards of everything above it. Places sell out within weeks of opening.

When: Late October Elevation gain: 850m Difficulty: Strenuous. A full circuit of Yr Wyddfa, starting and finishing in Llanberis. The first climb takes the road up to Pen-y-Pass inside the opening six miles, followed by a long descent towards Beddgelert and a second climb through the Waunfawr forest. The last comes at mile twenty-two: a steep unmade track over the shoulder of the mountain, then a fast, punishing descent into the village. There is no ballot, no elite field and no bunting. Entry opens in spring, the medal is Welsh slate, and the weather is whatever late October decides to do.