2025 Columbus and Dresden Marathons Are Finished

Congratulations to Tom Gabalski, Joshua Gandee, John Hykes, Traci Mehalic and Amanda Swanson.  These five Columbus runners traveled to Germany to run in the 2025 Dresden Marathon.

After his trip, Josh Gandee wrote an essay documenting his experience in Dresden. His personal essay demonstrates the life-changing impact of the marathon program.

Read Josh’s essay here.

Visit our 2025 marathon page to learn more about the 2025 runners and their excitement to visit Dresden.

About the Marathon Program

Every autumn runners from each city participate in their sister city’s marathon or half marathon. The runners are selected by Dresden Sister City through an application process.

In Columbus, we are looking for avid runners who can travel to Germany and serve as good ambassadors for Columbus and the Columbus Marathon. We look for open-minded people who will want to learn about a new city and use sport as a bridge to connect people from two different countries. While distance running experience is important, having the fastest times or the most race experience is not a key factor in the selection process.

Visit our 2025 marathon page to learn about the 2025 runners.

Visit our 2024 Marathon page to learn about the 2024 runners.

What is included in the program for the runners selected:

• Free race entry in Dresden
• A five-night stay in Dresden with a local host
• A warm welcome in the sister city and additional activities such as guided tours, a welcome reception, a meeting with city officials, local transportation, and VIP treatment on marathon day.

Representing your city and country in an international sporting competition can be the experience of lifetime. We accept applications in the spring for the fall Dresden marathon.

While there is no ongoing obligation after running, we hope our alumni runners will continue to support our organization and the program’s runners in future years.

Donors and Sponsors Generously Support the Marathon Exchange Program

To our donors and sponsors …. danke! (thank you)

The marathon program continues through the generosity of individual donors and corporate sponsors. Please consider supporting us in one of the following ways:

Donations and Fundraisers

• Monetary Donations: Individual and corporate donations help Columbus runners cover the cost of traveling to Germany
• Item Donations:
  • Silent auction items can be donated for our fundraising raffles
  • Columbus restaurants can provide gift cards for a Dresden runner to experience the local cuisine
• Attend a Fundraising Event: Runners often host happy hour fundraisers in the summer to raise money for their travel to Germany

To make a monetary donation, contact us via email, or donate through the link below.

Volunteer During Marathon Week

• Volunteer at our water stop on the marathon course during the race
• Serve as a driver to help Dresden runners navigate Columbus during their visit

Host a Dresden Runner at Your Home

• Host families are needed to provide Dresden visitors a safe and welcoming place to stay during their visit

Marathon Program History

Our mission at Dresden Sister City, Inc. is to create opportunities for the residents of Columbus and Dresden to interact, learn from each other and create friendships.

To enhance that mission, the marathon exchange program was created in 2012. That was an important year for Columbus. It was the city’s bicentennial and also the 20^th anniversary of the signing of the Columbus-Dresden Sister City Agreement. The race director for the Columbus Marathon, Darris Blackford, came up with a new idea. What if runners from each city could travel and compete in the other city’s marathon?

20 Columbus Marathon Ambassadors traveled to Dresden in 2012 and participated in the Dresden Marathon. On the same weekend, two Dresden runners came to Columbus and ran in the Columbus Marathon.

Now, over a decade later, the program is still going strong. As of the end of 2025, Columbus has sent 74 runners to Dresden, and we have welcomed 49 Dresden runners in Columbus.