The Folk Song Marathon (1988 – 1990) gathered several thousand runners during the revival, of which 250 - 300 finished at a distance of 42 km.

The participants of this marathon were provided with both grand cash prizes (1000 German Marks for the first place winners), a pennant, and the then exotic fruit - banana - at the finish line.

735 participants took part in the first Riga Marathon, a third of which were local runners, around 30 representatives of Western countries, and the rest from the USSR.

Runners from the Eastern Bloc were deterred from participating by the new visa regime, while Westerners might find the trip to Latvia too risky.

[8][9] But the organizers reached a new peak after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, winning the right to hold the first World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga (World Athletics Road Running Championships Riga 23) on 30 September - 1 October 2023.

The start and finish line of the marathon is set on the 11 November Embankment [lv] next to Riga Castle.

[10] The marathon course crosses over the Daugava river via the Vanšu, Stone, and Island Bridges, and also includes a section that runs through the cobblestoned streets of Old Riga.

Each year, one of Latvia's well-known artists is entrusted with creating a different design for the marathon's official running shirts and medals.

Artists who have created designs for Riga Marathon shirts - Andris Vītoliņš, Ieva Iltnere, Ritums Ivanovs, Elita Patmalniece, Ella Kruļanska, Krišs Salmanis, Ilmārs Blumbergs, Raimonds Staprāns, Anna Heinrihsone, Maija Kurševa, Gustavs Klucis (the 2018 shirt design used the artwork of G. Klucis, which was bought at an auction on 18 November 2017, specially for the Latvian centenary marathon shirt),[18] MARE&ROLS and Jānis Šneiders.

[19] The designs of the 2022 Riga Marathon shirts and medals were created by the head of the painting department of the Art Academy of Latvia, associate professor Kristiāns Brekte.

[20] In 2023 all finishers received medals designed by Latvia’s most famous graphic artist, Paulis Liepa.