The inaugural marathon was held on 22 May 1983.[9][13]
The 2020 edition of the marathon, held on 11 October 2020, was notable for having taken place during the coronavirus pandemic, despite marathons in Riga and nearby Bucharest, scheduled for the same weekend, being cancelled the day before they were to occur.[14][15][16][17][b] In addition, during the start of the 10K race, Serbian Olympian Olivera Jevtić was deliberately pushed by another runner from Bulgaria, who knocked her down.[19][20][21] Jevtić struck her head on the ground, lost consciousness, and suffered a hematoma on her head as a result.[22][19] Furthermore, both runners that were originally declared winners, Viktoriya Khapilina [de] and Youssef Sbaai, were later disqualified by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) because their in-competition samples had tested positive for erythropoietin.[4][23][24][25][26]
^The official results list 526 finishers, but Hassan Laqouahi, who originally placed fifth, was later disqualified for failing an in-competition drug test.[5][6]
^The Riga Marathon, a two-day event, was cancelled on Friday, and the Bucharest Marathon, already stripped down to only the marathon race scheduled for Sunday, and limited to only professional runners, was cancelled on Saturday.[16][17][18]
^The 2012 edition of the race had been considered the 29th Sofia Marathon by the race organizers, while the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) considered it to be the 27th running of the marathon.[32][33]
^The 2013 edition of the race was acknowledged by the race organizers as the 28th time the traditional marathon was run in Sofia.[34] ARRS also used the latter ordinal for the 2013 race, and considered it the 28th running of the marathon.[35] In contrast, several reliable sources, including Bulgarian National Radio and TV+, reported the 2013 race as the 30th anniversary edition (Bulgarian: "30-ото юбилейно издание") of the Sofia Marathon.[36][37]
^The 2014 edition of the race was acknowledged by the race organizers as both the 31st Sofia Marathon and the 29th time the traditional marathon was run in Sofia.[41][1] ARRS also used the latter ordinal for the 2014 race, and considered it the 29th running of the marathon.[42]
^The 2015 edition of the race had been considered the 32nd Sofia Marathon by the race organizers, while ARRS considered it to be the 30th running of the marathon.[45][46]
^The 2016 edition of the race had been considered the 33rd Sofia Marathon by the race organizers, while ARRS considered it to be the 31st running of the marathon.[47][48]
^Youssef Sbaai crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified for failing an in-competition drug test.[4][23][25][53]
^Viktoriya Khapilina [de] crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified for failing an in-competition drug test.[4][24]
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