Abbott World Marathon Majors
Endurance athletes all have those long term pie in the sky goals as they delve deeper into the sport. It might be to complete an Ironman triathlon, finish a marathon, etc. For me, running the Boston Marathon was my pie in the sky goal. But even as the date got nearer to actualizing that goal, I was already thinking about what would be next. A much longer term goal for me is to complete all six of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.
The marathon majors are the largest and most renowned marathons that the elite runners in the world compete in for cash prizes. These races consist of marathons in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York and Tokyo. These events also celebrate all of us amateur athletes by offering the Six Star System which commemorates completing all six races with a phat medal to show off your accomplishment. Worldwide, there are only 6,615 Six Star finishers. Rare air indeed!
Arguably, Boston is the hardest of the six races to complete, as it’s the only marathon that requires one to qualify for. Out of the 30,000 runners, seventy five percent of them have met the qualifying time standard to run the race. The remainder that compete in Boston are those slots that Boston allocates to charity runners. So luckily for me, I’ve knocked that race out a handful of times and signing up for the rest should be easy, right? Not exactly.
All of the other races allow a guaranteed entry for meeting time qualifications, which are harder than Boston’s fastest requirement. However, all of the other races also allow entry based on a lottery system, which makes getting into these events extremely difficult. As an example, I’ve thrown my name in the hat for the New York marathon five or six times already and each time, it’s a no. Each race also allows a portion of charity runners to get into the race if they fundraise for select charities as dictated by that race. But with so many around the whole globe wanting to run these races, it’s super tough to get in. Here’s another factoid to exclaim the point, last year’s London Marathon had over four hundred thousand apply for only 17, 500 positions – a four percent chance of getting in. Mulitply that difficulty by six, and you quickly see how tough getting into all six can be.
So my journey to compete in and finish all six marathon majors will definitely be a long one. Even if I get into one of these races each year for the next five years (which is unlikely), travel costs and staying healthy enough to train for them provide more challenges in seeing this goal to fruition. But I’m completely down for it! Sign me up! Luckily, there is no time limit in completing all six races so that allow for better planning and logistics. Pre-covid, I was already eyeballing options at getting into New York other than the lottery. For Chicago, I was looking to run a fast enough time in Boston to qualify for that major. But we all know how well that went… For the overseas races, I’ll most likely go the charity route to guarantee an entry into those events. A big part of the challenge won’t be just finishing these coveted races, but in finding creative ways to get into these races! Let’s go!
