Founded in 2006, the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series links six of the world’s most iconic and popular marathon events. Almost a million runners every year apply for one of the six existing world majors which includes London, Tokyo, Berlin, Boston, Chicago and New York, with 250,000 of the lucky runners who get in participating worldwide. In a little over a decade, completing all six races to become a Six Star Finisher, and the Six Star medal that comes as the reward, has become a big badge of honour in the running world. But it could soon become much, much harder – and more expensive – to join this special club, because the six races are set to become nine as the World Marathon Majors expansion plans take effect.
In 2017, the Abbott World Marathon Majors and the WANDA Group, a leading Chinese private conglomerate inked a ten-year strategic partnership aimed at what it called “the continued growth and development of marathon events worldwide.” Top of the To Do list for this new partnership, is the job of identifying three major marathon races that reach “stringent criteria” for potential inclusion in the AbbottWMM series.
We’ve had some hints as to where these races might be with areas such as Asia (not including Japan) and Africa already highlight as a priority and news from AbbottWMM that Singapore is one of the races definitely being considered. But where else is the World Marathon Majors expansion likely to go? I’ve done a bit of digging and crystal ball gazing, to try and work out where we might have to go, beyond America, England, Germany and Japan to earn that majors gong in future.
What makes a marathon major? What the AbbottWMM and Wanda teams are likely to take into account
“We know that for any race to become an Abbott World Marathon Major, there has to be a strong alliance and desire to succeed from government, emergency services and event organizers.” – Tim Hadzima, general manager of AbbottWMM.
“The benchmark for any race to join the Series is high and the extensive feedback we gave [Singapore] shows the extent of the improvement required and the cooperation needed from all parties involved for Singapore to reach AbbottWMM standards. We also know there are many cities around the globe that recognize the tourism and economic benefits that any new race will gain as part of AbbottWMM series.” These sentiments, in context of the organisation and logistical capabilities of the existing six majors, suggests the bar is going to be set high for any new wannabe major series marathon. Here’s what’s likely to be high on the checklist:
- There will have to be big enough prize money to cover the elite’s pay day, after all creating a series of races that could enhance competition at the fast end was part of the major’s original mission.
- Africa and Asia (but not Japan) have been earmarked so that could mean America and Europe won’t make the cut.
- America already has three majors and that balance is likely to be addressed.
- The race will need a proven track record at handling the scale of races likes those already in the series, this includes the tourist infrastructure as much as it does the race-day logistics.
- It’s likely that new races will come from the pool of AIMS-certified or USATF accredited races as these already meet certain standards.
World Marathon Majors expansion: Where do the runners want to run next?
We asked the World Marathon Majors Facebook group’s 3,790 members which world marathons they would most like to see added to the mix and the results were fairly surprising.
Of the 342 votes cast in this non-scientific poll:
- Athens got almost 28% of the vote. Many of the comments favoured Athens for its marathon heritage.
- Paris was a big favourite, with a lot of people feeling that it’s got the race organisation sorted and would be ready to step up.
- Cape Town was up there too as the favourite African option.
- The keen eyed among you will notice that Sydney’s City to Surf crept in in forth, even though this isn’t a marathon distance, and so we have to ignore that.
If you want to add your vote you can do it here.
Where do you think the World Marathon Majors expansion should go next?
Hit me up on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or share your views on where the World Marathon Majors expansion should head next? If you think it should expand.
Now read this
How to run all the World Marathon Majors
