The World Marathon Majors: A Runner's Guide to All Seven

For decades the Abbott World Marathon Majors were a six-race pilgrimage: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. In 2025 Sydney joined as the seventh — the first addition in the series' history — and the finisher medal chase gained a hemisphere.

The seven, at a glance

• Tokyo (March): immaculate organization, cool racing weather, and crowds that cheer with choreographed politeness. Entry mostly by heavily oversubscribed lottery.
• Boston (April, Patriots' Day): the oldest annual marathon (since 1897) and the only Major you must qualify for by time. Point-to-point, famously hilly late — prestige measured in quad damage.
• London (April): monumental crowds, Cutty Sark and Tower Bridge, and the world's most oversubscribed ballot — recent editions drew over 800,000 applicants.
• Sydney (August/September): the newcomer — harbour views, the Opera House finish, and a southern-hemisphere date that fits neatly opposite the traditional spring/autumn calendar.
• Berlin (September): the fast one. Flat, sweeping boulevards where more world records have fallen than anywhere else. Full guide here.
• Chicago (October): pancake-flat loop through 29 neighbourhoods, huge and superbly organized — where Kelvin Kiptum ran the men's world record 2:00:35 in 2023 and Ruth Chepngetich broke the women's barrier with 2:09:56 in 2024.
• New York (November): the biggest marathon on Earth — five boroughs, five bridges, and a wall of sound up First Avenue. Hard course, unforgettable day. Guide here.

Getting in

Four routes cover every Major: the lottery/ballot (free to enter, long odds), qualifying times (Boston always; the others offer good-for-age or fast-time entries), charity places (guaranteed entry for fundraising commitments), and official tour operators. Serious Star-chasers typically mix all four over several years.

Running them all

Finish every Major and Abbott awards the Six Star medal — with Sydney's addition, a seventh star era has begun. Thousands of runners now carry the medal; the journey typically spans five to ten years and is, by common testimony, the best excuse for travel ever invented.

Nobody remembers the splits from their third Major. Everybody remembers the noise on Tower Bridge and First Avenue.