The World Marathon Majors

The World Marathon Majors is a series of seven marathons around the world and growing

In 2006 the organisers of the London Marathon joined forces with four of the world's most well known marathons, New York, Boston, Chicago and Berlin. Later Tokyo was added to create the World Marathon Majors. It has changed over the years and there are now feeder events and in 2025 the Sydney Marathon was added. They are all very hard to get into and doing all seven is the holy grail for many runners.

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What is the World Marathon Majors series?

The World Marathon Majors is a series of seven of the biggest marathons in the world: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Sydney.

Initially established as an initiative to ensure consistently high standards amongst the events and to reward the elite runners it has since broadened to focus on amateur runners. There is now the age group ranking for those at the faster end of the market, with more than 350 partner races involved, and the six star medal to encourage runners to do all six. Getting into all six is a challenge in itself however. They are all very difficult to get a spot in, but where there's a will there's a way. If you don't get in through the respective ballots there are always tour operators or charities.

What are the seven events?

• London

Field Size - 45,000

Date - April each year. The exact Sunday varies.

How do you get a spot? - There is a ballot, which is notoriously hard to get a spot through, but there are hundreds of UK charities with spots and some will have these available until a few weeks before the race. Fundraising targets are anything from $2k to $5k. A limited number of US charities have entries but they will ask anything from $5k to $10k for these. Tour operators also have entries available for international runners.

Event website - https://www.tcslondonmarathon.com/

Here's our post on London

• New York

Field Size - 50,000

Date - First Sunday in November each year

How do you get a spot? - There is a ballot, which is also very hard to get a spot through, but there are many US charities with entries in the event. They will ask for anything from $3k to $10k fundraising and they generally fill quickly. Many will be oversubscribed. Tour operators also have entries available for international runners.

Event website - https://www.nyrr.org/tcsnycmarathon

Here's our post on New York

• Berlin

Field Size - 50,000

Date - September each year. Exact Sunday varies.

How do you get a spot? - There is a ballot, and many global charities have entries in the event. In the US they ask for around $3k to $5k, with less in the UK and less again in mainland Europe where fundraising expectations are generally much lower. Tour operators also have entries available for international runners.

Event website - https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/

Here's our post on Berlin

• Chicago

Field Size - 45,000

Date - October each year

How do you get a spot? - There is a ballot, and there are nearly 200 US charities with entries in the event. Fundraising targets are lower here than New York and Boston. There are very few overseas charities with spots available. Tour operators also have entries available for international runners.

Event website - https://www.chicagomarathon.com/

Here's our post on Chicago

• Boston

Field Size - 30,000

Date - April each year on Patriot's Day.

How do you get a spot? - This one is different from the others as it's based on qualifying times. There is a window of a few days where those that have run a qualifying time in the preceding year can apply for a spot. Achieving a qualifying time doesn't guarantee a spot. There are a small number of local US charities with entries in the event and generally they will ask for anything from $5k to $10k fundraising and they fill quickly. Many will be oversubscribed. Tour operators also have entries available for international runners. This event has the smallest field of any of the Majors.

Event website - https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon

Here's our post on Boston

• Tokyo

Field Size - 37,500

Date - March each year

How do you get a spot? - There is a ballot, which is also very hard to get a spot through, but there are a number of Japanese charities with entries in the event. Very few international charities have entries. All will be oversubscribed. Tour operators also have entries available for international runners and these will again be oversubscribed.

Event website - https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/

Here's our post on Tokyo

Sydney

Field Size - 35,000

Date - August/September each year

How do you get a spot? - Now it's in the Majors it will be much harder to get a spot. There are tour operator entries and a charity programme.

Event website - https://www.tcssydneymarathon.com/

Here's our post on Sydney

How does it all work?

• The series medal

Introduced in 2016 the Six Star Medal encourages runners to take part in all 7 events. There is now a hub on the website where runners can claim their stars. If they do that after they have run all 7 their medal will be mailed to them. If they email in advance of their seventh event the medal will be presented at the finish line.

There is a hall of fame on the site where all runners who have claimed their stars and who have been awarded a seven star medal are listed.

• Age Group Rankings

For faster runners there are the Age Group Rankings. There are over 350 qualifying races in the Age Group World Rankings in which athletes in nine separate age groups can compete in marathons across the world to earn a global ranking. Runners will be ranked according to their single fastest time in a qualifying event.

Any runner achieving the Automatic Qualifying Time for their age group will receive an immediate invitation for the 2024 Age Group World Championships, with a date and location to be confirmed.

All runners need to be registered on the website.

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Is it worth it?

It's always good to be awarded another medal so if you are one of the lucky ones and can finance trips to all seven and get a spot in all seven it's worth signing up and getting it. The age group rankings are an option if you're a faster runner but aren't a major incentive for most runners.

Series website

To find out more and sign up go to https://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/