pickupthepacepaul

The Abbott World Marathon Majors are a collection of some of the biggest and best marathons in the world. They currently consist of: Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and New York City Marathon. Together, these six marathons make up the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and if you complete all of these marathons, you are rewarded with a Six Star Medal. I wrote a blog previously about “How to become a World Marathon Majors Six Star Finisher,” including details of how you can gain entry and likely costs. Many people around the world are on their Six Star Journey, which I completed in Tokyo Marathon 2023. However, this blog looks at my journey this year to complete the Abbott World Marathon Majors slam, which consists of completing all six marathons in a single year.

Completing the Abbott World Marathon Majors can be difficult in many ways. First of all, gaining entry is often the hardest hurdle for people to get over, but then there is the cost involved, logistics, and physical impact of running. Completing all six marathons in a single year adds the physical challenge owing to the short time between each marathon and the additional impact of the transatlantic travel, which certainly takes its toll on your body.

Although it is certainly an accomplishment to complete all six in a year, I want to acknowledge that this is no more special than completing all of the World Marathon Majors. I am in a privileged position to be able to afford to take on this challenge, something which I don’t take for granted. In addition, I am extremely lucky to be able to gain entry to all of the majors in 2023. To put things into perspective (as it is always easy to see things through rose tinted glasses), I completed my first star in London Marathon 2011. It was not until 2023 that I completed my six star journey. Prior to this, I had been unable to gain entry to all the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and for most of this time, I certainly would not have been able to afford it all in a year. The hardest of the majors for me to gain entry to are Tokyo Marathon and Boston Marathon. I found myself in the position of having entry to both in 2023, which created the opportunity for me to go for the slam. This was an opportunity that was too good to miss as I did not know if I would ever get the chance again. I do not have entry to Tokyo and Boston Marathon next year, so I made the decision to finish them all in a year.

Tokyo Marathon 2023

Tokyo Marathon has been the hardest marathon for me to get entry for. The plan was always to complete Tokyo Marathon as my 5th star and try to qualify for Boston Marathon to finish the series. I finally got entry for 2020, but just weeks before the Marathon, the event was cancelled, with the beginning of the Covid Pandemic. I thought I would complete my journey in Boston Marathon 2021, but as the years passed, I started to lose hope about ever getting to Tokyo. In 2023, I was successful in the Abbott draw for a Tokyo Marathon place, and by this time, it was my sixth and final star. It was also the beginning of my Abbott World Marathon Majors slam 2023.

Boston Marathon 2023

I ran Boston Marathon in 2023 for the second time. After struggling to get back to Tokyo Marathon, I trained throughout 2021 to get a Boston Qualifier, something I had been unable to achieve for many years. In fact, my Marathon PB had not improved since 2013, and I had a long way to go just to get to this level. In 2021, I PB’d 3 times, including achieving a Boston Qualifier time on 2 occasions. My PB was run on the last possible day of the entry for 2022, and because of the timing, it actually counted for an entry to 2023. I had seen my Boston Marathon 2022 as a once in a life time experience, but with a place available for 2023 I started to think about the slam, and I knew this opportunity would not be easy to come by again. Plus, I absolutely love Boston Marathon.

London Marathon 2023

London Marathon 2011 was my first marathon. I live in London and there is something special about running London Marathon for me. I had tried to gain entry to the London Marathon for many years before I finally decided to run for charity. I know that for those who live outside of the United Kingdom, it is one of the most difficult races to get entry to, but the reality is that it isn’t much easier for those who live here. The ballot has very low odds. The main way to gain entry is through charity, but it gets harder to keep raising money. I have completed the London Marathon 11 times in total: 1 x ballot entry, 4 x charity entry, and 6 x official Pacer. I also ran virtually in 2020, but this doesn’t count for the six star journey.

Completing the Boston and London Marathons back to back is tough. You complete both in a week, as Boston Marathon is on a Monday and London Marathon on the Sunday of the same week. This doesn’t leave much time for travel and recovery.

Berlin Marathon 2023

I love running Berlin Marathon, and in 2023, I completed Berlin Marathon for the 7th time. I have run once through ballot entry and 6 x Official Pacer. Apart from London Marathon, Berlin is the easiest of the Majors for me to get to, and also the cheapest. I can spend a weekend in Berlin at a relatively low cost and actually complete the journey without taking any time off work. It is the fastest course, although I’m sure the Chicago Marathon might disagree.

Chicago Marathon 2023

Chicago Marathon 2023 is just 2 weeks after Berlin Marathon, so it doesn’t leave a lot of time for recovery. It also includes a lot of travel for me, so I found it tiring. By this point, I was feeling a little run down with a cough and cold that wouldn’t go. I have completed the Chicago Marathon 4 times. 1 x Ballot and 3 x Official Pacer. Chicago Marathon is one of my favourite marathons. It offers everything. It’s a great city to stay, great crowd support, a fast course, and a great finish. I would say London Marathon, Berlin Marathon, and New York City Marathon all have certain parts that are better than the Chicago Marathon. But, Chicago Marathon has it all, and where others have weaknesses in the events (London has some narrow roads, Berlin has less crowd support, New York City Marathon finish and some difficult hills) Chicago Marathon just delivers in every aspect. I think this is the most underrated of the Majors and should be higher up people’s list.

New York City Marathon 2023

New York City Marathon is one of the best marathons in the world, and often referred to by people as their favourite of the Majors. It is a pretty special event, and the crowds are amazing. In 2023, I completed the New York City Marathon for the 3rd time as an official pacer. I had an absolutely amazing time as always, but I was certainly feeling tired, and my cough and cold that I picked up in early September is still lingering.

I had a perfect race until about mile 24 at the New York City Marathon, where I lost some time because of the congestion of the course. Although the crowds are wonderful, a lot of the course is taken as spectators stand on the actual course, making it narrow and difficult to run. As I began to pick up the pace to keep on track, at mile 25.5, a medic ran out of the side, right into me head on. This ended my pacing as I stumbled back, and my body all of a sudden realised the lactic acid build up. I couldn’t get back on pace, and so I strolled the last half a mile, really disappointed with myself. It was not how I wanted to end the New York City Marathon and not the best way to finish the Abbott World Marathon Majors slam. But in the grand scheme of things, I finished just over a minute slower than I wanted, and that’s not bad. I also had a blast completing all of the majors in a single year.

Abbott World Marathon Majors slam

So what’s next? Now I’ve completed the slam. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Maybe I need to save a little more first, and this would rely on me getting an entry in all the races, which I don’t have at the moment. Boston Marathon will be the hardest as I need to get back into qualification shape (which I’m nowhere near). Then the rest of the Majors are so difficult to get a spot for, I certainly am not running many in 2024, and I would be lucky to get a place in them all again in the future.

There is, of course, the likelihood that the Abbott World Marathon Majors will increase from 6 to 7,8, or 9. I certainly will not be able to complete them all in a year, and we don’t yet know what will happen, if the 6 star will be replaced or an additional award will be given for completing them all. It is looking likely that Sydney Marathon will join next, possibly in 2025, as the World Age Group Championships will be held in Sydney Marathon 2024. Controversially, all those that take place in the Championships will be given a prospective star for “if” Sydney becomes a major. This would not be happening unless it was very likely that Sydney would become a major. This announcement is the first time I’ve ever been disappointed with the approach of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, as up until this point it has been an inclusive achievement (putting aside the obvious financial element). It hasn’t mattered how fast you are. If you complete the event, you get a star. However, this decision will treat those competing in the Age Group Championships differently than everyone else. Despite it being the same event, it has been announced that you will only be given the provisional star if you are in the championship. This means it is only for the fastest runners in the world. It also means that if you are 18 – 39, you are disadvantaged because regardless of how fast you are, there is no championship for this age group.

I am looking forward to more Majors being added, and I agree that a date needs to be agreed upon when an event will count as a major. However, until it is equally available for all, I don’t think any decisions on the Majors should be made. What do you think??