Ask the Coach: Chasing the Seven Star Medal – can mid-40s marathon enthusiasts realistically achieve the major marathons?

I’m in my mid-40s and enjoy the challenge of the marathons. I keep hearing about the famous ‘The Seven Star Medal’. How realistic is it to try and achieve the famous seven major marathons? Is it really only for fast runners/elite runners?

Heidi

Running coach answer: Chasing the Seven Star Medal – is it only for fast runners/elite runners?

As we get older, it is good to reset aims to keep us interested and challenged. I have had the pleasure of being a world-ranked athlete in my 20s, but then having to find new challenges as age inevitably slowed me down. The Abbott Marathon Majors didn’t exist in my competitive days, but I would have been interested in running all seven when I became a more social runner. Those days are behind me now, and I am happy with a 10k!

The seven Majors are Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Sydney.

Originally, it was five. Tokyo was added soon after the Majors’ idea’ was dreamt up to make it more global. It has recently become seven, as Sydney was added for 2025, Cape Town is being considered, and Shanghai looks like it is joining the list of events that are trying to meet the very exacting set to join the group.

The original concept was to produce a Grand Slam of top marathons for professional athletes. Elite runners could be incentivised to enter these particular races. This would further build the profiles of the top races, and also of the elite runners. Elite runners gain points, based on their performances in the Majors series and at the World Champs and Olympic Games. Points mean prize money, of course.

Once the Majors were introduced for the elite field, the unique status of road running as a sport that allows for all to run in the same event as the professionals, led to interest in how the Majors could be rolled out to those who make up the majority of the races, the non-elite runners. A global sponsor, that didn’t clash with sponsors of the individual races, came along. Abbott saw an opportunity to market its health programme to a large number of fitness-orientated individuals. And thus, the Marathon Majors was born. As a reward for running all seven, the ‘Seven Star’ medal has become the ultimate marathon runner’s challenge and prize.

The growth of the Marathon Majors can be seen in the growth in the size of each of the races: Berlin added 17,000 entrants to their normal 40,000 runners in 2024, as it celebrated its 50th year. New York has been at over 50,000 for some time, London has grown to 50,000 plus (it was 19,000 when I won it in 1983), and I have just come back from Chicago, which also went over 50,000 runners.

However, the increase in the size of the races does not make them easier to get into. London had a ballot entry of 830,000 who applied for the 2025 marathon; clearly, not a very high percentage of the huge number of applicants get in via the ballot.

One of the other recognised routes is through a charity link-up. Most marathons have them, where charities are allocated space – you will need to raise a fairly large donation for the charity to get one of those guaranteed places. A list of official charities for each race is displayed on their websites.

Tour operators also get an allocation of guaranteed places. This is slightly historic, as in the early days, tour operators were tasked with promoting the events abroad at a time when the races were less well known. For the ITP (International Travel Partner) places, as they are known, you will have to buy a travel package from the Tour Operator and live in the country you are applying from. If there is no agent in your country, some races allow you to book with an agent in another country. Each race has a list of the agents it authorises to be part of the ITP programme. Entry through an ITP is more costly than the ballot as they have to pay a higher premium to secure the guaranteed spots. Check out Running Tours.

Finally, if you have navigated the various ways of gaining entry to some of the Majors, and you need one or two more to complete the seven, Abbott, as sponsor, has a scheme for a secondary ballot for those people. You need to register on the Abbott Marathon Majors website for these.

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