Yesterday, a confirmation letter from Abbott (below) showed up in my inbox. It got me all excited. I have now run all six Marathon Majors:
- Boston Marathon 2015
- New York City Marathon 2015
- London Marathon 2016
- Berlin Marathon 2016
- Tokyo Marathon 2017
- Chicago Marathon 2017
Fortunately, my journey doesn’t end after running all six. It continues with exotic races in Asia and Africa.
Back in April of this year, it was announced that Abbott has partnered with Wanda Group of China to add 3 new marathons to the existing 6. While it is not official, there is speculation that 2 of these marathons will be in Asia (but not in Japan) and 1 will be in Africa.
A lot of runners who have not already run the six majors are a bit disheartened that their goal is now more distant. For me though, this is welcome news. I’m excited that I will get to visit more exotic lands in the future.
We now know that Singapore Marathon is a front-runner. Since the Wanda Group is based in Beijing, my best guess is that Beijing Marathon will be the other race (although I am hoping they add a Marathon in India). As for Africa, I hope it is either in South Africa (Cape Town) or Kenya (Nairobi).
While they are at it, they should also add a race in Australia and one in South America to nicely round out all the major continents (Antarctica is a different story).
I am recovering slowly after the Chicago Marathon. My legs are still a little heavy but there is improvement with each passing day. I also have the itch to qualify for Boston again. I won’t be surprised if I sign up for a downhill race one of these days.