Abbott World Marathon Majors
8 race weekend guides · checked 2 October 2026
The Abbott World Marathon Majors is a series of eight city marathons, in Tokyo, Boston, London, Cape Town, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York. The first six have been Majors for years. Sydney ran its first race as a Major in 2025, and Cape Town runs its first on 23 May 2027.
Each race keeps its own organiser, entry rules and price, and most fill by a ballot, a qualifying time, a charity place or a tour operator. The series counts the finishes.
How stars and the medal work
You create a free runner portal on the series' site, and each Major you finish adds a star to it. A time in the race's official results is all a star needs, and there is no time limit for collecting them. The portal holds results for Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York back to 2006, for Tokyo back to 2013, and for Sydney from 2025. An older finish can be added by sending proof of the result and of your identity.
The Six Star medal is for the original six, Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York, and the series says that won't change. You tell the series through the portal when you have a place in your sixth, and the medal is given out at that race's finish. Running a Major twice doesn't earn a second star.
Sydney and Cape Town earn stars too. Runners who finished Cape Town in 2026 were given a provisional star, made a full star once the race passed its assessment. The next medal after six is a Nine Star medal. It depends on Shanghai, the remaining candidate, which joins if it passes its assessment in December 2026. If it does, the first Nine Star medals go out in Shanghai in 2027.
The race draws
Runners with three or more stars can enter the series' own draws for places in the Majors. Tokyo and Boston need four or more. In 2026 the series drew 150 places for Boston 2027, 300 for Tokyo, 500 for London and 200 for Cape Town, and 250 each for Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York in 2026. A winner still pays the race's entry fee. You enter from your portal, because nobody is entered automatically.
The races in order
- 11 October 2026 · Chicago, United StatesBank of America Chicago Marathon. Starts and finishes in Grant Park, 55,000 runners through 29 neighbourhoods, and seven world records on the course.
- 1 November 2026 · New York, United StatesTCS New York City Marathon. Five boroughs and five bridges, from Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island to Central Park, with 59,226 finishers in 2025.
- 7 March 2027 · Tokyo, JapanTokyo Marathon. 40,000 runners from the Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku to Gyoko-dori in front of Tokyo Station.
- 19 April 2027 · Boston, United StatesBoston Marathon. The oldest annual marathon, point to point from Hopkinton to Boylston Street on Patriots' Day, for 30,000 runners who mostly qualified.
- 24 and 25 April 2027 · London, United KingdomTCS London Marathon. Two days in 2027, with 45,000 runners on the Saturday and 55,000 on the Sunday, from Greenwich to The Mall.
- 23 May 2027 · Cape Town, South AfricaSanlam Cape Town Marathon. Africa's first Abbott World Marathon Major, starting and finishing in Green Point beside DHL Stadium, with a loop out to Rondebosch Common.
- 29 August 2027 · Sydney, AustraliaTCS Sydney Marathon. The newest of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, from North Sydney over the Harbour Bridge to the Opera House.
- 26 September 2027 · Berlin, GermanyBerlin Marathon. Starts and finishes at the Brandenburg Gate, and has produced 13 world records.
Sources
| The eight Majors | Majors, the series' own site |
| Six Star medal, no time limit, results held, Nine Star plan, extra completions | How it works, the series' own site |
| Cape Town's first race as a Major, provisional stars, the Nine Star medal and Shanghai's assessment | Cape Town Major, the series' own site |
| Shanghai's candidacy, two consecutive passes | Candidate races, the series' own site |
| Draw eligibility, entries per race, paying for a place | Race draws, the series' own site, 2026 draw schedule |
Written from the series' own published information and the individual races' organisers, checked on 2 October 2026.