Six World Marathon Majors

• Boston Marathon is the oldest annually held marathon in the world.
• Kenya’s Amos Kipruto won the 2022 TSC London Marathon clocking 2:04:39.
• Each World Marathon Major has its own set of qualification standards but one can choose to run with a charity partner

Marathon running is one of the major disciplines of athletics usually covering up to 42 kilometres (26 miles 385 yards)

What are the qualifications?

Each World Marathon Major has its own set of qualification standards but one can choose to run with a charity partner or run with a tour group like Marathon Tours & Travel which will guarantee different logistics during the race.

Tokyo Marathon

Tokyo Marathons is an annual marathon event held on the first Sunday in March in Tokyo, Japan.

Athletes compete in the 2019 edition of the Tokyo Marathon on March 3, 2019. Photo | KYODO

The first edition of the Tokyo Marathon was held in 2007 but prior to that, it was called Tokyo International Marathon held jointly with the New York International Marathon the two were held in odd and even years respectively.

It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro.

Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon is also held annually on the third Monday of April in the different cities of Boston, United States of America.

This year’s edition was held in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 18, 2022, with up to 30,000 runners competing in a single race.

The race has been in existence since 1897 with the 2022 Boston Marathon being the 126th edition.

Due to the Russian invasion organizers decided jointly that participants residing in Russia and Belarus not be allowed to take part though it was received with lots of criticism.

Evans Chebet and Peris Jepchirchir won the Elite Men’s and women’s race for 2022.

Evans Chebet crosses the finish line at the 2022 BMW Boston Marathon to win the 126th edition

London Marathon

The London Marathon is an annually held marathon and is arguably the second largest road running marathon held in London, United Kingdom.

It was founded in 1981 by two athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley with Hugh Brasher who is the son of Chris Brasher being the current London Marathon Chief Executive Officer.

The marathon was originally held in April but it was later moved to October in 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year’s marathon was rebranded to TSC London Marathon due to its new head sponsor.

Kenya’s Amos Kipruto won the 2022 TSC London Marathon clocking 2:04:39 with Ethiopia’s Leul Gebresilase finishing in the second position with a time record of 2:05:12.

Yalemzerf Yehualaw and Joyciline Jepkosgei finished in the first and second positions clocking 2:17:26 and 2:18:07 respectively.

Berlin Marathon

The Berlin Marathon has been an athletics stage for many athletes across the world since 1974 with this year’s Berlin Marathon marking the 48th Edition.

Berlin Marathon Marathon registration is always done through a lottery where one can enter the lottery as an individual runner or as a team of either two or three people.

The annually held event is held on the last Sunday of September on the streets of Berlin in Germany except for the 2020 edition which was prohibited due to covid-19 pandemic though all registrants were allowed to transfer their entry to 2021 or obtain a refund.

It includes elite road running competitions for both men and women, Handcycle, Skating, and wheelchair races split into two days.

The Berlin marathon world record has been broken on twelve different occasions with Eliud Kipchoge posting a new marathon record of 2:01:09 at this year’s edition.

Tigist Assefa also posted a new women’s marathon record of 2:15:37 at the 2022 Berlin Marathon race.
It’s sponsored by BMW, Adidas, and other sports partners.

Chicago Marathon

Chicago Marathon, an annual marathon held in October on the streets of Illinois, Chicago labeled under the World Athletics Label Road Race.

It has been owned and organized by Bank of America, and is officially branded as the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Seifu Tura Abdiwak won the elites men’s race at the 2021 Chicago Marathon while Ruth Chepng’etich won the elites women’s race.

New York City Marathon

The New York City Marathon is also one of the major marathons held annually covering up to 42.195 Km (26.219) in New York City.

It was recently rebranded to TCS New York City Marathon after its new head sponsor and it has been in existence since 1970 except in 2012 after the landfall of Hurricane Sandy which led to the cancellation.

The 2020 edition was also canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic which saw major sporting events held still.
New York City Marathon has seen 53,627 finishers with 5 finishers in 2019 and 98,247 applicants for the 2017 race.

It is held on the first Sunday in November with this year’s event set to be held on Sunday 6th November attracting both professionals and amateur competitors from across the world.

Kenya’s Albert Korir won the 2021 men’s race competition with a marathon record of 2:08:22 with Peres Jepchirchir winning the women’s elite race clocking 2:22:39.