Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 118, May 2019 | Page 14

ROAD RUNNING
Chasing the Star
London, Berlin, Tokyo, New York, Boston and Chicago... These are the ‘big six’ that
make up the Abbots World Marathon Majors Series. While the media focus tends to
be on who amongst the elites will be the overall series winner, for most runners it
is about finishing all of these bucket list big city marathons and earning the unique,
sought after ‘star medal’ that says you have done something remarkable. One of
these ‘star performers’ is South Africa’s Mphokolo Makara, who was drawn to the
travel and new experiences of the challenge. – BY MANFRED SEIDLER
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ISSUE 118 MAY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
W
hen Mphokolo Makara finished the London
Marathon in April, she completed the
sixth and final race in the Abbots World
Marathon Majors (WMM) Series, earning herself a
WMM Star medal. The banker in infrastructure finance
took up running in 2005, and says, “I started to run
for health reasons, to stay fit and generally look
after myself. As I got fitter, the challenges came. You