What it takes to become an Abbott World Marathon Majors race
If you are a marathon runner , chances are you would have heard of the Abbott World Marathon Majors ( AbbottWMM ), an exclusive club that features six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world : Tokyo Marathon , Boston Marathon , London Marathon , Berlin Marathon , Chicago Marathon and New York City Marathon .
The big dreamers lucky enough to have made it through these events ’ entry lottery – or gained a guaranteed entry through an official travel partner – would have experienced at least one of these races . A fortunate few would have run all six to earn the coveted AbbottWMM Six Star Medal . To date , only 49 South Africans have achieved this goal .
Now , the Abbott World Marathon Majors are looking to expand to a seventh marathon by 2025 , and the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon is one of three races in the running , along with Australia ’ s Sydney Marathon , China ’ s Chengdu Marathon .
A Major Journey
As it enters its first year as a Candidate event , Sanlam Cape Town Marathon already meets many of the stringent requirements set by the Abbott World Marathon Majors , but one area that required change was the route .
According to Race Director Renee Jordaan , the addition of an elite wheelchair division ( one of the requirements ) meant that the organising team had to revisit the existing route and work with the City of Cape Town to come up with a solution would maintain the perfect balance between meeting the AbbottWMM route requirements and minimising the traffic impact on the City and affected areas on Race Day .
Receiving the green light from the City was an important milestone and one of the major hurdles
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