The Abbott World Marathon Majors is a series of six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world: Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America, TCS London Marathon, BMW BERLIN-MARATHON, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and TCS New York City Marathon. The organisers of the events are united in their effort to advance the sport, raise awareness of its elite athletes, and inspire the world through the power of the marathon.
Encompassing an annual series for elite runners and elite wheelchair athletes AbbottWMM also applauds the achievements and passion of everyday champions from around the world.
The AbbottWMM Six Star System is an online results hub that celebrates every runner who has completed from one to six of the races in the series and encourages them to 'Reach for the Stars'.
The AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings comprise results from more than 375 marathons around the world, ranking runners against their age group peers in five-year categories from 40-44 through to 80+. The fastest runners in the rankings qualify for the Age Group World Championship. The fourth edition of the championship will be held within the 2024 Sydney Marathon on September 15.
The AbbottWMM Global Run Club launched in August 2020 and aims to bring together the global community of marathon runners on a virtual platform.
Series Format
The AbbottWMM champions are determined through a one-year cycle of Qualifying Races featuring unprecedented anti-doping protocols. Series XVI began at the Tokyo Marathon and concludes at the TCS New York City Marathon in November. The AbbottWMM series cycle consists of the six Majors along with the Olympic/Paralympic Marathon and the World Athletics/World Para Athletics Championships Marathon in the years they occur.
Points System
The champions of the AbbottWMM series are the male and female athletes who score the greatest number of points from Qualifying Races during the series. During each scoring period, points from a maximum of two Qualifying Races will be scored. An athlete must start in two Qualifying Races over the Series cycle to be eligible for the championship. If an athlete earns points in more than two events, the athlete's highest two finishes will be scored. The wheelchair series follows the same rules, but points from an athlete’s best four races count towards the total, or best five during years with a Paralympic Games or World Championships.
Points are allocated following each race as follows:
| 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place | 5th place |
| 25 points | 16 points | 9 points | 4 points | 1 point |
Wheelchair bonus points
The bonus point competition is part of the AbbottWMM Wheelchair Series in all six races for Series XVI. In London it will once again take the format of The Flying 400. This will be a sprint over a 400m distance starting just after the 20km point (12.5 miles) on the north side of Tower Bridge and finishing on East Smithfield. The fastest athlete between these two points of the course in both the men’s and women’s wheelchair races will win $6,500, with the runner-up receiving $2,500 and third place $1,000. The fastest finisher of the 400m sprint will also be awarded eight bonus points in the AbbottWMM Series XVI rankings.
An athlete can win the additional eight bonus points at a maximum of three races during Series XVI. If an athlete has won three sprint competitions during Series XV’I, s/he can still ‘block’ another athlete from earning the points by finishing first in another sprint competition.
Doping Violations
Under AbbottWMM rules, no athlete who has been found guilty of any anti-doping rules enforced by World Athletics, World Anti-Doping Association (WADA), National Federations, or any of the individual AbbottWMM races is eligible to win the AbbottWMM championship title. Athletes must comply with the AbbottWMM Code of Conduct.
Series XV champions are:
- Men’s Elite: Kelvin Kiptum (KEN)
- Women’s Elite: Sifan Hassan (NED)
- Men’s Wheelchair: Marcel Hug (SUI)
- Women’s Wheelchair: Catherine Debrunner (SUI)
You can view all the previous Series winners here.
Abbott World Marathon Majors Races – Series XV (Elite and Wheelchair Series)
- Tokyo Marathon - 3 March 2024
- Boston Marathon - 15 April 2024
- TCS London Marathon - 21 April 2024
- BMW BERLIN-MARATHON - 29 September 2024
- Bank of America Chicago Marathon - 13 October 2024
- TCS New York City Marathon - 3 November 2024