For me, as with most marathon runners, completing the six marathon majors and earning that huge six star medal was my big long-term goal of mine ever since I ran my first marathon in Paris back in 2017. Back then I don’t think I quite anticipated just how challenging it would be. Running 6 marathons is hard work, and arranging and paying for the travel to all these cities is a challenge, especially given the cost of living increases seen during 2022/23, but the hardest thing of all was actually getting into these races.

Currently, there are six marathons on the Abbott World Marathon Major list: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago & New York. They have announced that this is being reviewed and it is highly likely more races will be added to the series in the coming years but for now (May 2023) let’s stick to six.

In April 2023 I finally completed my six star journey in Boston having started in 2017 in Berlin.

As of this May 2024 update, I have run 12 World Marathon Majors listed below with links to my race recaps, and scheduled to run Chicago and New York this autumn:

• 2017: Berlin & New York City
• 2018: London, Chicago & New York City
• 2019: Tokyo & New York City
• 2022: New York City
• 2023: Boston & London
• 2024: Boston, London, Chicago & New York City

I thought I would pull together all of the information I have gathered from gaining entry into these races and post some links to qualifying standards and tour operators which you may find useful.

Tokyo Marathon

Of all six majors, Tokyo was the one that did not excite me as much as the other five, I think this is just because it is so far away from the UK and I suffer badly from jetlag so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Once I got there, I had an amazing experience and all the worries I had came to nothing,

Tokyo can be one of the more tricky ones to get into with the only qualifying times being super-fast. The lottery is the main way to secure a place and is heavily oversubscribed leaving chances of getting a race place slim. There are also places available with charities based in Japan and this was the method I used to gain entry in 2019.

As of the 2023 race, entry cost 23,300 YEN for Japanese residents and 25,300 YEN for overseas residents.

Registration is via the Tokyo Marathon website – https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/

Lottery:

The lottery is the main way to enter the Tokyo Marathon. The window for applications usually opens in mid-August and runs for a few weeks with results announced in late September. The lottery is free to enter, you then have until early October to pay the registration fee.

In 2019 there were 30,000 race places available through the lottery with approximately 320,000 entering the draw, leaving a slim less than 10% chance of being picked out. Post-COVID I can only imagine these odds have got even tougher.

For Tokyo, the lottery is opened a month after the charity place window. You may want to consider looking at charity options if you really want to run the race this year as once the lottery is drawn, there are no other options. They are very strict around race places.

RUN as ONE Semi-Elite:

In 2019 300 places were available through the semi-elite RUN as ONE entry method. RUN as ONE is designed to provide a way in for fast overseas runners who have met the qualifying standard: MEN: sub 02:32:00 & WOMEN sub 03:19:00 over the full marathon distance. Applications are accepted in early August for two weeks.

Check out the RUN as ONE section of the Tokyo Marathon website for the most up-to-date information – https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/participants/run-as-one/

Tour Partner:

Using a tour operator for Tokyo can be an expensive option but as they can arrange flights, accommodation and a race place this can take a lot of stress out of the whole process. Places are very limited and sell out really fast so make sure to be on any notification or waitlists to give yourself the best chance.

I wasn’t able to find a list of official tour operators on the Tokyo Marathon website so it is worth doing a Google search for your local tour operator, but typically the same companies cover all of the marathon majors. Please do your usual due diligence when searching for a tour operator, not all companies are legit. In the UK the main tour operators I know of are Sports Tours International or 2:09 Events and Marathon Tours are worth a look. I have previously used Sports Tours on four occasions and have only great things to say about them. Similarly, friends have used 2:09 and also have great things to say but I am not sure whether they still offer the Tokyo marathon.

Charity:

In 2023 there were 4,000 places available via the charity donation method. These are not first-come first-served but do sell out very fast. The registration window opens in July for a few weeks, it is worth noting that the lottery window does not open until the following month. In 2019, the charity places were filled within the first week, it would have been sooner than that but they experienced system issues causing a temporary suspension of registrations.

To apply you have to follow the 4 steps outlined below (correct as of May 2023):

In 2019, each charity asked for a donation of at least 100,00 YEN and you pay this donation upfront before being allocated a race place. I believe that this minimum donation amount is set to be increased for 2024.

I used the charity option to secure my race place for 2019 and decided to pay the 100,000 YEN donation myself, this worked out at around £670. I could then arrange my own flights and accommodation, which, when all totalled up saved me around £1,000 compared to using a Tour Operator.

Below is a link to the official charities page and a list of the available charities.

Tokyo Marathon Charities

Boston Marathon

For most people, this will probably be the most difficult of the majors to get into. Unlike the other five, Boston does not run a lottery to award race places.

More than 80% of race bibs are given to people who have run a qualifying time, although not quite as fast as some of the other majors, these times do put a race place out of reach for a lot of people. There are a few other options but they are very limited.

I was fortunate enough to run a BQ at the 2019 Tokyo Marathon and was set to run Boston and claim my six star finisher medal in April 2020 and well, we all know what happened in 2020. I then used that BQ to register for October 2021 and missed out due to the US travel ban! Thankfully, I managed to BQ again at the 2022 Paris Marathon and finally completed my six star journey in April 2023.

A race place will cost $225 for US residents and $235 for non-US residents.

Qualifying Time:

These are the official qualifying times required to be considered for a race place, however, as race places are in such high demand the actual time required to gain entry is often a few minutes inside of the qualifying standard, although for 2022 and 2023 everyone who registered was awarded a place.

In recent years, the registration window has been opened mid-September for a 5 day period where everyone can apply, and their times are verified (you can pre-verify your qualifying time ahead of the registration window via the BAA Athletes Village) and ranked based on the amount of time you are inside of the qualifying standard. This is not first-come first-served. They then offer race bibs to the fastest applicants until they fill up all available start places.

Please click here to view the most up-to-date information on qualifying times as those stated below may have changed since the 2023 registration period.

Age Group	Men	Women
18 – 34	3hrs 00min 00sec	3hrs 30min 00sec
35 – 39	3hrs 05min 00sec	3hrs 35min 00sec
40 – 44	3hrs 10min 00sec	3hrs 40min 00sec
45 – 49	3hrs 20min 00sec	3hrs 50min 00sec
50 – 54	3hrs 25min 00sec	3hrs 55min 00sec
55 – 59	3hrs 35min 00sec	4hrs 05min 00sec
60 – 64	3hrs 50min 00sec	4hrs 20min 00sec
65 – 69	4hrs 05min 00sec	4hrs 35min 00sec
70 – 74	4hrs 20min 00sec	4hrs 50min 00sec
75 – 79	4hrs 35min 00sec	5hrs 05min 00sec
80 & over	4hrs 50min 00sec	5hrs 20min 00sec

Tour Partner:

Another option is with your local tour operator. I tried to find a list of these on the BAA website but either I need glasses or it wasn’t listed. Tour Partners do not get many places for the Boston Marathon. For 2019, Sports Tours International were only given 40 race spots and as you can imagine, these sold out in minutes so you need to be prepared and ready to go once they go on sale. A waiting list is opened around March so get yourself on that to be notified of the on-sale date. It is worth noting that tour operators will prioritise their loyal customers by offering places firstly to those on the wait list who have been on 4 or more trips with them and on a sliding scale down from there.

Using a tour partner is something I have done on four occasions to date. It can be more expensive but it does take a lot of the stress out of travel planning as most will include flights, accommodation, transfers, travel insurance and that all-important race place or a mixture of these. You also get the assistance of some knowledgeable staff on the ground, they can escort you to the expo or answer questions and sort out any issues that may arise.

I have always used Sports Tours International and had some amazing experiences in Chicago and New York. I know other people who have used 2:09 Events and had similarly great experiences although looking on their website in 2023 I cannot see Boston listed. Another good option could be Marathon Tours.  

Charity:

Around 2,000 places are available through charities, a list of which is below. You can expect to be required to raise in excess of $5,000 if you do not have a race bib with most charities asking you to meet certain checkpoints with your fundraising, if you fail to meet any of these they could charge the difference to your credit card or retract your race place. In addition to this, most charities will charge you a fee for applying before considering your application and be prepared to have a very robust fundraising plan to hand as many charities will ask to see this during the application phase.

Boston Marathon Charities

London Marathon

I have been lucky enough to have run the London Marathon twice. In 2018 via a charity bib for the British Heart Foundation and in 2023 via a good-for-age qualifying time.

London offers a number of entry methods with the highest proportion of runners (17,000) gaining entry through the lottery, although, the odds of getting a place through the lottery get slimmer and slimmer each year. In 2019 414,000 entered the lottery with a 4% – 6% chance of being one of the lucky ones. For most non-UK residents, getting into the London marathon is the toughest of any of the six marathon majors as the qualifying time (good for age) is only open to UK residents (as of May 2023).

A race place will cost £69.99 from 2024.

More info can be found on their main website – https://www.tcslondonmarathon.com/

Qualifying Time:

Qualifying times or good for age, are only available to UK residents and have just been revised down for the 2025 London. In 2024 6,000 places were available to those who met the below qualifying standards. These are split equally between men & women. As with most of the marathon majors now, simply running a qualifying time does not guarantee a race place, the recommendation is, if you are not more than 10 minutes under the qualifying time for your age group, enter the lottery as well as the Good for Age time. That being said, my GFA time for 2023 was “only” 5mins 49sec under the 40-44 AG standard. The application window is usually open for around in early June and you are notified by mid-August with payment expected to be made before month end.

Please click here to view the most up-to-date information on qualifying times as those stated below may have changed since the 2023 registration period.

Age Group	Men	Women
18 – 39	sub 2:55	sub 3:40
40 – 44	sub 3:00	sub 3:45
45 – 49	sub 3:05	sub 3:48
50 – 54	sub 3:10	sub 3:55
55 – 59	sub 3:15	sub 4:00
60 – 64	sub 3:37	sub 4:25
65 – 69	sub 3:55	sub 4:55
70 – 74	sub 4:55	sub 5:55
75 – 79	sub 5:10	sub 6:15
80 – 84	sub 5:30	sub 6:40
85 – 89	sub 6:10	sub 7:10
90+	sub 7:20	sub 7:45

Championship Entry:

If you are a member of an athletics club associated with British Athletics and run a championship qualifying time (see below) over either the marathon or half marathon distance during the two years prior to race day you can apply for a Championship Entry. Applications are usually open by early June.

Please click here to view the most up-to-date information on Championship Entry times as those stated below may have changed since the 2023 registration period.

	Men	Women
Full Marathon	sub 2:40	sub 3:14
Half Marathon	sub 1:12.30	sub 1:28

British Athletics Club:

In 2024 1,515 places were given to athletics clubs associated with British Athletics. These clubs then awarded one of their members a place in the marathon. From my experience, these are again awarded by an internal club lottery.

The number of entries your running club may receive is based on the number of first claim members the club has. Clubs with fewer than 10 first claims do not receive an entry, clubs with 10-39 first claims are entered into a ballot for a total of 228 entries (1 per club) then clubs with 40-189 first claims receive 1 entry and any clubs with 190 or more receive 2 entries.

Lottery:

The lottery is open for UK and international runners and is open for one week at the end of April with results announced in June. The lottery is free to enter, you are only charged the race fee once you are successful. For the 2024 London Marathon, a record 578,374 people entered the ballot, whilst the exact number of places awarded in the lottery is unclearly estimates would be fewer than 20,000 places are allocated via the lottery, meaning the odds of gaining entry are slim but you have to be in it to win it so they say.

International Tour Partners:

A number of places are available through your local tour partner, I have linked the official list below. UK residents cannot use their local tour partners such as Sports Tours or 2:09 events, they do not have race places but can assist with hotel bookings. 

London Marathon International Tour Partners

Charity:

In 2023 15,000 places were available through a huge number of charities. Below is a link to the official charities offering places in the marathon. Fundraising minimum pledges are typically between £2,500 – £3,500 although some smaller charities can ask for less. There are also US-based charities which offer places in the London Marathon.

London Marathon Charities

In 2018 I ran the London marathon for The British Heart Foundation dressed as a love heart in memory of my mum, where the fundraising target was £2,000.

Berlin Marathon

Berlin is the flat PR potential course and as a result very popular with those after a fast race time as well as those chasing the six marathon majors. As with all other marathon majors, the lottery is massively oversubscribed leaving roughly a 12% chance of getting a race place this way, the qualifying times are equally as difficult to run with just three age groups and really fast times required.

A race place will cost you €163.

Qualifying Time:

As mentioned above, these times are fast and with just three age groups you could be trying to meet the standard for a long time. One thing that stands out to me is the difference required for an 18-year-old male is just 40mins faster than that of an 80-year-old male, maybe I will be able to qualify if I can hold my current PB for the next 20 years.

Registration for a qualifying time place runs for three weeks from mid-October to the beginning of November with the results announced three weeks later.

Age Group	Men	Women
18 – 44	sub 2:45	sub 3:00
45 – 59	sub 2:55	sub 3:20
60 & over	sub 3:25	sub 4:10

Lottery:

The lottery is free to enter, the window opens mid-October and runs for three weeks with the results announced at the end of November.

Tour Partners:

There are a lot of tour partners to choose from, all listed on the link below. Make sure to double-check what is included as I noticed some include flights, accommodation, and race places, some don’t actually include race entry so be careful!

Berlin Marathon Tour Partners

Charity:

Charity places are available from the day after the lottery & qualifying windows close (8th Nov in 2018). Below is a link to the official charities page but you can typically be expected to pledge around £1,000 to gain your race place.

Berlin Marathon Charities

I ran for Prostate Cancer UK in 2017 and have included the link to their Berlin Marathon page as this is a cause I feel passionate about and wish to encourage others to help and support the work that these guys are doing. Also in 2017, their fundraising pledge was only £500, this has since raised to £700 but still considerably less than other charities.

Chicago Marathon

Another flat and fast course and in an amazing city, come on! the home of the Deep Dish is the perfect excuse to run a marathon right? carb loading to the extreme.

Given the flat fast course, it is surprising that the odds of securing a lottery place in the Chicago marathon are higher than any of the other five. Whilst the official figures are not released, it is believed to be around a 20% – 30% chance of getting in, compare that to the single-digit chances of getting into Tokyo or London, this is an attractive offering.

$230 US residents or $240 non-US residents

More info can be found on their main website – https://www.chicagomarathon.com/

Qualifying Time:

Chicago is the only marathon I have seen which allows runners under the age of 18 to enter and recently joined New York City in adding non-binary to the list. The application window for qualifying time entries opens in the third or fourth week of October, one week prior to the main lottery and runs through to the end of November with the announcement emails going out around the second week of December.

Please click here to view the most up-to-date information on qualifying times as those stated below may have changed since the 2023 registration period.

Age Group	Men	Women	Non-binary
16 – 29	sub 3:05	sub 3:35	sub 3:35
30 – 39	sub 3:10	sub 3:40	sub 3:40
40 – 49	sub 3:20	sub 3:50	sub 3:50
50 – 59	sub 3:35	sub 4:20	sub 4:20
60 – 69	sub 4:00	sub 5:00	sub 5:00
70 – 79	sub 4:30	sub 5:55	sub 5:55
80 & over	sub 5:25	sub 6:10	sub 6:10

Lottery:

The lottery opens towards the end of October and runs through to the end of November before the drawing announcement emails go out around the second week of December.

Of all of the marathon majors, it is widely reported that Chicago offers the best chance to land a race place via the lottery. In 2015 the odds were as high as 53%, I would expect the odds today to be a lot lower than that figure given the ever-growing popularity of the marathon majors but you have got to be in it to win it.

Legacy Finisher:

Runners who have completed the Chicago Marathon five or more times within the previous ten years can claim a guaranteed race place during the lottery period in October / November.

Shamrock Shuffle Finisher:

If you have completed the Shamrock Shuffle 8k race four or more times since 2008 and are registered for the upcoming race, you can guarantee your spot in the next Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

American Development Program

If you meet the qualifying times below you can also claim a guaranteed place. Note: this is NOT limited to US citizens (as of 2023)

Qualifying standards	Half Marathon	Marathon
Men	sub 1:11	sub 2:35
Women	sub 1:22	sub 3:00
Non-Binary	sub 1:22	sub 3:00
Masters – Men	sub 1:15	sub 2:43
Masters – Women	sub 1:26	sub 3:08
Masters – Non-Binary	sub 1:26	sub 3:08

Masters are age 40 and over as of race day.

American Development Program high-performance application

In addition to the qualifying times above, if you are super fast and meet the qualifying times below, you will qualify for a complimentary entry.

Qualifying standards	Half Marathon	Marathon
Men	sub 1:07	sub 2:23
Women	sub 1:16	sub 2:43
Non-Binary	sub 1:16	sub 2:43
Master – Men	sub 1:11	sub 2:32
Masters – Women	sub 1:21	sub 2:52
Masters – Non-binary	sub 1:21	sub 2:52

Masters are age 40 and over as of race day.

Tour Partners:

Tour partners offer a large number of race places, I have linked the official list of partners below. In 2018, I used Sports Tours International to gain entry. I could not fault them, they were fantastic from booking to the return flight.

Chicago Marathon Tour Partners

Charity:

There are roughly 10,000 race places available through the charity option with most charities looking for sponsorship pledges between $1,250 – $1,750 depending on whether you have a race place or not. I have linked the official list of charities below.

Chicago Marathon Charities

New York City Marathon

The biggest marathon in the world where you can expect over 50,000 finishers. This is by far my favourite race anywhere in the world, I love running New York and have now run the NYC marathon 4 times between 2017 – 2022. It is like a 26.2-mile street party with over 3 million spectators lining the streets and cheering you on, the atmosphere is like no other.

A race place will cost $255 for NYRR Members or $295 for non-NYRR Members. It is worth noting that NYRR membership costs $40 for an individual.

Qualifying Time:

New York is the only of the majors where you can use a marathon or half marathon time to meet the qualifying standards as shown below. If you run a qualifying time in an NYRR race then you are eligible for guaranteed entry into the NYC marathon on a first-come first-served basis. A limited number of race places are available for those who ran a qualifying time at a non-NYRR race, these are allocated on a first come first served basis (these were fully allocated within 30 minutes of registration opening in 2020) but you are placed in the non guaranteed entry drawing until your time is verified by NYRR. Verification is completed prior to the main non-guaranteed drawing (lottery). If you ran a non-NYRR qualifying time but the number of race places has already been filled, you are placed in the lottery to give you a chance at running.

Like Chicago, NYRR introduced the Non-Binary category in 2022.

Please click here to view the most up-to-date information on qualifying times as those stated below may have changed since the 2023 registration period.

Men’s Qualifying Times:

Age Group	Marathon	Half Marathon
18 – 34	02:53:00	01:21:00
35 – 39	02:55:00	01:23:00
40 – 44	02:58:00	01:25:00
45 – 49	03:05:00	01:28:00
50 – 54	03:14:00	01:32:00
55 – 59	03:23:00	01:36:00
60 – 64	03:34:00	01:41:00
65 – 69	03:45:00	01:46:00
70 – 74	04:10:00	01:57:00
75 – 79	04:30:00	02:07:00
80 & over	04:55:00	02:15:00

Women’s Qualifying Times:

Age Group	Marathon	Half Marathon
18 – 34	03:13:00	01:32:00
35 – 39	03:15:00	01:34:00
40 – 44	03:26:00	01:37:00
45 – 49	03:38:00	01:42:00
50 – 54	03:51:00	01:49:00
55 – 59	04:10:00	01:54:00
60 – 64	04:27:00	02:02:00
65 – 69	04:50:00	02:12:00
70 – 74	05:30:00	02:27:00
75 – 79	06:00:00	02:40:00
80 & over	06:35:00	02:50:00

Non-Binary Qualifying Times:

Age Group	Marathon	Half Marathon
18 – 34	03:13:00	01:32:00
34 – 39	03:15:00	01:34:00
40 – 44	03:26:00	01:37:00
45 – 49	03:38:00	01:42:00
50 – 54	03:51:00	01:49:00
55 – 59	04:10:00	01:54:00
60 – 64	04:27:00	02:02:00
65 – 69	04:50:00	02:12:00
70 – 74	05:30:00	02:27:00
75 – 79	06:00:00	02:40:00
80 & over	06:35:00	02:50:00

Lottery:

The odds of getting a place via the lottery are fairly slim and decreasing year on year as the NYRR guaranteed entry options such as 9+1 and Virtual 26.2 gain in popularity. In 2020 almost 180,00 people entered the drawing with just 4,200 places up for grabs giving you a measly 2.3% chance.

The lottery is free to enter with the registration window opening mid/late-January and runs for one month with the results announced two weeks later.

NYRR 9+1 & 9+ 1k Program:

In order to earn a guaranteed, non-complimentary entry in the following year’s New York City Marathon, NYRR members must complete 9 NYRR qualifying races (there were 30 in-person qualifying races and 3 virtual qualifying races in 2023) and volunteer at one NYRR qualifying or you can forego the volunteering by making a $1,000 donation to NYRR’s youth and community program in the same year.

Runners who have met these requirements are able to claim their guaranteed, non-complimentary entry during the one month application window which runs from mid-Jan to mid-Feb.

Virtual 26.2 Race:

In 2018 NYRR started a virtual racing program where runners could register to take part in a virtual race on Strava. You are able to run the race distance anywhere in the world during the race period (typically 7-10 days) and then upload this to Strava, logged as a race with your privacy setting set to public. In November 2018, NYRR also offered 1,000 places on a first-come first-served basis, that could take part in a virtual 26.2 race over the NYC marathon weekend paying an entry fee of around $100 – $120. In return for completing the virtual 26.2 race runners would receive a medal, cap and a guaranteed, non-complimentary entry in the New York City Marathon the following year. NB: the actual New York City Marathon does not count towards the virtual race.

15+ Legacy Finisher:

Those who have completed 15 or more New York City marathons are guaranteed a place in the New York City marathon for life. You need to submit your application and pay the entry fee during the one month window which runs mid-Jan to mid-Feb.

Tour Partner:

This is by far the most popular method for gaining entry into the NYC marathon. I have included the list of official tour partners below.

New York City Marathon Tour Partners

I have used Sports Tours International for three of my NY marathon trips. They offer a number of options such as a full package or a flight & race entry. In 2017 and 2019 I went with the full package which included flights, transfers, hotel and race entry. As a solo traveller in 2018 opting for a room for myself, the single-person occupancy fee made this option quite expensive. Back then, Sports Tours also offered a Flight & Race Entry package which I used and made my own hotel reservation. I found this method to be considerably less expensive so it could be worth looking to see if this becomes available again if you are a solo traveller and do not wish to share a room with a stranger.

Charity:

There are a large number of charities to choose from most of which require a minimum sponsorship pledge of $4,000. Below is a link to the official list of charities. The headline charity for the NYC marathon is Team for Kids. These guys really look after their runners, offering perks such as private transport to the start villages, a heated tent with food & drink in the village and a really cool standout running top plus the support of NYC.

New York City Marathon Charities