A Seventh World Marathon Major May Be Coming – runnersworld.com

By Staff 5 years ago

A Seventh World Marathon Major May Be Coming  runnersworld.com

The Chengdu Marathon in China was announced as a candidate to become an Abbott World Marathon Major. This would bring the majors up to seven …

Rock 'n' Roll Marathon & 1/2 Marathon Chengdu 2017

Lintao ZhangGetty Images

  • The Chengdu Marathon has been announced as a candidate to become an Abbott World Marathon Major.
  • The race, which debuted in 2017, attracted 48,000 runners in its first two editions, and will increase its capacity to 30,000 in 2019.
  • The Chinese event will be evaluated over the next few years to determine if will become the seventh World Marathon Major.

    There could be a seventh star for the Abbott World Marathon Majors coming in the next few years.

    The major marathons’ governing body, along with the China Athletic Association, Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, and race organizer Wanda Group announced Tuesday that the Chinese marathon is an official candidate to join the ranks of the , , , , , and Tokyo Marathon, . The only other race in the running to become a marathon major at the moment is the Singapore Marathon.

    Chengdu is still a young race, having debuted in 2017. Over two years, the race has drawn 48,000 runners from more than 50 countries. For 2019, the race announced that it will expand its capacity to 30,000, in addition to other course, service, and prize money upgrades.

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    But the race isn’t a major marathon yet. A multi-year evaluation process will begin this year in the country that has seen a .

    However, this increase in interest has triggered an increase in controversy: Runners have been caught , three runners were recently banned for life from all Chinese races after being caught cheating at the Boston Marathon, and a Chinese race official was banned for a year this week for misleading the lead runner at the Qingdao Marathon this past weekend.

    It is also unclear what will happen to the marathon majors’ Six Star Program, where recipients receive a special medal for completing all of the majors. No word has been shared on what that means for the more than 6,000 runners who have already completed all six as part of the program, either.

    The 2019 race is set to take place on October 27. Registration opens in June.