World Marathon Majors Medal Guide: Six Star & Nine Star
The World Marathon Majors medal system has become one of the biggest long-term goals in amateur running, but the expansion of the Abbott World Marathon Majors has made it more confusing than it used to be.
The most important distinction is simple:
- The Six Star Medal still requires the original six Majors.
- Sydney is now a Major, but it does not create a Seven Star Medal.
- Cape Town has been approved as the eighth Major and will stage its first Major edition in 2027.
- There is no Eight Star Medal.
- A future Nine Star Medal is planned if Shanghai successfully completes the AbbottWMM candidacy process.
So if your goal is the famous Six Star Medal, the target has not changed.
This guide explains which races count, what happens when new Majors are added, and how to plan the travel required to complete the series.
What is the World Marathon Majors medal?
The Abbott World Marathon Majors awards runners a star when they complete an eligible Major and their finish appears in the official race results.
The best-known milestone is the Six Star Medal, introduced for runners who complete the six original World Marathon Majors:
- Tokyo Marathon
- Boston Marathon
- TCS London Marathon
- BMW Berlin Marathon
- Bank of America Chicago Marathon
- TCS New York City Marathon
Complete all six and you become a Six Star finisher.
There is no required order and no deadline for finishing the series. A runner can complete the six races over a few years or over decades.
Which marathons count toward the Six Star Medal?
Only the original six Majors count toward the Six Star Medal.
| Major | City | Six Star requirement? |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Marathon | Tokyo | Yes |
| Boston Marathon | Boston | Yes |
| London Marathon | London | Yes |
| Berlin Marathon | Berlin | Yes |
| Chicago Marathon | Chicago | Yes |
| New York City Marathon | New York | Yes |
| Sydney Marathon | Sydney | No |
| Cape Town Marathon | Cape Town | No |
Sydney and Cape Town still count as Abbott World Marathon Majors stars, but they are part of the expanded series rather than the original Six Star requirement.
That means a runner does not need Sydney or Cape Town to earn the Six Star Medal.
Does Sydney count as a World Marathon Major?
Yes.
Sydney became the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major after completing the candidacy process, with its first edition as a Major held in 2025.
A Sydney finish can appear as a star in your AbbottWMM journey, but the addition of Sydney did not change the Six Star Medal.
There is no separate Seven Star Medal.
If you are planning a Sydney race trip, see our Sydney Marathon travel guide.
Is Cape Town a World Marathon Major?
Cape Town has been approved as the eighth Abbott World Marathon Major.
Its first official edition as a Major will take place on May 23, 2027.
The 2026 Cape Town Marathon was its final successful evaluation event. Finishers initially received a provisional AbbottWMM star, and those stars were upgraded after Cape Town completed the candidacy process.
Cape Town is especially significant because it becomes the first Abbott World Marathon Major in Africa.
For race-week travel planning, see our Cape Town Marathon travel guide.
Is there an Eight Star Medal?
No.
Abbott World Marathon Majors has explicitly kept the Six Star Medal intact while the series expands.
There is no Seven Star Medal and no Eight Star Medal.
The next planned medal milestone is Nine Star.
That avoids changing the achievement runners have been pursuing for years while still creating a future milestone around the expanded global series.
What is the Nine Star Medal?
The proposed Nine Star Medal would represent the next major AbbottWMM completion milestone after Six Star.
The path currently looks like this:
- Original six Majors
- Sydney as the seventh Major
- Cape Town as the eighth Major
- Shanghai potentially becoming the ninth
Shanghai remains an official candidate race.
If Shanghai successfully completes its remaining AbbottWMM evaluation, it could join the series as the ninth Major. AbbottWMM has said that this would trigger the introduction of the Nine Star Medal.
Shanghai's next major assessment is scheduled around its December 2026 marathon.
Until that process is complete, runners should treat Nine Star as a planned future milestone rather than a guaranteed current award.
Will the Six Star Medal disappear?
No.
Abbott World Marathon Majors has said the Six Star program will remain in place even if the Nine Star Medal is introduced.
That means runners starting today can still pursue:
Tokyo + Boston + London + Berlin + Chicago + New York = Six Star Medal
The addition of Sydney, Cape Town and potentially Shanghai does not take that achievement away.
For many runners, Six Star will continue to be the first major completion goal before deciding whether to chase the expanded series.
How long do you have to complete the World Marathon Majors?
There is no time limit.
You can complete the races in any order and across as many years as necessary.
That matters because getting into the races can be much harder than simply deciding where to travel next.
Some runners complete the series quickly. Others spend a decade or more collecting entries, training cycles and international trips.
The World Marathon Majors journey is often as much a logistics project as an athletic one.
The real challenge: getting into all the races
The six original Majors have very different entry systems.
Boston
Boston is the major exception because many runners enter by running a qualifying time that meets Boston Athletic Association standards.
Charity and other entry programs also exist, but for many Six Star runners Boston becomes the race that requires the most deliberate athletic planning.
London, Tokyo and New York
These races are famously difficult to enter through general drawings because demand is enormous.
Alternative routes can include charity programs, qualifying standards or approved tour operators depending on the race and year.
Berlin and Chicago
Both can also be competitive, although runners have multiple possible entry paths depending on qualifying standards, drawings, charities and tour programs.
Because acceptance is uncertain, many Six Star runners apply to several Majors and then build their travel calendar around whichever races they get into.
Plan the Six Star journey as a travel project
Running six international destination races creates a second challenge beyond training: coordinating years of flights, hotels and race weekends.
A few principles make the process much easier.
Book hotels immediately after securing entry
Major marathon weekends create huge demand around start and finish areas.
Once your race entry is confirmed, lodging should be one of the first things you lock down.
Where you stay can dramatically change race morning.
A hotel within walking distance of a start line can remove the need for complicated early-morning transit, while staying near the finish can make the hours after the race far easier.
Give yourself time to adjust after long flights
Tokyo, Sydney and Cape Town can involve major time-zone shifts depending on where you live.
Do not treat these like ordinary weekend trips.
Arriving several days before the race gives you time to adjust your sleep schedule, pick up your bib and explore without trying to cram everything into the day before a marathon.
Build the trip around tired legs
The race may be the reason you travel, but it should not be the only thing you do.
The smartest marathon trips separate sightseeing into two categories:
Before the race: low-walking, low-stress activities.
After the race: recovery-friendly sightseeing such as museums, boat rides, restaurants or neighborhoods that do not require endless walking.
Keep every race trip organized
Six Star runners can spend years moving between race lotteries, hotel reservations, flights, restaurant plans and sightseeing.
Keeping each Major in one shared itinerary makes it much easier to see where you are staying, how you are getting to the start and what the rest of the trip looks like.
World Marathon Majors travel guides
We have individual travel guides for each Major to help with where to stay, race-week logistics and what to do around the event:
- Tokyo Marathon travel guide
- Boston Marathon travel guide
- London Marathon travel guide
- Berlin Marathon travel guide
- Chicago Marathon travel guide
- NYC Marathon travel guide
- Sydney Marathon travel guide
- Cape Town Marathon travel guide
You can also compare the races as travel experiences in our guide to the best marathons to travel for.
Frequently asked questions
How many World Marathon Majors are there?
There are seven active Abbott World Marathon Majors in 2026: Tokyo, Boston, London, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York.
Cape Town has been approved as the eighth member and will hold its first race as an Abbott World Marathon Major in 2027.
What races do you need for the Six Star Medal?
You need to finish Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.
Sydney and Cape Town are not required for Six Star.
Do you get a medal for seven World Marathon Majors?
There is no official Seven Star Medal.
Sydney can count as another AbbottWMM star in your runner journey, but the established completion medal remains Six Star.
Is there an Eight Star Medal?
No.
The next planned series-completion milestone after Six Star is Nine Star.
What races would count toward the Nine Star Medal?
If the current expansion is completed, the nine-race series would consist of Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Sydney, Cape Town and Shanghai.
Shanghai still must successfully complete the AbbottWMM candidacy process before that becomes final.
Is there a time limit to earn the Six Star Medal?
No. Abbott World Marathon Majors does not impose a time limit for completing the races.
Turn your next Major into a trip
Collecting World Marathon Majors is a multi-year project, but each star is still one trip at a time.
Claira can keep the flights, lodging, restaurants, activities and race-week schedule for your next Major together in one itinerary so the travel side stays organized while you focus on getting to the start line.
Abbott World Marathon Majors membership, medal rules, candidate-race status and entry systems can change. This guide was updated August 24, 2026. Always confirm current rules and race-entry information with Abbott World Marathon Majors and the individual race organizers before making travel plans. Claira is an independent travel-planning tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Abbott World Marathon Majors or any individual race.