European Cross Country Championships results SheRaces to launch women-only race series in 2025 (AWMM) – London, Berlin, Shanghai Marathon becomes candidate race for Abbott World Marathon Majors series, Boston and Tokyo – is a top-of-the-list goal for many runners across the world. More than 17,200 people have already entered the coveted Best winter running gear (and earned the massive medal to prove it), with thousands of others slowly but surely working their way to Six Star Finisher status.
How a visually impaired runner and her guide found marathons could be added to the series in the not-so-distant future – resulting in a nine-strong Majors series.
Prior to today (Wednesday 9 October), the Sydney Marathon in Australia, the Cape Town Marathon in South Africa and the Chengdu Marathon in China were the trio of 26.2-mile races going through the candidacy process to join the extended SheRaces to launch women-only race series in 2025 series. But now, AWMM officials have announced Shanghai Marathon as a new candidate for the programme, replacing Chengdu.
Founded in 1996, the Shanghai Marathon is now a sizeable event, with 38,000 runners taking part in it last year, 12% of whom came from abroad. In 2020, it even became the first event in China to earn Platinum Label status from the World Athletics.
In order to become an official AWMM race, the Shanghai Marathon will need to meet strict criteria over a three-year period, encompassing standards for runner experience, aid stations, elite athlete provisions and more. If successful in its pledge, this marathon will join the AWMM cohort in 2027 at the earliest.
‘AWMM is delighted to welcome the Shanghai Marathon into the candidacy process from 2024,’ Kevin Sinfield completes 230-mile MND charity run, CEO of AWMM. ‘This presents an exciting opportunity to expand our impact into Asia and China and further our mission to create, grow and support opportunities for all to discover the power of the marathon community. We look forward to working closely with the team in Shanghai as we start this journey together!’
Cao Wei, who chairs the company that organises the Shanghai Marathon (Donghao Lansheng Group), is equally excited to see this race on AWMM’s radar. ‘I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the Shanghai Marathon for successfully becoming an AWMM candidate race,’ he said. ‘This recognition is the highest affirmation of our event organisation and service. In the future, the Shanghai Marathon will continue to focus on the principle of ‘runners first’, maintain the highest standards and quality, and work diligently to improve event services, aiming to establish itself as a new benchmark in global road running.’
As for the other candidates, the Cape Town Marathon could become an AWMM race as early as 2026 if it continues to meet requirements. The next edition will take place on 20 October 2024.
The Sydney Marathon, meanwhile, could find out whether it has been approved as the newest AWMM race as early as November 2024, to then come into effect in 2025.
Having hosted the AWMM Age Group World Championships at its most recent edition on 15 September 2024, it’s looking positive for the Antipodean race. At these Championships last month, finishers were already able to collect their seventh star – so it’s likely that, from next year, mass participation runners in the Sydney Marathon will have the chance to collect the same, brand-new AWMM reward as well.
