Big Five: Greatest city marathons cooperate

Race Directors of the Big Five: Mark Milde (Berlin), Guy Morse (Boston), Mary Wittenberg (New York), Carey Pinkowski (Chicago) and David Bedford (London/from left to right).

The most important city marathon races have merged to the Big Five. This was announced by the race directors during the World Championships in athletics in Helsinki. The BAA Boston Marathon, real,- Berlin Marathon, LaSalle Chicago Marathon, ING New York City Marathon and Flora London Marathon are included in the Big Five.

Boston and London are run in April, Berlin in September, Chicago in October and New York in November. In Helsinki all five race directors were present: Guy Morse (Boston), Mary Wittenberg (New York), David Bedford (London), Carey Pinkowski (Chicago) and Mark Milde (Berlin).

The regulations are not fixed yet. “We are at the beginning of our planning. But we have brought together the five most successful marathon races. We are competitive and proud events and we will make something of this together,” said Mary Wittenberg, the race director of New York. “We intend to create something like the Major series in golf or the Grand Slam in tennis. We want to make the marathon more attractive for the public. We intend to reach more media interest through the whole year,” Berlin’s race director Mark Milde said.

11/25/09

Ancient and Still Vibrant: the Marathon Turns 2500 Years Old

Next year Greece will celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the marathon by running the Athens Classic Marathon on the very same historic course that we all read about as children. How did we end up with the marathon as we know it today?

05/14/09

KIMbia’s Athletic Hopefuls Take to the Roads

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04/04/09

April: The Biggest Marathon Month of the Year!

Take The Magic Step® previews the biggest and best marathons being held around the world during the next four weeks.

04/18/08

Kenyan Runners and the Post-Election Violence

This article was written by Take The Magic Step® team member Scott Douglas, a runner since 1979 and writer on the sport for nearly as long.

12/29/07

A Look Back, A Look Ahead

With a world record in the marathon, exciting world championships on the track, roads and grass, and the conclusion of the first World Marathon Majors, 2007 was a great year to be a fan of distance running.

11/13/07

Marathon Organizers Meet in Marathon: Returning to Roots, Focusing on Future

What better place than Marathon, Greece for marathon organizers from around the world to match minds?

05/28/07

AIMS Celebrates a Quarter-Century of Running History

Twenty-five years ago, big running events were increasingly being established all over the world. At the time, the U.S. and England were a few steps ahead of other countries in putting on mass events

04/26/07

World Marathon Majors Becoming a Formula 1 of Running

Since it was launched last year, the World Marathon Majors series has added even more attraction to five of the greatest marathons in the world: Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

12/25/06

Superb Success for Charity Running in London and Chicago

Two of the world’s greatest marathon events recently announced the amounts raised for charity during their races in 2006. In London and Chicago, $90 million were collected for charities.

01/27/06

The Formula 1 of Road Running

The BAA Boston Marathon, Flora London Marathon, real,- Berlin-Marathon, LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and the ING New York City Marathon have officially launched the World Marathon Majors (WMM) on Monday.

01/24/06

World’s Five Premier Marathons Unite to Form “World Marathon Majors”

The world’s five premier international marathons—the Boston Marathon, the Flora London Marathon, the real,- Berlin-Marathon, the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, and the ING New York City Marathon—have joined forces to collectively present the top echelon in the sport of marathon running.

12/19/05

Big Five: Joining Forces

The biggest and most spectacular marathon races have merged together and founded the Big Five. The BAA Boston Marathon, the Flora London Marathon, the real,- Berlin Marathon, the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and the ING New York City Marathon form this ,Formula 1’ of road running.

08/15/05

Big Five: Greatest city marathons cooperate

The most important city marathon races have merged to the Big Five. This was announced by the race directors during the World Championships in athletics in Helsinki.

12/05/04

IAAF chooses Berlin for World Championships in 2009

“The World Championships in Athletics 2009 will be held in Berlin.” A few minutes past 6 pm the President of the International Athletics Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF), Lamine Diack, announced the decision in Helsinki.

11/14/04

Cross-Country or the Soul of Long Distance Running

Cross-Country has always had a particular significance in British athletics. Though the trend for marathons and other road races is booming here as elsewhere, the increase is not so noticeable in cross-country running and racing.

10/31/04

Johnny Kelley – a Boston running legend died

Johnny Kelley was the legend of the Boston Marathon. 61 times he had run the classical race from Hopkinton to Boston, winning it twice in 1935 and 1945.

08/27/04

Spiridon Louis’ grandson talks about his grandfather

108 years ago Spiridon Louis became a national hero in Greek by winning the marathon in the Olympic Games. A lot of stories were written about his race from Marathon to Athens which then covered a distance of 40 kilometers.