One Thousand Runners to qualify for inaugural Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championships

Age Group titles to be awarded at the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon

ONE THOUSAND age group runners from around the globe will qualify for a place at the inaugural Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM) Wanda Age Group World Championships which will be an integral part of next year's Virgin Money London Marathon.

Heralding the start of an exciting new era in age group marathon running, the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings launched at the BMW Berlin Marathon in September 2018. The qualification period will conclude at the same event this September after more than 50 qualifying events around the world have given runners aged 40 and above the chance to earn their place at the World Championships.

To ensure global representation for the World Championships, the top scoring male and female across all age categories from each country in the ranking system will be invited to take part. Based on the current rankings, this will account for approximately 300 places (150 nations represented).

The remaining places will be equally divided between male and female runners across the nine age categories. The number of places awarded in each age category will be allocated to reflect the number of qualifiers in that age group in the ranking system.

Tim Hadzima, Executive Director, Abbott World Marathon Majors said, "Today's news is an exciting step forward in our planning for the first ever Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championships which will take place a year from now, here in London."

"The amazing response from runners across all continents show the appetite for this championship. The world rankings are being hotly contested so it is going to come right down to the final few qualifying events to see who gets a place on the start line. The standard of marathon running in the over 40s is extremely impressive and there is no doubt that there is a huge demand for this event, giving all these age group runners the chance to show what they can do on a world stage."

These top 1,000 runners will receive an invitation by the end of October for the April 26th event and will have a specified time period in which to reply before the invitations move down the rankings to the next qualified runners.

On top of the 1,000 invitations, all 'Good For Age' runners (aged 40 and above) at the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon will be automatically included in the Age Group Championship race. Approximately 6,000 runners (split evenly between men and women) from the UK are allocated a place in the Virgin Money London Marathon by recording a qualifying time on a certified course during a set time period.

Hugh Brasher, Event Director of the Virgin Money London Marathon, said: "We are looking forward to welcoming runners from around the world to London next year for the first Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championships and pledge to ensure it's a truly memorable experience for these runners, many of whom will never have run in London."

To receive their invitation to the start line of the age group world championships, all qualifying runners need to create a profile on Abbottwmm.com. An athlete's best two times from the qualifying events will be displayed and count towards their final place in the world rankings.

For more information on the scoring system and world rankings, visit www.Abbottwmm.com