The Woodlands Marathon Has Been Selected as Qualifying Event for the 2023 Abbott World Marathon Majors Age Group World Championship

April 1, 2021

THE WOODLANDS, TX (March 31, 2021) The Woodlands Marathon Management is pleased to announce it has been selected to be an Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group Qualifying Event for the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championship in the spring of 2023.

Set for Saturday, March 6, 2022, the 11^th annual The Woodlands Marathon will join five of the longest-running marathons in Texas – Chevron Houston Marathon, BMW Dallas Marathon, Cowtown Marathon, Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon and Ascension Seton Austin Marathon – as the only Texas events to be AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group Qualifying Races.

“After our record-setting 2021 event where 96 runners finished in under three hours as part of 236 athletes who qualified for the 2021 or 2022 Boston Marathons, The Woodlands Marathon is honored to become an AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group Qualifying Event,” said race director Willie Fowlkes.

“We believe we’re perfectly positioned to give our athletes the opportunity to earn age group points towards the Age Group World Championship with some of the finest races in the US and the world.”

The Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM) is a series of six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world – Tokyo Marathon, B.A.A. Boston Marathon, Virgin Money London Marathon, BMW BERLIN-MARATHON, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and TCS New York City Marathon.

The spread of the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group Qualifying Events creates a truly global series throughout the year, giving runners across the world the chance to be part of a new era of age group marathon running.

Participants in The Woodlands Marathon will earn points according to their age, time and gender, aligned with the following age groups for men and women: 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80+.

The fourth edition of the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings begins on January 01, 2022 and runs through December 31, 2022.

Currently, the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group Qualifying program includes 264 marathons on five continents worldwide, including 100 in North America of which 72 races are in the United States.

A complete list of events for the fourth edition of the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championship will be announced at a later date.

– TWM –

ABOUT ABBOTT WORLD MARATHON MAJORS

The Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM) is a series of six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world – Tokyo Marathon, B.A.A. Boston Marathon, Virgin Money London Marathon, BMW BERLIN-MARATHON, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and TCS New York City Marathon.

Encompassing an annual series for elite runners and elite wheelchair athletes, AbbottWMM also applauds the achievements and passion of everyday champions from around the world. The AbbottWMM Six Star System is an online results hub that celebrates every runner who has completed from one to six of the races in the series and encourages them to ‘Reach for the Stars’.

The AbbottWMM launched the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings in 2018 and the first AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championship race is set to take place on 03 October, 2021 (postponed due to COVID-19) as part of the Virgin Money London Marathon.

The AbbottWMM Global Run Club launched in August 2020 and aims to bring together the global community of marathon runners on a virtual platform. It kicked off with a series of autumn challenges to run alongside the virtual offerings of the Majors.

For more information, visit www.Abbottwmm.com

ABOUT ABBOTT
Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 107,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/abbott-/, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott

ABOUT WANDA SPORTS HOLDINGS

Wanda Sports Holdings is the world’s leading sports business entity. Founded to capture the opportunities in the global sports industry and to contribute to the prosperous international sports landscape – in three key areas: 1) Spectator Sports (media and marketing business), 2) Participation Sports (active lifestyle business), 3) Services (digital, production and service business). Wanda Sports Holding incorporates the international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media, the iconic endurance brand IRONMAN®, and Wanda Sports China. The headquarters are in Guangzhou, China.

ABOUT THE WOODLANDS MARATHON MANAGEMENT

The Woodlands Marathon Management is an event production company that operates with a primary goal of providing individuals the opportunity to participate in a running event that promotes the advancement of running.  The directors of The Woodlands Marathon Management share a passion for The Woodlands community, the Houston region and the active sport lifestyle.  They have teamed up to produce this premier event that will provide The Woodlands and surrounding communities options for living a healthy lifestyle with purpose.

For more information, please visit the event website at

http://www.thewoodlandsmarathon.com/.