With more and more Filipinos participating in the biggest running events in the world, why not join in? You may even spot Pia Wurtzbach running alongside you in the London Marathon
Having finished the 42-kilometer NYC marathon in under seven hours, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach looks excited to jump back into the world of marathons. She has also expressed interest in running the London marathon in April. Aside from her, other notable Filipinos have shared their goals of completing all six of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.
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In case you didn’t know, the Abbott World Marathon Majors is an international running journey taking you from Tokyo, to Boston, then London, Berlin, Chicago, and finally, New York. Accomplishing all six races awards you the famed Six Star Medal.
The 2023 dates for the Abbott World Marathon Majors are as follows: March 5 for the Tokyo Marathon, April 17 for the Boston Marathon, April 23 for the London Marathon, September 24 for the Berlin Marathon, October 8 for the Chicago Marathon, and November 5 for the New York City Marathon.
If full marathons such as those are too intimidating, you can participate in half marathons instead. Some notable ones coming up in the next few months are the Barcelona Half Marathon in Spain on February 19, the Napoli City Half Marathon in Italy on February 26, the Paris Half Marathon in France on March 5, the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon in Portugal on March 11 to 12, the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon in the Czech Republic on April 1, and the Generali Berlin Half Marathon in Germany on April 2.
You can also use these opportunities to go sightseeing in beautiful destinations. In particular, you could join the March 19 “Run Rome the Marathon” to have an excuse to visit Rome, Italy, or the April 23 Vienna City Marathon to traipse across Wien, Austria. You can even run across the Dead Sea in Israel through the February 3 marathon or run on the Glendalough mountain trails in Ireland through the May 20 “Lap of the Gap” marathon. Additionally, if you’re not a beginner to marathon running and can book a trip somewhat at the last minute, you could run the Funchal Marathon in Portugal on January 22.
Of course, training for marathons takes a lot of time, especially for beginners. For Pia, she had to train for nearly nine months in preparation for the NYC Marathon. With that in mind, you can instead join the full marathons taking place in the latter half of 2023 after building your strength and endurance. One of your options is to join the Adidas Stockholm Marathon in Sweden taking place on June 3. There’s also the full EDP Lisbon Marathon in Portugal on October 8, and the Tromsø Midnight Sun Marathon in Norway on June 17.
For further information, visit the races’ official websites.
