Shanghai Marathon to Become 9th World Major?

The Shanghai Marathon is in the final year of its evaluation process to become the ninth marathon to be added to the list of Abbott’s World Marathon Majors. 

Abbott’s World Marathon Majors Overview

The original six are:

• Tokyo
• Boston
• London
• Berlin
• Chicago
• New York

Sydney and Cape Town will be new entrants, with their 1st year as an AWMM being 2027.

The Shanghai Marathon is the first and only World Athletics Platinum Label Marathon in China, joining only 13 other marathons as one of only 20 Platinum Label road races.

The Shanghai Marathon sees more than 150,000 people register for entry annually, with an approximate 7.2% acceptance rate. 

What Are The Requirements For A Platinum Label Road Race?

If you’re wondering what makes a World Major a Platinum Label road race, here is the description from World Athletics.

Each Race Organiser wishing to apply for a “Platinum Label” in 2026 must in their 2026 Race edition have at least:

• 3 athletes per sex (irrespective of their Country or Territory representation) with Platinum Status
• At least 4 athletes per sex with Gold Status (or higher)
• Race organisers can replace a maximum of one athlete per sex with Gold Status with 3 “Elite Label level” athletes (if required)

Shanghai’s mission to increase its profile on the world stage and as a globally renowned destination for sports events has seen the city host hundreds of large-scale domestic and international sporting events.

In 2024 alone, Shanghai hosted 175 events, including the ATP Masters 1000 and the F1 China Grand Prix.

What’s The Process To Become A World Marathon Major?

The process of becoming an Abbott World Marathon Major is a rigorous multi-year process in which the prospective host must demonstrate elite organizational criteria for two years after acceptance into the program. The host must also uphold certain operational standards as well as an elite field.

A few areas of evaluation include execution of:

• Race-day logistics
• Registration
• Large-scale crowd control

Courses are also required to be precisely measured, have secure barriers, and an accurate electronic timing system.

Organizers hoping to become a major must also have:

• Clear-cut emergency response plans
• Medical staff deployment
• Participant health provisions
• Capability for international broadcasting

What To Expect From The 2026 Shanghai Marathon 

With this December’s Shanghai Marathon — the thirtieth since its inception — Shanghai will look to cement its status amongst the rest of the majors. And with its status as a Platinum Label road race, Shanghai seems up to the task.

A total of 45,000 participants — including 23,000 runners on December 6th and another 12,000 on December 5th — will take to the streets of Shanghai.

Starting at the Bund Bull Plaza on the banks of the Huangpu River, runners will pass landmarks such as the Bund, Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, and the Jing’an Temple before finishing at Xujiahui Sports Park.

At one point, it was the dedicated runner’s dream to run all six World Marathon Majors and collect their Six Stars. With the recent additions of Sydney, Cape Town, and likely Shanghai, runners will have a few more stars to reach for.