A Seventh World Marathon Major May Be Coming – runnersworld.com

There could be a seventh star for the Abbott World Marathon Majors coming in the next few years.

The major marathons’ governing body, along with the China Athletic Association, Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, and race organizer Wanda Group announced Tuesday that the Chinese marathon is an official candidate to join the ranks of the , , , , , and Tokyo Marathon, . The only other race in the running to become a marathon major at the moment is the Singapore Marathon.

Chengdu is still a young race, having debuted in 2017. Over two years, the race has drawn 48,000 runners from more than 50 countries. For 2019, the race announced that it will expand its capacity to 30,000, in addition to other course, service, and prize money upgrades.

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But the race isn’t a major marathon yet. A multi-year evaluation process will begin this year in the country that has seen a .

However, this increase in interest has triggered an increase in controversy: Runners have been caught , three runners were recently banned for life from all Chinese races after being caught cheating at the Boston Marathon, and a Chinese race official was banned for a year this week for misleading the lead runner at the Qingdao Marathon this past weekend.

It is also unclear what will happen to the marathon majors’ Six Star Program, where recipients receive a special medal for completing all of the majors. No word has been shared on what that means for the more than 6,000 runners who have already completed all six as part of the program, either.

The 2019 race is set to take place on October 27. Registration opens in June.