Man, 49, among first to finish all 7 World Marathon Majors this year: “My wife thinks I’m crazy”
By Michael Abeyta
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Colorado (KCNC) — A Colorado runner has finished seven World Marathon Majors in a single year. That makes him one of only a handful of people to accomplish that feat. He completed the seventh marathon just last weekend.
Max Fulton from Golden showed off his newest hardware on Sunday: all seven of the finishers’ medals for the seven Abbott World Marathon Majors.
“It was interesting. It was hard,” Fulton, 49, said.
It’s a feat only a few have done, because before this year, there were only six marathon majors: Chicago, New York, Boston, London, Tokyo, and Berlin. Abbott, the company that hosts the races, added Sydney to the lineup for the first time in 2025.
That was all the motivation Fulton needed to attempt his feat of endurance.
“A lot of people try this and it takes them, you know, 5 or 6 years to get accomplished,” said Fulton. “And I’m like, ‘wait, what if I did them all in one year? And what if I’m the first person to do it?’ Because Sydney is being added as the seventh World Marathon next year, so there won’t be anybody that has done that before.”
But Fulton is no novice. He has a lengthy and accomplished running career, including 10 Leadville 100 finishes, but he says this was a challenge not only of endurance but also of patience and perseverance off the course.
“The hardest part, actually, was getting into all of them. Even though you qualify, it may not get you into the race,” he said.
He pulled it off by qualifying, running for charity, marathon tours, or travel companies, and winning lotteries for race entries.
He says his family was supportive but “my wife thinks I’m crazy. My daughter’s probably with her. My son thinks it’s awesome.”
Fulton says now it might be time for him to spend more time on the bike, but Abbott is adding South Africa and Singapore to the list of majors.
“I don’t know,” Fulton said. “Maybe, you know, running nine of them.”
He says there is no official list of people who completed all seven Marathon Majors this year, but in his research, he has found fewer than 10 other runners worldwide. And according to race organizers, around 20,000 people have done all six of the races previously offered — over the course of their entire lives.
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