The AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings comprise a one-year qualifying period during which athletes in nine separate age groups can compete in marathons across the world to earn ranking points.
At the end of the qualifying period, the top ranked runners in each age group will be invited to the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships. The first Championships was due to be held within the 2020 Virgin Money London Marathon.
This event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The inaugural championship will now take place within the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon on October 3. This race will combine qualifiers from the first and second editions of the Rankings.
The third edition of the Rankings began on January 1 2021 and is scheduled to conclude on December 31.
The rankings cover age groups from 40 to 80+ for men and women as follows:
The maximum points that can be scored in any race by an age group winner is 4,000. The age group winners in any AbbottWMM race – the Tokyo, Boston, Virgin Money London, BMW BERLIN, Bank of America Chicago and TCS New York City Marathons – will automatically get 4,000 points. The minimum amount of points that can be scored is 1,000. The best two results in marathons over this period will count for each runner’s ranking.
Any age group athlete who is within 29 seconds of the age group winning time in an AbbottWMM race receives 10 points less, earning 3990 points. Runners within 30-59 seconds of the winning time receive 20 points less, and those earning times within 1 minute and 29 seconds less than the age group winning time receive 30 points less, and so on.
Runners can earn points for their performances in marathons beyond the six AbbottWMM races, provided the event is an official AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Ranking qualifying race.
In those events, scoring will be based on a platinum time calculated for each age group and gender, using standard multiples of the ‘mean’ of the current marathon world record times for each age group and gender. Winners of any age group marathons that are not Abbott World Marathon Races must run faster than the platinum time for their age and gender to score 4000 points. The same points degradation according to time behind the winner applies. The full list of the platinum times is included below.
Runners’ qualifying times must be recorded at a certified accurate marathon which has been nominated as an AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Ranking qualifying race. Races in the current edition can be viewed here.
If the age group winning time is below the platinum time, then the points awarded to the winner and every subsequent age group runner are reduced by the time the age group winner has missed platinum time for the age and gender of the athlete.
A qualifying race taking place on a virtual platform will not be eligible to score points in the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings.
Platinum times for each age group are as follows:
