The Little Rock Marathon has joined Series XIII Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Championships in 2021 as a qualifying race.

Launching in September 2018, the Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Rankings aims to raise awareness of the sport of marathon running by highlighting the achievements of age-group marathon runners, that otherwise might go unnoticed.

Participants in a qualifying race earn points according to their age, time and gender, aligned with the following age groups for men and women: 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-plus. The qualifying period for the second cycle of qualifying follows Series XIII of the Abbott World Marathon Majors which begins and ends with the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (Oct. 13, 2019, and Oct. 11, 2020, respectively). The Series XIII AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships will be in 2021 with the venue to be announced later this year.

“We are very excited about the response to the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings from marathons around the world. More than 125,000 runners aged 40-plus participate in AbbottWMM races each year and this new system will allow even more runners to become a part of the AbbottWMM family,” said Tim Hadzima, executive director of Abbott World Marathon Majors. “Our system gives runners a chance to run all over the world and all across the calendar on a truly global stage. We want to give them a chance to gain recognition like never before. We are proud to be working with all our partners to take age group marathon running to the next level and showcase the achievements of these everyday champions.”

“We’re thrilled to be part of the AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group Qualifying Series,” said Gina Pharis, co-executive director of the Little Rock Marathon. “Our goal is to aid all our athletes in achieving their race goals, take care of them while they are in Little Rock, and hopefully help them qualify for a world championship.”

The 18^th annual Little Rock Marathon and related activities will take place Friday, Feb. 28, through Sunday, March 1, in Downtown Little Rock. The Little Rock Marathon benefits Little Rock Parks & Recreation.

For more information about registration and other details, please visit: http://littlerockmarathon.com/.