Somerset resident completes Abbott World Marathon Majors

A local woman has just finished a fantastic journey of completing the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

The Abbott World Marathon Majors is a series consisting of six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world: Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Berlin Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and the New York City Marathon.

Nancy Gendreau of Somerset completed the fete on March 3rd by completing the Tokyo Marathon.

Gendreau, who completed her 12th marathon overall in Tokyo, had her challenges in the race. “Usually I have some nerves before each race. There were added nerves to this one because not only was Tokyo my last to complete, but it came with some added rules including 5 check points you had to get through. The check points got in my head pre-race. Check points were by gun time not by my chip! I was told unofficially that 1000 people were swept at the first check point!”

“The post race route was challenging to get to the medals. I made it back to the hotel with the help of one of their fantastic English speaking volunteers who paid my way to the subway.”

As of July 2018 only 3,800 people had completed the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

The first attempt for Nancy was the New York Marathon in 2013 where she finished in 4 hours 12 minutes.

Boston followed in 2016 where she finished in 4:34. Nancy stated that Boston was probably the most challenging race and a tie for the most crowd support. So much so that at times runners would have to move toward the middle of the road because of the zealous spectators.

Next was London in 2017 where Nancy finished in 4:25 and had the pleasure of being cheered on by Prince Harry, Prince William, and Princess Kate at the start of the race. “London was fascinating for the landmarks you ran by including the London Bridge and finishing at Buckingham Palace.”

Later that same year, she knocked down Berlin in 4:34. “Berlin is a city rich in history.”

Then came Chicago and finally Tokyo this week.

According to Gendreau, each marathon takes about 16 to 18 weeks of training with running 5-7 days per week with mileage of up to 40-42 miles per week, regardless of weather and time of day. She has been running races for about 14 years now and is a member of the Rhode Island Road Runners.

“My hope is to continue running, but keeping to half marathon distances of 10 and 5k.”