n9 wrote:
'Marathon majors' is a marketing device for mass participation. Collect all 6 medals to be a true marathoner, stuff like that.
All non-US marathon majors are legit fast courses in cities which are massive tourist destinations as of themselves. US apparently couldn't exactly tick all the boxes at once so they had to split that between NYC and Chicago: NYC is fun and touristy and all that but not a fast course, Chicago is a place where people can set PBs while also not exactly a rural hole.
Now Boston, that's the 'ugly duckling'. It's a great race historic and such, but everything is different. The course is point-to-point, not eligible for records. Any personal bests set there mean either your previous one was too soft or you got lucky with strong tailwind. There's no lottery for slower hobbyjoggers so they're locked out of their 6-star collectible. The city is no village of course but doesn't have that first-rate tourist appeal either. I think Boston Marathon could be celebrated enough as of itself without the 'majors' label.
I'm curious where you picked up the expression, "as of itself"