Vilnius Marathon will become part of the ABBOTT series from 2021. It is an age group ranking (The AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings) that allows runners of different age groups to compete against each other. By participating in marathons on the ABBOTT marathon list, runners earn points that determine their place in the world rankings. The top ranked runners also get a chance to participate in the World Age Group Championships.
The first series started and ended at the Berlin Marathon. This season ran from 16 September 2018 to 29 September 2019. The second series, which started at the Chicago Marathon, ran until 31 December 2020. The third series started on 12 October 2020 and ran until 31 December 2021.
Under the new 2024 format, athletes will be ranked according to the single fastest qualifying time. Each athlete will be included in the ranking.
Every athlete who achieves an automatic qualifying time in his/her age group will immediately receive an invitation to 2025. AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships.
Runners who do not achieve an automatic qualifying time still have the opportunity to receive an invitation to the World Championships, depending on the total number of athletes in the group and the number of athletes who achieve a qualifying time.
Points can be earned at marathons around the world that are included in the official list of qualifying marathons, with groups divided by gender and age: 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80+.
The AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Rankings consist of more than 350 qualifying events where athletes in nine separate age groups can compete in marathons around the world and earn a world ranking.
How to score points
- In a new format for 2024, athletes will be ranked according to their single fastest time in a qualifying event. Every athlete will appear in the rankings.
- Any athlete achieving the Automatic Qualifying Time for their age group will receive an immediate invitation for the 2024 AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships.
- Runners who do not achieve the Automatic Qualifying Time still have the opportunity to receive an invitation to enter the World Championship depending on the full field size and the number of athletes achieving the qualifying time.
Platinum times for each age group are as follows
| Men | Women |
| 40-44 2:35 | 40-44 3:05 |
| 45-49 2:42 | 45-49 3:13 |
| 50-54 2:48 | 50-54 3:21 |
| 55-59 2:57 | 55-59 3:34 |
| 60-64 3:10 | 60-64 3:49 |
| 65-69 3:26 | 65-69 4:12 |
| 70-74 3:40 | 70-74 4:35 |
| 75-79 4:06 | 75-79 5:15 |
| 80+ 4:40 | 80+ 5:30 |
- If a runner moves age group during a series, they will remain in the rankings category where they first scored Age Group World Rankings points.
- Age group at the Age Group World Championship will be based on the athletes’ age on race day, and not necessarily the age group in the previous series.
- For more information on the scoring system and world rankings, visit Abbottwmm.com .