Few runners finish all six of the Abbott World Marathon Majors — even fewer do so within a calendar year.
When Ian Tibbals crossed the finish line of the London Marathon in April, he became part of a select group to achieve that feat. The 2019 Rye High School alumnus finished the Boston, Berlin, Chicago, New York City, Tokyo, and London marathons — all within a 12-month span.
While earning the prestigious six-star medal is impressive enough, Tibbals completed the World Majors while juggling full-time coursework and research as a doctoral student in organic chemistry at Yale.
With a cumulative time of 15:23:19 across the six 26.2-mile races, Tibbals is the second-fastest runner on record for ages 25 and under, averaging roughly 2 hours, 34 minutes per marathon, or under six minutes per mile.
Of the 27,710 runners in the world who have earned the medal, Tibbals ranks 101st.
“It was kind of cool. I know I’m usually one of the younger runners at the race,” he said. “Marathon runners — at least very competitive ones — tend to be more in their late 20s. I was still very surprised, though, since people from around the world travel to complete all six. But it was a nice feeling. I’m really happy I started at a young age, so I can enjoy these races, hopefully, for many more years to come.”
Before competing on the world stage, Tibbals ran casually to stay in shape and have fun, “definitely not competitively,” he said.
During his high school days in Rye, Tibbals participated in some local races like the Rye Derby 5K. It wasn’t until 2022, however, during his junior year at Notre Dame, that he entered his first half marathon, which was called “the Holy Half.”
After a second successful 13.1-mile run that summer near Notre Dame, the Sunburst Half Marathon, Tibbals targeted his first full marathon. Three months later, he ran the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon as a senior in college.
“I think once you run one marathon, you just sort of can’t stop,” he said. “I find they’re kind of addicting and then you’re always just looking forward to the next one.”
In his second running of the Holy Half during his senior year, Tibbals finished a half marathon on the podium for the first time.
But his “runners’ high” came to a screeching halt that summer when he suffered a foot injury, requiring him to cancel his racing plans for the rest of the year.
After doctors’ visits and putting his sneakers away for a while, Tibbals returned to running in winter 2024 and registered for his first race in a year: the New York City Half Marathon in March.
“Just the joy of running again was really, really great,” Tibbals said. “I’ve been mostly injury-free since. Injuries are the worst part, especially if you’re in the middle of a training block and you have a race to look forward to. It can be a real bummer if injuries sort of prevent you from accomplishing your goals.”
Tibbals tackled his second full marathon that summer in San Francisco, shaving enough time off his Indianapolis run to qualify for the Boston Marathon in spring 2025. Once he learned about the Majors, he was immediately on board.
“I think from the get-go, I definitely had the goal of doing all six,” Tibbals said. “I maybe just didn’t know how long it would take per se, because some of the races are sort of difficult to get into. So, the timeline was sort of up in the air, but I’m fortunate that all the registrations worked out, and I was able to time them well to do them within a year or so.”
Tibbals had to coordinate the races and travel around his extensive Ph. D. program at Yale, from which he expects to graduate within the next few years. He has not decided yet on his career path.
For the international races in Germany, Japan, and England, Tibbals and his mom, Elaine, spent long weekends at each destination to prepare for race day and take in what each country had to offer.
“It’s been a great way to travel to new places,” he said. “London, Berlin, Tokyo — they’re all places that I would love to go, even if it wasn’t for the race, so it’s sort of killing two birds with one stone. You get to run in a cool race, as well as learn about the city and its culture.”
Does he have a favorite among the six marathons?
“I think they’re all really special and have their own charm, whether in New York, at the start, you run across the Verrazzano Bridge and you hear Frank Sinatra in the background,” he said. “In Berlin, you pass through the Brandenburg Gate at the finish, which is really cool. London, there’s Tower Bridge, which is at the halfway point, and they have raucous crowds from the side, cheering you on. Every race is special, I would say, but the whole journey has been very, very memorable. A lot of fond memories from every race.”
As for running marathons generally, Tibbals appreciates the sport of running for how it brings people together, yet the competition remains between yourself and the clock.
“You’re not necessarily running against people, but you’re just sort of running with people at these races,” he said. “And I think that’s something really unique to the sport where, you know, you’re essentially trying to beat the clock. And then all your fellow runners are there to support you along the way. And that’s probably one of my favorite aspects of running in general. … You’re really just trying to perform the best you can and achieve your own personal goals that you can set.”
He also described the dueling emotions of euphoria and physical and mental exhaustion most marathon runners can attest to.
“Probably a couple seconds after you finish, you’re already looking forward to the next one,” Tibbals said. “Pain and suffering can transition to elation in a heartbeat. It’s kind of a unique component of marathons, and then you already have your next goal in mind.”
And that he does.
Tibbals will complete the San Francisco Marathon for a third time on July 26, and hopes to run the New York City Marathon again in November. In addition to repeating the Boston Marathon and smaller, local races, his next long-term goal will be to earn a potential nine-star medal. Sydney and Cape Town have been added to the list of majors, and Shanghai is being considered as a ninth run on the Majors circuit.
“Nine stars is going to become the next milestone for runners, so I think I’d love to run those majors eventually,” he said. “I’ll run some races, just in the area — some half marathons and even shorter distances. I think I would definitely love to go back to all of [the six] and run them again. If someone offered me the chance to run all six again, I certainly would take them up on it.”
