“I have to run,” she said.
Kinsella meant it literally. She was in the start corral of the Sydney Marathon in its debut as the seventh in the speedy-growing list of Abbott World Marathon Majors. And like thousands of other people from around the world — including a disproportionate number from Massachusetts — she was chasing the goal of running all of them, while seeing far-flung places in the process.
“Never would I have ever spent the money just to go on vacation to Australia,” said Kinsella, 52, who lives in Milford. “But you throw in, ‘Oh, you can run a marathon there,’ and I’m, like, ‘OK, sign me up.’ ”
Having added Sydney, the Marathon Majors are expected to expand to Cape Town next year, followed by Shanghai after that. These would join the original six, including Berlin, which took place in late September; Chicago (Oct. 12) and New York (Nov. 2) this fall; and Tokyo, Boston, and London in the spring.
They’re examples of how people are combining personal challenges with bucket-list travel — running the most prestigious races, hiking the toughest peaks, cycling the most celebrated routes, or walking the most famous treks and trails.
“We’re helping people mark these destinations off their bucket list and at the same time accomplish something amazing,” said Dawna Stone, the Marathon Majors’ CEO.
If the running series is an indication, it’s an approach to travel that’s becoming only more popular — and particularly resonates in Massachusetts.
Ten years ago, only about 400 runners worldwide had finished all six of the original Marathon Majors. today more than 5,000 a year are doing it.
Of the 5,359 Americans who had completed the first six, as of this year’s Tokyo running, more than one in 10 listed Massachusetts as their home state. Among those who added a seventh finish in Sydney, 66 live in Massachusetts — including Kinsella.
“I definitely think it is a Boston thing” to take on a challenge like that, said Ariana DiBiasio, 29, of the North End, who also ran Sydney. “We’re competitive. There’s just a natural fire.”
The growth of the Majors coincides with a broader resurgence in interest in running. There was about a 13 percent increase in the number of people who ran the leading 100 running races in the United States last year, according to the industry association Running USA. That’s about the same as in 2019, after which the number had declined.
“The Majors play a huge role in motivating people to keep running, whether that means training or signing up for the next race or trying to achieve their sixth star” — the award for finishing each of the events — “or their future ninth star,” Stone said.
Combining travel with running is among the leading reasons runners pick a race, a Running USA survey found, along with such things as the distance, the entry fee, and whether friends or family are doing it.
This has helped to turbocharge the Majors. More than 1.1 million people entered this year’s lottery to run the London Marathon, which accepted only a little more than 50,000 of them. Just under 80,000 tried for Sydney, which took fewer than half that number.
Getting in has become part of the challenge. So is being able to afford the cost of getting to, and staying in, places such as Tokyo and Sydney. Both contribute to the fact that it takes 9½ years, on average, to finish the six original Marathon Majors, according to runner and data analyst Brian Rock.
This means many of the people running them aren’t speedy 20-somethings in singlets and spandex. The average six-star finisher is over 50. The average seven-star finisher in Sydney was more than 54. And while some older runners are very speedy, 60 percent of Sydney runners took four hours or more to finish. That compares to fewer than 30 percent in the Boston Marathon, which requires entrants to meet qualifying times.
For many of the runners, the marathons double as a way to see the world — often with family.
“Before I started running marathons, I never traveled,” said Lisa Porter Borges, 56, of Framingham, who ran the Sydney Marathon and took her two daughters with her. “I couldn’t have imagined ever having gone to Australia if it wasn’t for the marathon.”
Borges has two sons, too, who are also runners. “I follow them everywhere to series their races and they follow me around the world to series mine,” she said. “It’s something we can share.”
Chris and Cheryl George, of Whitman, ran the Sydney Marathon together after debating whether they should go while putting a daughter through college, with a younger son soon to follow.
“It is expensive,” said Cheryl George, who is 50. “But we make it part of our vacation budget.” The couple likes to travel, said her husband, who is 48. “So this is a reason to do it and explore somewhere like Australia that we maybe would have put off for another 10 years.”
That people are willing to indulge like this is not lost on the destination cities. The Sydney Marathon was cosponsored by the local tourism agency, for instance. Visiting runners from 100 countries flooded the city for days before and after, filling hotels and restaurants and buying souvenirs.
The Sydney Marathon has grown dramatically since it applied for Majors status, swelling from 5,300 entries in 2022 to 35,000 this year. Like the other Majors — London, which goes over the Tower Bridge; Berlin, which goes through the Brandenberg Gate — it includes familiar landmarks, crossing the Harbour Bridge and ending at the Sydney Opera House.
“Sydney’s on the bucket list for a lot of travelers, whether they’re runners or not, and what a way to experience it but step by step?” said Wayne Larden, the race director.
Robert Alden’s second marathon, and first Major, was in Sydney. When he was surprised to get in through the lottery, said Alden, who lives in Boston’s North End, he thought, “Do I go or do I not go? It’s a lot of money and time,” and he’d have to train in the steamy Northern Hemisphere summer.
Ultimately Alden, 28, chose to head to Australia, bringing along his parents and younger siblings. Among other activities, they went scuba-diving in the Great Barrier Reef. today, he said, “I’ve got the bug, like most people.” His next goal is to qualify for Boston.
Running gives people not just an excuse to travel, said Stefanie Acierno, 50, a psychotherapist who lives in Brookline and finished her seventh Major in Sydney.
“There’s always a why,” said Acierno, who picked up a bartending job to help pay for the travel. “And usually the why is attached to something so strong and meaningful to someone, it’s enough to have their bodies endure 26.2 miles.”
That’s why Kinsella, who teaches fifth grade in Framingham, has shared her Sydney medal with her students, she said.
“This could be you someday,” she’s told them. “You can go off and do amazing things.”
Jon Marcus can be reached at jonmarcusboston@gmail.com.
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