With the eight billion people in the world, roughly 1% has finished a marathon and less than 18,000 have earned the Abbott World Marathon Majors medal. Sparks native, Spanish Springs and Nevada alum, math teacher and cross country coach at Reno High Anna Costello, 32, has now accomplished that feat.
The Abbott medal is awarded to those who have completed the world’s six major marathons: Boston, Tokyo, Berlin, London, Chicago and New York City.
Late last year, she crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon which marked her completion of the six original world marathon majors.
“Just running a marathon alone is so hard and you have to do six of them,” Costello said. “I think that putting in all that work over all those years, it is huge.”
Costello was a D1 runner for Boise State from 2011 to 2014 and then moved to the University of Nevada, Reno for her last two qualifying years. However, she did not want her running career to stop there.
“It is an outlet, it is a lifestyle, I just love it,” Costello said.
At first, her journey towards the Abbott medal was unintentional. She ran the Boston Marathon in 2019, her first world major, solely because her cousins pushed her to do so. In the same year, she then ran the Chicago Marathon.
It was in the Windy City that Costello found out about the Abbott distinction after her previous teammate, who was also running the marathon, told her about it. She then set the goal of finishing all six.
“Once you get in it, you gotta do them all,” Costello said.
After running her fourth in Tokyo in 2023, she posted on X: “Tokyo Marathon you were so good to me a new PR of 2:52:56!!!! Finished 1138 overall, 68th woman and 8th American woman. I have no words other than I am so happy to earn my 4th world major star.”
Training for these marathons has not not been easy but for Costello, the energy during the races make it all worth it.
“It is 75, 80% mental but it is empowering. It makes me feel strong mentally and physically,” Costello said. “The energy is almost electric, I don’t wear headphones. I just get carried by the people and the city. You get to go to these places and experience other people cheering you on. The atmosphere is incredible. I can’t explain it.”
After finishing her sixth marathon major, Costello did not even have a full three hours to fully celebrate. At 3 p.m. on race day, she says the Abbott World Marathon Majors organization announced that their ultimate goal is to add three more world majors. It’s now already added the Sydney Marathon this year and is considering the Shanghai and Cape Town marathons for future addition.
“I was so mad but so excited,” Costello said.
As of now, she is still leaving her marathon plans up in the air while she focuses on her career goals like acquiring her National Board Certification for Teaching.
The pride of her running success carries her.
“On an emotional level, the majors meant more to me than I thought they would,” Costello said.