A new marathon racing series, the World Marathon Majors, has been announced, with scoring from five of the largest marathons in the world as well as the Olympics and world championships going into the competition.

Organizers of the Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons said Monday that the World Marathon Majors series is intended to increase the profile of the 26.2-mile races.

The Olympic and world championship marathons will also count in the series, which starts with the Boston Marathon on April 17.

This is great news, as far as I am concerned. Scoring is only applicable to the top five positions of each race, and to qualify the athlete must win points in at least 3 races. Up to four races will count towards their point total. The most an athlete can win in one race is 25 points; a fifth place finish will get them 1 point.

You will not see my name on any of those leader boards, unfortunately. However, I may compete in one or two of them. Possibly three, but I do not think I will run Boston again for at least a few more years. Hopefully this will be an ongoing competition, and one which may branch out to other races to run on an annual schedule.