Alex Contreras shows his Six-Star Medal after running the Tokyo Marathon March 3 to complete the Abbott World Marathon Majors.
Submitted photo
Alejandro “Alex” Contreras has run 52 full and 31 half marathons, but six of the marathons he’s completed in the past five years hold a little extra significance.
Earlier this month the 58-year-old Cummins director of engineering recon ran the Tokyo Marathon in Japan. That allowed him to complete the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a group of six 26.2-mile events in some of the world’s largest cities, and earn his Six-Star Medal.
“It’s a real satisfaction because it was a completion in I would say a relative short period of time,” Contreras said. “We had two years that we didn’t do anything because of the pandemic situation. Also, it a good satisfaction to be supported by my family and also to serve as a leader by example.”
Contreras started running in his native Mexico in 2008. He moved to Columbus in 2011 and ran the Mill Race Marathon its first year in 2013. The next year, he took over as the leader of the training program for the Mill Race Marathon and has continued in that role ever since.
“It is to get myself healthy,” Contreras said. “Running is a great sport to get healthy physically and mentally. We saw the opportunity to do them and also serve as an inspiration for others. If we set targets and we work for those targets, we can achieve those.”
Alex Contreras points to a Boston Marathon sign prior to running the Boston Marathon in 2022.
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Contreras ran his first World Marathon Major in 2019 in Chicago. At that race, he qualified for the Boston Marathon, but would have to defer his entry for a couple years after it was canceled in 2020 because of COVID.
Alex Contreras poses for a photo in front of the old Berlin Wall after completing the Berlin Marathon in 2022.
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After not running any of the majors in 2020 or 2021, Contreras ran the Boston, Berlin and London Marathons in 2022. He picked up at New York in the fall of 2023, then ran Tokyo on March 3.
Alex Contreras poses in front of a London Marathon sign in 2022.
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“My wife is a big supporter of me and was enthusiastic for me to do (the World Marathon Majors),” Contreras said. “In 2019, we went to Chicago, and we did different races. She did the 5K, and I did the marathon, and then we started to talk about the possibility to do them.
“At the beginning, my first target was Boston. ‘Let’s qualify for Boston,’” he added. “In 2019, I got the qualification for Boston. I said, ‘Well, now that we have Boston, maybe we’ll also qualify for all the events,’ and that’s how it started.”
Alex Contreras poses in front of an NYC mural at the New York Marathon in 2023.
Submitted photo
Looking at the six marathons, Contreras had trouble picking a favorite among them.
“Chicago, I like it because it is flat, and there is a lot of support from people from beginning to end,” Contreras said. “Boston is a technical challenge because it is up and down. It is hilly. It’s an quite an adventure, fully supported from beginning to end. New York is massive — thousands and thousands of people. Overseas, Berlin is totally flat and fast. London is amazing because people just provide a lot of support. Tokyo is flat, and everybody is cheering for everyone.
“All of them are very well organized,” he added. “All of them are in very scenic areas with historic monuments and interesting points and parts of the city. In some cases, I would slow down a little bit from racing and admire what is around.”
Contreras’s schedule isn’t slowing down. He’s preparing for more marathons, including a possible seventh World Marathon Major in Sydney.
“I was told that there is another major to be added next year in Australia,” Contreras said. “So if it is added to the list, probably that is going to be the next. Meanwhile, I’m going to keep running and doing marathons here in the United States until I find what is going to be the next big challenge.”
