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Frankenmuth News

Serving Frankenmuth since 1906

Volume 121 ~ No. 12

September 23, 2026

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SHARON BADE                                  TIM CRAWFORD

Bade, Crawford, head to Berlin in pursuit of world marathon majors

  What started as a conversation between two strangers waiting for the start of a half marathon in Florida has turned into a return to marathon running for Sharon Bade, and the beginning of a new goal she hadn’t expected to pursue.

  On September 27, Bade and fellow runner Tim Crawford will be in Germany to compete in the 2026 BMW Berlin Marathon, one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Both runners have already completed the Boston, Chicago and New York City marathons, giving them three of the six original races needed to earn the coveted Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Medal.

  The original six Majors are Boston, Chicago, New York City, London, Berlin and Tokyo. Although the series has since expanded to eight races with Sydney and Cape Town, runners who complete the original six continue to earn the Six Star Medal. 

  For Bade, 63, the idea of chasing the Six Star Medal wasn’t something she had been considering. Her last marathon was Boston in 2021, and she thought her marathon days were behind her.

  That changed in February while she was in Florida preparing to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon.

  “I started talking with a woman in my corral who was getting ready to run Boston in April,” Bade said. “She told me about the Six Star Medal and that she was trying to complete all six Majors. I remember thinking; I’ve already done three of them. Why not go after the other three?”

  The idea stayed with her. She knew Crawford had also completed Boston, Chicago and New York, so she approached him about taking on the challenge together.

  “He said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Bade recalled.......

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