Achilles Athletes Secure Abbott WMM Sixth Star at Tokyo Marathon
Over 30 members of the Achilles community completed the 2025 Tokyo Marathon on Sunday, March 2 overcoming the unseasonably warmer than expected 69 degree temperature.
Thanks to the generous support of Achilles Board Co-Chair, Donna Golkin, Achilles Japan welcomed teammates from around the world with a lovely pre-race celebration dinner, handcrafted origami swans, each made from the flags of all the nationalities represented in the room and an Achilles Japan t-shirt. Members of the U.S. based leadership team were honored with handmade Achilles-branded kimonos. The chapter also hosted a shake out run on Saturday morning where members shared in their pre-race excitement with a run around the Imperial Palace together.
For six Achilles members, the race marked the culmination of years of their dedication, perseverance, and passion as they completed their sixth Abbott World Marathon Majors Star. Congratulations to:
Brandon Ehrlich and his mother/guide Maria Ehrlich, Achilles New Jersey
Valerie Hartman, Achilles NYC
Hiroshi "Guitar-San" Machida, Achilles Japan
Miri Semat, Achilles New Jersey
Harris Warsaw, Achilles NYC
Upon finishing the race, Ehrlich had just one word to sum up the experience: “Proud.”
Cedric King, Board member and Achilles Freedom Team member, completed the race, thanks to Team Abbott. Though it was his sixth race course completion of the Abbott WMM, he continues his journey to completing all of the races in under the course time limits, with his eyes set on the Berlin Marathon again.
“These majors give me, and others like me, a goal,” he shares. “Those goals really give you strength when you really feel like you don’t have it,” he said. Watch his story featured on Abbott’s social media here.
