Bendigo's Frances Walsh earns Abbott World Marathon Majors medal

Having completed the Berlin marathon on September 24, the 60-year-old had six major marathons under her belt, and had pocketed the sport's most prestigious prize.

The Abbott World Marathon Majors series six star medal is awarded to runners who have completed the Boston, London, Chicago, New York, Tokyo and Berlin marathons.

"It's taken me 12 years to do it," says Walsh, who was delayed in completing the final two events by COVID-19.

"I haven't wiped the smile off my face since I got the medal."

Walsh, who works in health information services at St John of God Hospital, started running cross-country with her husband 35 years ago and has been a member of the Bendigo University Athletics Club for around two decades.

"Because a lot of people in our cross-country club did longer runs, did the half marathons or ironman and that, I think that sort of encouraged you," she says.

"I do remember going down to watch a marathon and thinking, 'Why are these people running 42ks? There's something wrong with them!'.

"That was before I started running. I've done 25 marathons all up now."

Her first international marathon was Boston in 2011, which she entered with fellow Bendigonians John and Jen McGrath.

Next on the list was London but the day she flew into England, across the Atlantic a terrorist bomb blast rocked the Boston marathon, killing three people and injuring 281.

Given the gravity of events, Walsh felt she had to pull out.

"It was the first time I had said, 'No, I'm not doing it," she says.

"But then you think, 'Stuff it, I've done the training'.

"And I thought, 'If I'm going to die, I'll die happy. They're not going to stop us'."

Among the 36,000 competitors who started in London on April 21, 2013 were some who had been unable to complete the Boston course six days earlier.

The runners wore small black ribbons and observed half a minute's silence before setting off, Walsh says.

Around the 42km mark someone popped a heap of balloons.

"I think we all went white when we realised what it was," she says.

"That was a pretty emotional run."

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The emotional pinnacle, though, came six weeks ago when she completed the course, and hence the Abbott series, in Berlin.

"I actually cried at Berlin. We finished under the Brandenburg Gates and they sang Sweet Caroline on the finish line, for some reason," she says. Everyone was sort of pumping the air and that's where I got my Berlin medal.

"Then in the Abbotts tent they were just absolutely awesome and took photos of you. I didn't realise people would come up and hug you. I had an elderly man come up, who was crying, who said, 'This is my first one and I want to finish the six. I'm 70 years old'.

"I said, 'You do it, you keep going!'.

"And even young fellas came up wanting to take photos of me. It's such a big deal over there."

Back in Bendigo there are six people Walsh knows of who have attained the rare running achievement - John McGrath, Alan and Jenny Buchanan, Jill Wilkie, Steve Malia and herself.

While Walsh's husband, Kevin, is only one marathon short of it, he has bad knees from playing footy and has called time on the endeavour.

Walsh, however, who describes herself as "addicted", plans to go on.

"I'll keep running. I won't stop now," she says.

"I've done five Melbourne marathons so I'll do another five and get my Spartan [title]. I've [already] done a Spartan at the Gold Coast. I've done 10 marathons up there."

Now running three days a week, including usually at the Kennington Reservoir parkrun, she loves the activity and finds freedom in it.

"It's an adrenaline rush," she says.

"It's hard training but then I actually enjoy my long runs once I get going.

"I don't take a phone so it's my time to myself. I go out and nine times out of 10 just pick a run when I'm going.

"I might turn off here, turn off there, I don't sort of plan anything, just run by myself."

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