The Abbott World Marathon Majors is a series of six of the world’s most renowned marathons – soon to be seven with the addition of the Sydney Marathon. Completing the majors will get a runner the coveted Six Star Medal, considered the holy grail among the running community.
As of 2025, only around 23,000 people are Six Star finishers. This spring, Tucker resident Rebecca Ludwig will become one of them.
Ludwig began running in 2012 solely for exercise, but when she moved to the U.S. from Germany in 2017, she found community in the Tucker Running Club and Atlanta Track Club. As she made friends with other runners, her interest in long-distance running grew. In 2018, Ludwig completed her first Peachtree Road Race; in 2019, her first half-marathon; and in 2020, her first marathon.
She began her journey toward becoming a Six Star finisher in 2022 by running the Berlin, Chicago, and London marathons. She ran the New York Marathon in 2024 and, less than two months after completing the Tokyo Marathon on March 1, is now preparing for the Boston Marathon on April 20.
There are two ways to gain entry to the Boston Marathon: achieve a qualifying time or run with a charity bib. Ludwig knew she wouldn’t be fast enough to qualify, so she entered on behalf of Homes for Our Troops.
The organization, with which she partnered for the Tokyo Marathon, provides homes for disabled veterans equipped with accessibility adaptations like wider doorways and hallways for mobility devices, roll-in showers, and lower countertops.
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As a professional real estate agent and the wife of a veteran, Ludwig resonates with the organization, but Homes for Our Troops represents something even more meaningful to her than her or her husband’s careers. As a child who was bullied, home was her safe space. Ludwig believes that the stability and sense of belonging that one’s home provides are universal needs for veterans and civilians alike.
“I couldn’t just go out there and run for [a random] charity just to get that extra special [Six Star] medal,” she said. “It had to be a cause that resonates with me… [Homes for Our Troops] helps build these homes for the veterans that have done so much for our country and are coming back severely injured. They cannot move into their [previous] homes, and this charity is there to help them regain their independence, their dignity, their freedom.”
Homes for Our Troops has built 430 homes for disabled veterans, each customized to the grantee’s specific accessibility needs and donated mortgage-free. Ludwig is fundraising $15,000 for the organization.
She has raised nearly $12,000 – $11,000 through her donation page and $1,000 from a corporate donation match – and has to raise the remaining money (or cover it herself) by April 1. She is hopeful about reaching her goal and grateful for the support she has received from the community.
“When I look at how much money I have already raised,” she said, “that just tells me that people resonate with my story and the cause.”
Donations to support Ludwig and Homes for Our Troops can be made on Given Gain.
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