Press Release - Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon - 1/9/08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                    Frankfurt Organisers Proud To Have 
                 Received IAAF's Gold Label For Road Races

Organisers of the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon proudly announced 
that their race has been upgraded by the International Association of 
Athletics Federations (IAAF) to the prestigious Gold Label level. For this 
year only eleven marathon races worldwide have so far received the golden 
label from the IAAF. Adding other events a total of 19 events can boost the 
Gold Label.

"In the past few years we have worked hard to achieve the various standards 
with which we now qualified for the IAAF's Gold Label. We are very proud of 
our development and that we now belong to the small group of the best 
quality road races in the world," said Jo Schindler, the Race Director of 
the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon. Besides the marathon races of 
Berlin and Hamburg the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon is the only 
German road race in the gold label category of the IAAF.

The Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon, which will be staged for the 
28th time on 25th October, is Germany's oldest city marathon. But it was 
only in recent years that the race through the nation's financial capital 
developed very strong regarding both the participation and the elite race. 
In 2008 Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot (Kenya) improved the course record to 
2:07:21. With seven Kenyans running sub 2:10 the race once more had a great 
depth as well. Helmut Winter, a Berlin based Professor for Physics, had 
recently published his calculation of the average top ten men's times of 
the major marathons in 2008. In this list the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt 
Marathon is the strongest German marathon. With an average time of 2:09:16 
the race is number three worldwide, only behind London (2:07:49) and Paris 
(2:08:16). In the women's race, which was won by Germany's Sabrina 
Mockenhaupt in 2:26:22, five runners finished inside 2:30. 

Last year's race also had a record number of finishers. 9,469 runners 
crossed the line inside the Frankfurt festive hall, making it Germany's 
third biggest marathon behind Berlin and Hamburg. In order to further 
develop the event and improve international awareness organisers have also 
extended their media work (TV, radio, print and online) in recent years. 

For more information and online registration visit: 
www.frankfurt-marathon.com

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