Press Release - World Marathon Majors - 11/2/08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

             Martin Lel and Irina Mikitenko Win Second 
             World Marathon Majors Series Championships

   Champions to be honored on Monday, November 3 in New York City

New York, NY -- Following today's ING New York City Marathon, Martin Lel 
(KEN) and Irina Mikitenko (GER) have captured the 2007-2008 World Marathon 
Majors Series championships. They will be honored at a special luncheon 
tomorrow, Monday, November 3, at The Boathouse in New York City.

Lel, the WMM Series runner-up in 2006-2007, clinched the 2007-2008 title by 
virtue of victories in the first three marathons he ran in the scoring 
period: the 2007 Flora London Marathon and ING New York City Marathon, 
followed by the 2008 Flora London Marathon. Lel then placed fifth in the 
Olympic Marathon in Beijing to increase his total to 76 points.

For the second consecutive year, the women's title was still up for grabs 
in the final race of the Series. Two women could have clinched the WMM 
title by a strong showing in the ING New York City Marathon this morning: 
Gete Wami (65 points) and Catherine Ndereba (41 points). Not entered in New 
York, but also in contention, was Irina Mikitenko (65 points).

With neither Ndereba (fifth today) nor Wami (sixth) clinching the victory, 
Wami and Mikitenko remained tied atop the leaderboard with 65 points. Under 
the rules of the WMM Series, the first tie-breaker is head-to-head 
competition however the two athletes each have beaten each other once. As a 
result, the champion is determined by a vote taken by the five race 
directors of the World Marathon Majors-and they have unanimously decided 
that the winner of the 2007-2008 Series is Mikitenko.

In reaching this decision, the race directors took into account the fact 
that Irina had achieved her points in fewer races and her average times 
across her scoring race were lower than Wami's.

Final 2007-2008 World Marathon Majors Series Standings

Men's 2007-2008 WMM Series Top 10
1. Martin Lel (KEN)                            76 pts.
1st      2007 London                           25 pts.
1st      2007 New York                         25 pts.
1st      2008 London                           25 pts.
5th      2008 Olympic Games                     1 pt.

2. Robert K. Cheruiyot (KEN)                   55 pts.
1st      2007 Boston                           25 pts.
4th      2007 Chicago                           5 pts.
1st      2008 Boston                           25 pts.

2. Abderrahim Goumri (MAR)                     55 pts.
2nd      2007 London                           15 pts.
2nd      2007 New York                         15 pts.
3rd      2008 London                           10 pts.
2nd      2008 New York                         15 pts.

4. Haile Gebrselassie (ETH)                    50 pts.
1st      2007 Berlin                           25 pts.
1st      2008 Berlin                           25 pts.

5. Samuel Wanjiru (KEN)                        40 pts.
2nd      2008 London                           15 pts.
1st      2008 Olympic Games                    25 pts.

6. Jaouad Gharib (MAR)                         35 pts.
4th      2007 London                            5 pts.
2nd      2007 Chicago                          15 pts.
2nd      2008 Olympic Games                    15 pts.

7. James Kwambai (KEN)                         31 pts.
2nd      2007 Boston                           15 pts.
5th      2007 New York                          1 pt.
2nd      2008 Berlin                           15 pts.

8. Evans Cheruiyot (KEN) 25 pts.
1st      2008 Chicago                          25 pts.

8. Patrick Ivuti (KEN)                         25 pts.
1st      2007 Chicago                          25 pts.

8. Luke Kibet (KEN)                            25 pts.
1st      2007 World Championships              25 pts.

8. Marilson Gomes Dos Santos (BRA)             25 pts.
1st      2008 New York                         25 pts.

 
Women's 2007-2008 WMM Series Top 10

1. Irina Mikitenko (GER)                       65 pts.*
2nd      2007 Berlin                           15 pts.
1st      2008 London                           25 pts.
1st      2008 Berlin                           25 pts.

2. Gete Wami (ETH)                             65 pts.
2nd      2007 London                           15 pts.
1st      2007 Berlin                           25 pts.
2nd      2007 New York                         15 pts.
3rd      2008 London                           10 pts.

3. Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS)                     55 pts.
1st      2007 Boston                           25 pts.
4th      2007 New York                          5 pts.
1st      2008 Chicago                          25 pts.

4. Zhou Chunxiu (CHN)                          50 pts.
1st      2007 London                           25 pts.
2nd      2007 World Championships              15 pts.
3rd      2008 Olympic Games                    10 pts.

4. Paula Radcliffe (GBR)                       50 pts.
1st      2007 New York                         25 pts.
1st      2008 New York                         25 pts.

6. Catherine Ndereba (KEN)                     42 pts.
1st      2007 World Championships              25 pts.
5th      2007 New York                          1 pt.
2nd      2008 Olympic Games                    15 pts.
5th      2008 New York                          1 pt.

7. Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROU)              35 pts.
3rd      2007 London                           10 pts.
1st      2008 Olympic Games                    25 pts.
4th      2008 Chicago                           5 pts.

8. Alevtina Biktimirova (RUS)                  30 pts.
2nd      2008 Boston                           15 pts.
2nd      2008 Chicago                          15 pts.

8. Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT)                     30 pts.
2nd      2007 Boston                           15 pts.
3rd      2007 New York                         10 pts.
4th      2008 Boston                            5 pts.

10. Berhane Adere (ETH)                        25 pts.
1st      2007 Chicago                          25 pts.

10. Dire Tune (ETH)                            25 pts.
1st      2008 Boston                           25 pts.

*Champion determined via tie-break.

Athletes are awarded points for a top-5 finish, with 25 points for 1st, 15 
for 2nd, 10 for 3rd, 5 for 4th and 1 for 5th. A maximum of four events can 
be counted in a two-year period.

Complete WMM Series leaderboards can be found at worldmarathonmajors.com.

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