FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2008-2009 World Marathon Majors Series Resumes in April
With Wanjiru and Mikitenko Atop the Leaderboard.
The second half of the 2008-09 World Marathon Majors series continues this
spring as reigning men's champion Martin Lel of Kenya returns to defend his
Flora London Marathon title on April 26 against one of the strongest fields
ever assembled for a big city race. A head to head showdown pits the
Olympic champion and World Marathon Majors (WMM) Series leader Sammy
Wanjiru (40 points) of Kenya against his compatriot and closest rival, the
defending Flora London Marathon champion Lel (26 points), on the streets of
the British capital.
World Marathon Majors excitement kicks off six days earlier on April 20,
Patriots' Day in Boston, when former WMM Series champion Robert Kipkoech
Cheruiyot of Kenya seeks to become the first four time consecutive champion
in the Boston Marathon's 113-year history. Boston's sponsor John Hancock
Financial has recruited a field which will see Cheruiyot, who won the first
WMM Series (2006-2007), facing stiff competition in Evans Cheruiyot, the
2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion, and American star Ryan
Hall, who enters Boston having run the fastest of any man in the field. The
two Cheruiyots are not related, but the countrymen from Kenya are in a
five-way tie for third place in the World Marathon Majors standings with 25
points. Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco is entered in London and also has 25
points.
This year's Flora London Marathon includes 10 men who have run faster than
2:08:00. Boston, the world's oldest annual marathon, remains the place
where the coveted title is career-transforming.
Last fall, theWMM Series women's race came down to the final day of the
season at the ING New York City Marathon in November before Irina Mikitenko
of Germany claimed the $500,000 prize.
With 50 points, Mikitenko is also leading the 2008-2009 series. She has a
20-point advantage over Alevtina Biktimirova of Russia and Constantina Dita
of Romania. Dita and Catherine Ndereba (16 points), who has won two World
Championship gold medals and two Olympic silver medals, will contest the
London race. Boston's most recent two champions - Lidiya Grigoryeva (2007)
of Russia and Dire Tune (2008) of Ethiopia - are among a tie for fourth
place with 25 points, and both are returning there this April. Almost all
of the women on the top of the current WMM Series leader board with the
exception of the injured Paula Radcliffe will be in action next month. Also
running Boston is American sensation Kara Goucher, who placed third in her
marathon debut last year at the ING New York City Marathon.
All four previous Series champions are in the hunt for the next
championship. Mikitenko and Lel were the second pair of WMM champions to be
named after 2006-2007 victors Wami and Cheruiyot.
The World Marathon Majors series is proving popular with more than the
elites. While the five mass participatory city races draw in excess of
300,000 entrants each year, a growing swell of recreational runners aspire
to compete in all five events.
For the World Marathon Majors Series scoring system and the starting fields
of both the Boston Marathon and the Flora London Marathon, go to:
http://www.worldmarathonmajors.com
UPCOMING EVENTS 2009
April 20 BostonMarathon
April 26 Flora London Marathon
Aug. 22-23 IAAF World Track & Field Champ. (Berlin)
Sept. 20 real,- BERLIN-MARATHON
Oct. 11 Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Nov. 1 ING New York CityMarathon
UPCOMING EVENTS 2010
April 19 Boston Marathon
April 25 Virgin London Marathon
Sept. 26 real,- BERLIN-MARATHON
Oct. 10 Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Nov. 7 ING New York Cit yMarathon
2008-‘09 LEADERBOARD
Men
1. Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) 40 pts.
2nd London 2008 2:05:24 15 pts.
1st Olympic Games 2008 2:06:32 25 pts.
2. Martin Lel (KEN) 26 pts.
3. Evans Cheruiyot (KEN) 25 pts.
3. Robert K. Cheruiyot (KEN) 25 pts.
3. Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 25 pts.
3. Marilson Gomes dos Santos (BRA) 25 pts.
3. Abderrahim Goumri (MAR) 25 pts.
8. Abderrahime Bouramdane (MAR) 16 pts.
9. Jaouad Gharib (MAR) 15 pts.
9. James Kwambai (KEN) 15 pts.
9. David Mandago (KEN) 15 pts.
12. Timothy Cherigat (KEN) 10 pts.
12. Khalid El Boumlili (MAR) 10 pts.
12. Charles Kamathi (KEN) 10 pts.
12. Tsegaye Kebede (ETH) 10 pts.
12. Daniel Rono (KEN) 10 pts.
17. Emmanuel Mutai (KEN) 6 pts.
18. Gashaw Asfaw Melese (ETH) 5 pts.
18. Mariko Kipchumba (KEN) 5 pts.
18. Martin Lauret (NED) 5 pts.
18. Deriba Merga (ETH) 5 pts.
18. Paul Tergat (KEN) 5 pts.
23. Kasime Adillo (ETH) 1 pt.
23. Mesefi n Adimasu (ETH) 1 pt.
23. Ryan Hall (USA) 1 pt.
Women
1. Irina Mikitenko (GER) 50 pts.
1st London 2008 2:24:14 25 pts.
1st Berlin 2008 2:19:19 25 pts.
2. Alevtina Biktimirova (RUS) 30 pts.
2. Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROU) 30 pts.
4. Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS) 25 pts.
4. Paula Radcliffe (GBR) 25 pts.
4. Dire Tune (ETH) 25 pts.
7. Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 16 pts.
7. Ludmila Petrova (RUS) 16 pts.
7. Askale Tafa Magarsa (ETH) 16 pts.
10. Rita Jeptoo (KEN) 15 pts.
10. Svetlana Zakharova (RUS) 15 pts.
12. Kara Goucher (USA) 10 pts.
12. Helena Kiprop (KEN) 10 pts.
12. Kiyoko Shimahara (JPN) 10 pts.
12. Gete Wami (ETH) 10 pts.
12. Chunxiu Zhou (CHN) 10 pts.
17. Rose Cheruiyot (KEN) 5 pts.
17. Salina Kosgei (KEN) 5 pts.
17. Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT) 5 pts.
17. Xiaolin Zhu (CHN) 5 pts.
21. Desiree Davila (USA) 1 pt.
21. Martha Komu (KEN) 1 pt.
21. Gulnara Vigovskaya (RUS) 1 pt.
2007-2008 CHAMPIONS WITH POINT TOTALS
Men
Martin Lel (KEN) 75 pts.
1st London 2007 2:07:41 25 pts.
1st New York 2007 2:09:04 25 pts.
1st London 2008 2:05:15 25 pts.
5th Olympics 2008 2:10:24 1 pt.
Women
Irina Mikitenko (GER) 65 pts.*
2nd Berlin 2007 2:24:51 15 pts.
1st London 2008 2:24:14 25 pts.
1st Berlin 2008 2:19:19 25 pts.
*Mikitenko finished the Series tied with Gete Wami (ETH) with 65 points. A
vote of the five WMM race directors determined Mikitenko to be the WMM
Series Champion.
______________________________________________________
Points are awarded on the following scale: 1st = 25; 2nd = 15; 3rd = 10;
4th = 5; 5th = 1
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