WORLD MARATHON MAJORS

The 'World Marathon Majors' is a championship style competition that started in 2006. It is comprised of five annual races in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City. Two other races are also included in the series: the IAAF World Championships Marathon (in odd-numbered years) and the Olympic Games Marathon (years evenly divisible by four). The WMM series consists of each race over two year periods that overlap. The inaugural period is 2006-2007 with the second period from 2007-2008.
Athletes who compete in the designated marathons will receive points for each top five finish place (1st 25; 2nd 15; 3rd 10; 4th 5 and 5th 1). Their four best performances over a two year period will be counted; if an athlete scores points in more than this number, the athlete's four best races will be scored. At least one qualifying race must be in each calendar year of a scoring period in order for an athlete to be eligible for the jackpot. In case there are equal top scores at the end of the competition the tiebreakers are head-to-head competition and, if necessary, a majority vote of the five WMM race directors.
The leading man and woman at the end of each WMM series will both win $500,000.

Contents

Marathons

Leader Boards

2006/2007 Series

2007/2008 Series

Legendary Marathoners

See also

External links

Marathons

★ Boston Marathon - Boston, Massachusetts - mid April

★ London Marathon - London, England - late April

★ Berlin Marathon - Berlin, Germany - late September

★ Chicago Marathon - Chicago, Illinois - early October

★ New York City Marathon - New York, New York - early November

Leader Boards

The top scorers through the spring 2007 events at Boston and London are as follows:

2006/2007 Series

MEN

Place	Name	Country	Points
1.	Robert Cheruiyot	KEN	75 pts.
2.	Martin Lel	KEN	40 pts.
3.	Felix Limo	KEN	35 pts.
4.	Haile Gebrselassie	ETH	25 pts.
4.	Marilson Gomes dos Santos	BRA	25 pts.
4.	Stephen Kiogora	KEN	25 pts.
7.	Benjamin Maiyo	KEN	15 pts.
7.	Gudisa Shentema	ETH	15 pts.
7.	Daniel Njenga	KEN	15 pts.
7.	James Kwambai	KEN	15 pts.
7.	Abderrahim Goumri	MAR	15 pts.

WOMEN

Place	Name	Country	Points
1.	Jelena Prokopcuka	LAT	55 pts.
2.	Gete Wami	ETH	40 pts.
3.	Rita Jeptoo	KEN	35 pts.
4.	Berhane Adere	ETH	30 pts.
5.	Lidiya Grigoryeva	RUS	26 pts.
5.	Deena Kastor	USA	26 pts.
7.	Zhou Chunxiu	CHN	25 pts.
8.	Salina Kosgei	KEN	20 pts.
9.	Galina Bogomolova	RUS	16 pts.

2007/2008 Series

MEN

Place	Name	Country	Points
1.	Robert Cheruiyot	KEN	25 pts.
1.	Martin Lel	KEN	25 pts.
3.	James Kwambai	KEN	15 pts.
3.	Abderrahim Goumri	MAR	15 pts.
5.	Stephen Kiogora	KEN	10 pts.
5.	Felix Limo	KEN	10 pts.
7.	James Koskei	KEN	5 pts.
7.	Jaouad Gharib		5 pts.
9.	Teferi Wodajo	KEN	1 pt.
9.	Hendrick Ramaala	RSA	1 pt.

WOMEN

Place	Name	Country	Points
1.	Lidiya Grigoryeva	RUS	25 pts.
1.	Zhou Chunxiu	CHN	25 pts.
3.	Jelena Prokopcuka	LAT	15 pts.
3.	Gete Wami	ETH	15 pts.
5.	Madai Perez Carrillo	MEX	10 pts.
5.	Constantina Tomescu-Dita	ROM	10 pts.
7.	Rita Jeptoo	KEN	5 pts.
7.	Salina Kosgei	KEN	5 pts.
9.	Deena Kastor	USA	1 pt.
9.	Lornah Kiplagat	NED	1 pt.

Legendary Marathoners

Although the World Marathon Majors competition officially began in 2006, many of history’s greatest marathoners built their reputations on races that make up the series.
Norway’s Grete Waitz was the most prolific winner among the WMM events. Her nine victories at New York City (1978-1980, 1982-1986, 1988) are the most in any one of these races and she added two more at London (1983, 1986) and the 1983 World Championships. She is the only runner in history, male or female, to win three World Marathon Majors in one calendar year.
Kenyan Catherine Ndereba placed in the top three a record 15 times: seven firsts (Chicago 2000-2001; Boston 2000-2001, 2004-2005; World Championships 2003), seven seconds (New York 1999, 2003; Boston 2002; Chicago 2002; London 2003; Olympic Games 2004; World Championships 2005) and one third (New York 2006). Her countrywoman, Joyce Chepchumba, had 16 top five places.
Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway had the unique distinction of wining four different City marathons: London (1984-1985, 1987-1988), Boston (1986, 1989), Chicago (1986) and New York (1989).
American Bill Rodgers had the greatest concentration of World Marathon Majors victories. From April 1975 through April 1980 he won eight such races, with four Boston wins (1975, 1978-1980) and four New York City victories (1976-1979).
The Boston Marathon has provided the stage for many exceptional accomplishments. Clarence DeMar won there seven times (1911, 1922-24, 1927-28, 1930) and was the oldest WMM Champion at age 41. John A. Kelley collected 10 top threes and 15 top fives in a 17-year span between 1934 and 1950; he competed in the race in eight different decades from the 1920s through the 1990s, finishing 58 times.

See also

★ Marathon

External links

★ Official site