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Champions to be honored on November 5 with $1 million jackpot
NEW YORK CITY - (October 25, 2007) - Nearly two years have passed since organizers of the Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City marathons announced the formation of the World Marathon Majors (WMM), and 10 events, including the IAAF World Championships, have been run since the WMM Series was launched at the 2006 Boston Marathon. Just one race - the 2007 ING New York City Marathon - remains before the inaugural WMM Series champions will be presented with their share of the $1 million jackpot at a special luncheon on Monday, November 5.
Remarkably, after 10 events - and 262 miles of racing - the women's WMM Series champion has yet to be decided. Of the 32 women who have earned WMM points, just two remain in contention for the title: Gete Wami (ETH) and Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT). With $500,000 at stake, in addition to the ING New York City Marathon prize purse, the two women will race head-to-head through the streets of New York. A win for either would clinch the title, but anything less than victory opens up an intriguing number of potential results.
Wami leads with 65 points; however she will be running New York on short rest, having won Berlin just five weeks ago. Prokopcuka, meanwhile, trails Wami by 10 points on the leaderboard but will be fully rested and looking for her third consecutive victory in the Big Apple. Neither woman will have an easy road to victory, however, as the New York field includes, among others, Boston champion Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS), world champion Catherine Ndereba (KEN) and world record holder Paula Radcliffe (GBR).
There are 31 different scoring scenarios between Wami and Prokopcuka, three of which involve a tie atop the leaderboard. In the event of a tie, head-to-head competition in WMM events would be the first tie breaker. Prokopcuka therefore holds the advantage in case of a tie since she and Wami will be racing head-to-head for the first time in New York. Of course, that is but one of the many possible scenarios that could play out. Among the others:
a) If Prokopcuka wins New York, she wins the WMM Series.
>BR>b) If Prokopcuka is runner-up in New York and Wami places fourth or lower, Prokopcuka wins the WMM Series.
c) If Prokopcuka places third in New York and Wami is outside of the top five, Prokopcuka wins the WMM Series.
d) All other scoring scenarios would result in Wami clinching the WMM Series.
On the men's side the picture is far simpler. Robert K. Cheruiyot (KEN) took the early Series lead with a win at the 2006 Boston Marathon and has never looked back. Subsequent victories in Chicago and again in Boston solidified his hold on the top spot, and a fourth-place finish in Chicago earlier this month clinched the WMM Series title. Trailing Cheruiyot's 80 point total is Haile Gebrselassie (ETH), who twice won the real,-Berlin Marathon to earn his 50 points. Entered in the 2007 ING New York City Marathon are Martin Lel (KEN; 3rd, 40 pts), Stephen Kiogora (KEN; 5th, 25 pts), and Marilson Gomes dos Santos (BRA; 5th, 25 pts).
The past two years have been about more than the chase for the WMM title, however. A total of 71 men and women have earned points in the two-year series, one world record and 14 national records were established, and one race after another was decided by a thrilling finish. Among the many highlights from 2006-07:
April 17, 2006: Cheruiyot sets a Boston Marathon course record of 2:07:14.
April 23, 2006: Deena Kastor (USA) joins the elite sub-2:20 club and sets a new U.S. record of 2:19:36 with her victory at the Flora London Marathon.
November 5, 2006: Prokopcuka wins her second consecutive ING New York City Marathon title and assumes the WMM Series lead.
April 16, 2007: Cheruiyot wins his third straight WMM event at the Boston Marathon.
September 30, 2007: Gebrselassie sets a new world record of 2:04:26 at the real,-Berlin Marathon, while Wami's win vaults her to the top of the women's leaderboard.
October 7, 2007: Patrick Ivuti (KEN) wins the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon by just five one-hundredths of a second, the closest finish in WMM history.
For complete 2006-07 World Marathon Majors Series standings, visit: WorldMarathonMajors.com.
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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