Edwin Soi of Kenya and Lornah Kiplagat of the Netherlands were given the #1 road racer rankings for 2007 by the editors of Running Times magazine.
Assisted by statistician Ken Young of the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, the magazine compiled their rankings for the period Oct. 15, 2006, to Oct. 14, 2007, based on head-to-head competition between the world's top-20 runners.
Soi, 21, got the top ranking over compatriot, Micah Kogo. In an ironic twist, neither athlete ran in many road races during the ranking period. Soi failed to finish the Corsa Internazionale di San Silvestro "Boclassic" in Bolzano, Italy, in 2006, but won the Giro Media Blenio in Dongio 10-K, Switzerland (over Kogo); the Corrida de l'Est Républicain 8.8-K in Heillecourt, France; and the 10-K du Conseil Général in Marseille, France, last spring. Soi focused on the track after that (track performances didn't count in the rankings).
Kiplagat, 33, was propelled to the top of the women's rankings over Ethiopia's Berhane Adere based largely on her victories over top fields at the World's Best 10-K (San Juan, Puerto Rico), NYRR Mini 10-K (New York, USA), and the IAAF World Road Running Championships (Udine, Italy). She was also fifth at the Flora London Marathon.
During the rankings period, the editors chose the Corrida de l'Est Républicain 8.8-K and the Flora London Marathon as the most competitive road races in the world for men and women, respectively.
The complete rankings are published in the January/February 2008 issue of Running Times, and are not available on-line. However, their regular weekly rankings are available at RunningTimes.com.
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