Six Marathoners Still in Running for WMM $1 Million Purse

Second World Marathon Majors Series Nears
Conclusion

Six Athletes Remain in Contention
for $1 Million Prize

With the Beijing Olympic Games
having come to a close and the Fall/Autumn marathon season about to begin, the
2007-2008 World Marathon Majors Series men’s and women’s titles remain very much
up in the air. Last year both titles were decided in the final two races of the
Series. With six athletes still in contention in 2007-2008 — two men and four
women — the Series is headed for another exciting conclusion. Athletes will
have three chances to score points before the champions are crowned on November
3 in New York
City:

September 28            
real,-Berlin-Marathon

October 12                 
Bank of America
Chicago Marathon

November 2               
ING New York City Marathon

The men’s race is down to two
contenders: defending champion Robert K. Cheruiyot (KEN) and his training
partner Martin Lel (KEN). Lel holds a substantial 21-point lead, but has already
scored in four events (the maximum number allowed in a two-year scoring period).
Should he choose to race again, Lel could still improve his score by improving
upon his 5th-place finish in the Olympic Games. For Cheruiyot to defend his
championship he will first have to recover from the injury which forced him to
withdraw from the Olympics. Then, only a victory — coupled with Lel failing to
add to his lead — would give Cheruiyot the title.

The women’s race is a bit more
complicated. Defending champion Gete Wami (ETH) holds a 15-point advantage, but
like Lel she has already scored in four events. Wami would have to place first
or second in a Fall race to improve her 65-point total. Should she fail to do
so, the door will be opened for three women to challenge for the WMM Series
championship.

Olympic bronze medalist Zhou Chunxiu
(CHN, 50 pts.) sits in second place, and holds a tie-break advantage versus Wami
by virtue of their head-to-head record, so a victory or runner-up placing this
Fall could give Zhou the win. Meanwhile, Olympic silver medalist Catherine
Ndereba (KEN, 41 pts.) would surpass Wami by a slim 1-point margin with a win.
Irina Mikitenko (GER) also still has an outside chance. Injury prevented her
from competing in the Olympic Games but a win in Berlin on September 28 would vault her into a
tie for first with Wami.

If there is a tie atop the
leaderboard following the last race in the Series, New York City on November
2, the tie would be broken by head-to-head record. If the athletes remain tied,
the WMM race directors would decide the champion by a
vote.

The 2007-2008 World Marathon Majors
Series champions will be honored and presented with their $500,000 checks at a
special luncheon in New York
City on Monday, November 3, the day after the 2008 ING
New York City Marathon.

Men’s 2007-2008 WMM Series
Leaderboard

1.
Martin Lel (KEN)                                            
                    
76 pts.

1st          
London                                  
2007                
2:07:41

1st          
New York                              
2007                
2:09:04

1st          
London                                  
2008                
2:05:15

5th          
Olympic Games                     
2008                
2:10:24

2.
Robert K. Cheruiyot (KEN)                                               
55 pts.

1st          
Boston                                  
2007                
2:14:13

4th          
Chicago                                
2007                
2:16:13

1st          
Boston                                  
2008                
2:07:46

3.
Abderrahim Goumri (MAR)                           
                    
40 pts.

2nd         
London                                  
2007                
2:07:44

2nd         
New York                              
2007                
2:09:16

3rd          
London                                  
2008                
2:05:30

3.
Samuel Wanjiru (KEN)                                                       
40 pts.

2nd         
London                                  
2008                
2:05:24

1st          
Olympic Games                     
2008                
2:06:32

5.
Jaouad Gharib (MAR)                                                         
35 pts.

4th          
London                                  
2007                
2:07:54

2nd         
Chicago                                
2007                
2:11:11

2nd         
Olympic Games                     
2008                
2:07:16

Women’s
2007-2008 WMM Series Leaderboard

1.
Gete Wami (ETH)                                           
                    
65 pts.

2nd         
London                                  
2007                
2:21:45

1st          
Berlin                                    
2007                
2:23:17

2nd         
New York                              
2007                
2:23:32

3rd          
London                                  
2008                
2:25:37

2.
Zhou Chunxiu (CHN)                                                          
50 pts.

1st          
London                                  
2007                
2:20:38

2nd         
IAAF World Championships     2007                
2:30:45

3rd          
Olympic Games                     
2008                
2:27:07

3.
Catherine Ndereba (KEN)                                                 
41 pts.

1st          
IAAF World Championships     2007                
2:30:37

5th          
New York                              
2007                
2:29:08

2nd         
Olympic Games                     
2008                
2:27:06

4.
Irina Mikitenko (GER)                                                        
40 pts.

2nd         
Berlin                                    
2007                
2:24:51

1st          
London                                  
2008                
2:24:14

5.
Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROU)                                   
35 pts.

3rd          
London                                  
2007                
2:23:55

1st          
Olympic Games                     
2008                
2:26:44

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 http://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/