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Lead Stories: Tuesday, October 7, 2008

World Marathon Majors Fall Season Set Open in Berlin

Posted September 17th, 2008 at 9:02 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

With the Olympic Games results now in the books, the World Marathon Majors is set to open the Fall season at the real,-BERLIN-MARATHON on Sunday, September 28. Six athletes are still in the running for a half share of the $1,000,000 annual prize.

On the men’s side, Kenyans Martin Lel and Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot are the last two athletes in contention for the 2007/2008 title. Lel has 76 points to Cheruiyot’s 55. Lel 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 because an athlete may have his best four results count. 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.
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Lel, Ndereba lead Kenyan Olympic Marathon Squad

Posted April 23rd, 2008 at 1:40 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

Three-time Flora London Marathon champion Martin Lel (Pictured) and reigning world marathon champion Catherine Ndereba will head a strong Kenyan Olympic squad announced by Athletics Kenya today.

Lel, who took down the London course record with his career best 2:05:15 10 days ago, will be joined by Robert Cheruiyot and Sammy Wanjiru.

Cheruiyot, 33, cruised to his fourth Boston Marathon victory on Monday while Wanjiru, 21, the world record holder for the half-marathon at 58:33, finished second behind Lel in London last week in 2:05:24, also a career best.
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Can Anyone Dethrone Cheruiyot at Boston?

Posted April 19th, 2008 at 3:26 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, the willowy Kenyan who overcame a childhood of destitution to become a three-time Boston Marathon champion and the inaugural World Marathon Majors points leader, is poised to win yet another Boston title on Monday. Can anyone stop him?

“Many people are here to win,” said the smiling Cheruiyot as he chatted with reporters yesterday in a fancy ballroom at the Copley Plaza Hotel. “But I don’t know what place I will be.”

Cheruiyot, who won here in 2003, 2006 and 2007 and set the course record of 2:07:14 with his second victory, is a solid favorite to collect his fourth Boston title on Monday.
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Lel Is Youngest Man Ever to Win Five Majors

Posted April 15th, 2008 at 1:11 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The good news just keeps coming for Kenya’s Martin Lel. The 29 year-old leader of the 2007/2008 World Marathon Majors points series has become the youngest man ever to win five Majors events: London three times and New York City twice.

Lel, who sprinted away from compatriot Samuel Wanjiru at the Flora London Marathon last Sunday to win in a course record and personal best 2:05:15, is also the first man to achieve this career milestone before age 30. The previous youngest five-time winner was Khalid Khannouchi, running for both Morocco and the United States, who was 30 years 295 days when he won his fifth lifetime Major at the 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
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WCSN Offers First Ever Global Webcast of Boston Marathon

Posted April 2nd, 2008 at 10:21 AM by thefinalsprint.com

Section: News & Results, Marathons

World Championship Sports Network (WCSN), the premier destination for fans of Olympic and lifestyle sports, will be offering the first ever global webcast of the 112th running of the Boston Marathon via its broadband network.

Holding its traditional place on Patriots’ Day, Monday, April 21, beginning at 9:25 a.m. EST, race fans can go to www.wcsn.com for comprehensive start to finish coverage of the 26.2 mile event as more than 20,000 contenders set stride on the hilly New England terrain including the infamous one-half mile stretch known as Heartbreak Hill.

Deemed one of the world’s most prestigious and oldest annual road racing events, the Boston Marathon is the second stop on the World Marathon Majors, a marathon series offering a $1 million prize purse to be split between the leading male and female marathoners in the world.
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Cheruiyot, Wami Lead Galaxy of Stars at World Marathon Majors Races This Month

Posted April 1st, 2008 at 10:49 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons

The new era in long distance running continues with a galaxy of the sport’s brightest stars back in action this month as the World Marathon Majors series resumes at the Flora London Marathon and the 112th running of the Boston Marathon.

More than $850,000 in prize money, prestige and all important points in the race to crown the 2007-2008 WMM champions will be on the line in the British capital on Sunday, April 13 followed eight days later at the celebrated Hopkinton to Boston course on Monday, April 21.

Reigning women’s WMM champion Gete Wami of Ethopia leads the field in London while the WMM men’s champion Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya tops the field in Boston.

In London, United States sensation Ryan Hall makes his first start since winning the US Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon race last fall in New York. It will be his second consecutive appearance in London, following his breakthrough seventh place finish last year in his 26.2-mile debut.
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Cheruiyot Leads Strong Kenyan Contingent for Boston Marathon

Posted February 28th, 2008 at 3:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Of the last 17 editions of the Boston Marathon Kenyan men have won all but two, and defending champion and course record holder Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot has nabbed three of those titles. According to an announcement by John Hancock Financial yesterday, Cheruiyot could be headed for a fourth Boston crown, keeping Kenyan dominance alive at America’s oldest, still-contested marathon, founded in 1897.

Cheruiyot, the 2006/2007 World Marathon Majors champion who rebounded from extreme poverty and homelessness to become one of the world’s finest athletes, first won in Boston in 2003. He had since come back to win twice more in 2006 –when he broke Cosmas Ndeti’s 1994 course record– and again last year when he had to contend with sheets of blowing rain as a Nor’easter pounded Boston.
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WMM Champ Cheruiyot Joins RAK Half-Marathon Field

Posted January 30th, 2008 at 3:31 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, the Kenyan whose bank account was fattened by the $500,000 he won as the inaugural World Marathon Majors champion last year, has joined the field for the Ras Al Khaimah Half-Marathon set for Friday, Feb. 8.

The “RAK Half” as it has come to be known, which was only held for the first time one year ago, has quickly established itself as the world’s top winter half-marathon. At last year’s competition, Samuel Wanjiru blazed the flat course in 58:53, then a world record. Wanjiru led two other men, Patrick Makau and Deriba Merga, under the one hour mark. Eight men broke 61 minutes.
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Defending Champions to Return to Boston Marathon

Posted January 23rd, 2008 at 12:06 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Marathons

Organizers of the Boston Marathon announced today that Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot and Lidiya Grigoryeva, their 2007 champions, planned to return to the race this year to defend their titles.

“We are very excited to have both of our defending champions returning for the 112th Boston Marathon,” said Guy Morse, executive director of the Boston Athletic Association through a media release sent by John Hancock Financial, the principal sponsor of the race. “Robert and Lidiya showed their strength by winning in difficult conditions in 2007. We look forward to seeing how they follow up on those victories in 2008.”

Cheruiyot, the 2006/2007 World Marathon Majors champion and Boston Marathon course record holder, got his third Boston victory in last year’s windy and rainy race, crossing the finish line in 2:14:13, the slowest winning time in 30 years. As in his previous Boston victories, Cheruiyot, 29, timed effort to perfection.
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Thrilling Finishes & Record- Breaking Performances Help World Marathon Majors Usher in Brand New Era

Posted December 12th, 2007 at 12:15 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Marathons

World, national and course records, thrilling finishes, more than 300,000 participants, and a championship race that went down to the final day highlighted the inaugural 2006-2007 World Marathon Majors Series, and ushered in a brand new era of growth and excitement in the sport.

After a six month break, the excitement will continue at the 2008 Flora London Marathon on April 13, followed eight days later by the 112th Boston Marathon on April 21.

Here is a look back at some of the many highlights from the 2006-2007 World Marathon Majors Series:

Record Breakers:

* 2006: Robert K. Cheruiyot (KEN) sets a course record of 2:07:14 at the 110th Boston Marathon.
* Deena Kastor (USA) sets a new American record of 2:19:36 in winning the 2006 Flora London Marathon, becoming the eighth woman to break 2:20:00.
* Ethiopians Haile Gebrselassie (2:05:56) and Gete Wami (2:21:34) each set national records in victory at the 2006 real,-BERLIN-MARATHON.
* Gebrselassie sets a new world record of 2:04:26 at the 2007 real,-BERLIN-MARATHON.
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