World Marathon Majors

Infobox sports league
title = World Marathon Majors
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sport = Marathon running
founded = 2006
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teams = individual sport
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website = [http://www.worldmarathonmajors.com Official site]
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ceo =The World Marathon Majors is a championship-style competition that started in 2006. It comprises 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 (in years evenly divisible by four). Each WMM series spans two calendar years; the second year of a series overlaps with the first year of the next. The inaugural period was 2006-2007 and the second period is 2007-2008. Men and women compete separately.

Athletes who compete in the marathons will receive points for finishing in any of the top five places (1st 25; 2nd 15; 3rd 10; 4th 5 and 5th 1). Their four highest ranks over the 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. To be eligible for the jackpot, an athlete must compete in at least one qualifying race in each calendar year of the series. 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.

At the end of each WMM series the leading man and woman will each win $500,000.

Major Marathons

* Boston Marathon - Boston, Massachusetts, USA - mid April
* London Marathon - London, England - late April
* Berlin Marathon - Berlin, Germany - late September
* Chicago Marathon - Chicago, Illinois, USA - early October
* New York City Marathon - New York, New York, USA - early November

Leader Boards

2006/2007 Series final standings

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 16 times: eight firsts (Chicago 2000-2001; Boston 2000-2001, 2004-2005; World Championships 2003, 2007), 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.

ee also

*Marathon

External links

* [http://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/