Kirui, Bai score points in World Marathon Majors Series with victories at IAAF World Championships Berlin

BERLIN, August 23, 2009 � The top five performers in the men's and women's marathons at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany scored points in the World Marathon Majors series.

On Saturday, August 22, the men's race saw a championship record and the following five were first through the finish line at the Brandenberg Gate near the Tiergarten in the center of the city:

Place Name, Country Time WMM points
1. Abel KIRUI, KEN 2:06:54 25 pts.
2. Emmanuel K. MUTAI, KEN 2:07:48 15
3. Tsegay KEBEDE, ETH 2:08:35 10
4. Yemane TSEGAY, ETH 2:08:42 5
5. Robert K. CHERUIYOT, KEN 2:10:46 1

In the women's race on the following day and like Kenya in the men's race, China took three of the top five places over the four-lap route:

Place Name, Country Time WMM points
1. Xue BAI, CHN 2:25:15 25 pts.
2. Yoshimi OZAKI, JPN 2:25:25 15
3. Aselefech MERGIA, ETH 2:25:32 10
4. Chunxiu Zhou, CHN 2:25:39 5
5. Xiaolin ZHU, CHN 2:26:08 1

With the World Championships completed, the schedule for the remaining three events of the 2008-2009 World Marathon Majors series includes:
real,-BERLIN-Marathon on September 20; Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 11; and, ING New York City Marathon on November 1.

The Boston Marathon and the Virgin London Marathon are the other races which comprise the World Marathon Majors.

With 65 points and 75 points respectively, Olympic gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) and defending London and Berlin champion Irina Mikitenko (GER) lead in the 2008-09 World Marathon Majors series. On the men's leader board, Kebede (35 points) and Mutai (26 points) improved their standings among the top five. This weekend's World Championships did not result in any changes atop the women's leader board.

Martin Lel (KEN) and Mikitenko are the reigning World Marathon Majors champions. The series champions both will be awarded $500,000 USD on November 2 in New York City.

WMM series points are collected for top five finishes with 25 points for first place, 15 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth and 1 for fifth.
To view the current leader boards for both the current series and the 2009-2010 series and for complete and updated biographies of World Marathon Majors points leaders, go to www.worldmarathonmajors.com.