BOSTON and LONDON (April 12, 2006) -- The World Marathon Majors, an innovative series with a $1,000,000 prize purse, will get underway when the gun fires at the 110th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17th. The two-year, five marathon series will divide $1,000,000 between the overall male and female winners and will continue on Sunday, April 23rd, when the Flora London Marathon takes place on the streets of the English capital.
The product of two years of discussions among the world's most preeminent marathons, the World Marathon Majors Series comprises five races, including the Boston Marathon, Flora London Marathon, BMW Berlin Marathon, The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and ING New York City Marathon. Qualifying runners will score points in each race they contest over a consecutive two-year span, with their best four races used to score. The ultimate male and female victors will take home $500,000 each.
"We're entering the series with great anticipation," asserted Mary Wittenberg, director of the ING New York City Marathon. "We believe this is a moment we will all reflect on as among the most historic and significant in our sport. We're really stepping to the starting line of a whole new era of long distance running in the marathon."
As the first race in the series, Boston garners all the attention this weekend. Among the elite field Boston's principal sponsor John Hancock has assembled are returning men's champion Hailu Negussie (ETH, PB 2:08:16), 2004 men's champion Timothy Cherigat (KEN, PB 2:09:34), 2:06 performers Wilson Onsar (KEN, PB 2:06:47), William Kiplagat (KEN, PB 2:06:50) and Tesfaye Tola (ETH, PB 2:06:57), plus American favorites Alan Culpepper (PB 2:09:41) and 2004 Olympic silver medalist, Mebrahtom Keflezighi (PB 2:09:53). Among the leading women are 2005 third place finisher Bruna Genovese (ITA, PB 2:25:35) and 2:22 performers Reiko Tosa (JPN, PB 2:22:46) and Jelena Prokopcuka (LAT, PB 2:22:56), winner of the 2005 ING New York City Marathon.
Guy Morse, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association, commented, "I want to reiterate how excited we all are to begin this new world in terms of long distance running. Everybody is looking with anticipation to the start of this series, starting in Boston on Patriots' Day and continuing in London on St. George’s Day, the patron Saint of England, the following weekend. It should be the beginning of a great time for our sport. It's the first step of many, but it's an important step. It's going to add a new dynamic to how the media covers the sport at the elite level, but also to how elite athletes choose where they run in the future."
The first male and female runners across the line in downtown Boston will score World Marathon Majors points as follows:
1st - 25 points
2nd - 15 points
3rd - 10 points
4th - 5 points
5th - 1 point
Significantly, the first year of each two-year cycle overlaps with the second year of the previous cycle. So, the World Marathon Majors series will rotate thus: 2006/2007; 2007/2008; 2008/2009, etc. After 2007, therefore, the prize money will be awarded on an annual basis. Sponsorship negotiations are presently underway in the hopes to provide increased prize money.
In the years in which they occur, the Olympic Games and World Championships marathons will also be part of the World Marathon Majors Series, those races being weighted equally with the others.
Once the smoke has cleared in Boston on Monday, attention will shift to London where the Flora event has attracted its now traditional stellar field.
"We are a body, an association of marathons who are starting life with the bit that we know about, and that's the elite athletes," said David Bedford, Race Director of the Flora London Marathon on a World Marathon Majors Series conference call with the media last week. "We are, of course, far more than that. The success of our marathons revolves around large numbers of ordinary people doing extraordinary performances taking part in our races. You, at the moment, have only seen the first stage of our development."
Among the most prominent male starters are marathon world record holder Paul Tergat (KEN, PB 2:04:55), 2005 winner Martin Lel (KEN, PB 2:07:26), former marathon world record holder Khalid Khannouchi (USA, PB 2:05:38), multi-world record holder Haile Gebrselassie (ETH, PB 2:06:20), world champion Jaoud Gharib (MAR, PB 2:07:02), Olympic champion Stefano Baldini (ITA, PB 2:07:29), 2004 New York winner Hendrick Ramaala (RSA, PB 2:08:32) and past Chicago and London winner Evans Rutto (KEN, PB 2:05:50).
Most prominent among the women are former New York, London and Boston winner Margaret Okayo (KEN, PB 2:20:43), 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and former Chicago winner Deena Kastor (USA, PB 2:21:16), 2004 Chicago winner Christina Tomescu-Dita (ROM, PB 2:21:30), 2000 New York winner Lyudmila Petrova (RUS, PB 2:22:33), and three-time New York second-place finisher
Susan Chepkemei (KEN, PB 2:23:12).
"There's a definite incentive for elite athletes to look at Boston and London in the spring, then Berlin, New York and Chicago," said The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski. I mean, obviously we're funding this first prize payout ... and that’s just the first offering. I think surely, in addition to the prize purses and the payouts that we have, it's a different added
incentive that's caught the attention of the top athletes."
With the first points in the World Marathon Majors Series having been accumulated in Boston and London, attention will turn to the three autumn events: real,-Berlin on September 24th, La Salle Bank Chicago on October 22nd and ING New York City on November 5th. Explains Berlin Race Director Mark Milde, "By creating this enterprise, we can increase the overall interest in running on a global level. And we can increase interest among ordinary runners who want to see how the series develops."
For more information:
Boston: Jack Fleming +1 617.236.1652 ext. 2627, Marc Chalufour 617-236-1652 ext. 2632
London: Nicola Okey + 44 207.902.0182
Berlin: Jörg Wenig + 49 30.8909.5250
Chicago: Marianne Caponi +1 312.904.9816
New York: Richard Finn +1 212.423.2229
