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World's top professional wheelchair athletes to compete in 2015 Chicago-New York challenge in preview of new Abbott World Marathon Majors series

CHICAGO, August 5, 2015 The world's top professional wheelchair athletes will go head to head in the first-ever Chicago-New York Challenge, it was announced today by Carey Pinkowski, executive race director of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, and Peter Ciaccia, president of events for New York Road Runners and race director of the TCS New York City Marathon.

Defending Chicago Marathon champions Tatyana McFadden and Josh George, of the United States, and defending TCS New York City Marathon champion Kurt Fearnley, of Australia, will headline a deep professional field competing in the Challenge, which will award a $10,000 winner-take-all prize each to the male and female athlete with the most points earned in the 2015 Chicago and TCS New York City Marathons.

�"The Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the TCS New York City Marathon are two of my favorite races, so to be part of the new Chicago-New York Challenge is very exciting," said McFadden, the winner of 10 straight Abbott World Marathon Majors races and defending champion of the 2015 Chicago and TCS New York City Marathons. �"The Challenge is a great way to kick off next year's Abbott World Marathon Majors Wheelchair Series and showcase all the great athletes in our sport."

The Chicago-NY Challenge is a prelude to the inaugural Abbott World Marathon Majors Wheelchair Series, which will begin April 2016 at the Boston Marathon. More information on AWMM Wheelchair Series X, which will award $50,000 each to the top male and female athletes based on scoring earned via results from six iconic global races, can be found here.

�"The Chicago-New York Challenge is another encouraging way to move Para-sports forward," said Tim Hadzima, AWMM general manager. �"Tokyo, Boston, Virgin Money London, BMW Berlin, Bank of America Chicago, and TCS New York City Marathons remain committed to advancing and promoting all aspects of our sport."

Only athletes competing in both the Oct. 11, 2015 Chicago and Nov. 1, 2015 TCS New York City Marathons are eligible to score points and receive prize money in the Challenge. Points will be awarded to the top five finishers at each race and the cumulative scores from each event will be ranked to find the top man and woman. In the event of a tie, the money will be divided equally. Points will be allocated as follows:

1st place: 25 points
2nd place: 16 points
3rd place: 9 points
4th place: 4 points
5th place: 1 point

About The Abbott World Marathon Majors
The Tokyo, Boston, Virgin Money London, BMW BERLIN, Bank of America Chicago, and TCS New York City Marathons together represent the Abbott World Marathon Majors and serve as Qualifying Races. In the years in which they are run, the Series also includes the IAAF World Championships and Olympic Marathons. At the conclusion of each Series cycle, a $1 million prize purse is divided equally between the top male and female marathoners in the world as determined by points earned in Qualifying Races. The inaugural 2006-2007 WMM Series was launched at the 110th Boston Marathon on April 17, 2006, and concluded at the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4, 2007. The Tokyo Marathon became a Qualifying Race in October 2012, and the 2013-2014 series, the WMM's eighth two-year series, began with the Tokyo Marathon on Feb. 24, 2013, and concluded at the TCS New York City Marathon on Nov. 2, 2014. The first Abbott World Marathon Majors series, titled AWMM Series IX, began at the Tokyo Marathon 2015 and will conclude after completion of the Tokyo Marathon 2016.

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