Press Release - Odds and Ends - 11/7/17

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

              Athens Marathon. The Authentic on 12th November
 
 Eliud Kipchoge in contention for hat trick of Best Marathon Runner titles

The Kenyan duo of Eliud Kipchoge and Geoffrey Kirui are the candidates for 
the 2017 Men's BMR Awards; Mary Keitany of Kenya and Rose Chelimo of 
Bahrain are the contenders for the 2017 Women's BMR Awards; Rosa Mota will 
receive the 2017 AIMS Lifetime Achievement Award

Devotees of distance running and the marathon in particular will have much 
to savour when the 2017 AIMS Best Marathon Runner (BMR) Awards are held in 
Athens on Friday, November 10. The annual AIMS Gala brings together more 
than 60 race directors of the Association of International Marathons and 
Distance Races (AIMS) and for the 11th International Marathon Symposium the 
following day, November 11. Discussion gives way to competition on Sunday, 
November 12 with the "Athens Marathon. The Authentic" taking its historic 
course from the town of Marathon to the 1896 Olympic Stadium in the heart 
of Athens.

The contest for the men's 2017 BMR winner pitches the 2016 Olympic champion 
Eliud Kipchoge against the 2017 World champion Geoffrey Kirui. After 
winning the Boston Marathon in April, Kirui took the world title in London 
in August with 2:08:27 and has a best of 2:06:27 from the Amsterdam 
Marathon in 2016. Eliud Kipchoge is aiming for a hat-trick at the Gala, 
having won the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Award for the past two years. He 
chose an unorthodox setting for his first marathon of 2017, the Formula One 
circuit at Monza in Italy in early May. He led the mission to make marathon 
history and break two hours, going desperately close with 2:00:25. 
Returning to standard competitive conditions, Kipchoge ran the fastest time 
in the world this year of 2:03:32 for his second Berlin title at the end of 
September. Including Monza, he has won all but one of his ten marathons.

In parallel to Kenya's Geoffrey Kirui, Bahrain's Rose Chelimo won the World 
Championship Marathon in London in August. Earlier in 2017 she finished 
second in Boston with a personal best of 2:22:51. Chelimo produced solid 
form to finish eighth in the 2016 Olympic Marathon in Rio. Mary Keitany 
also flourished in late 2016, winning her third consecutive New 
York-Marathon in November before breaking the women's-only world record 
with 2:17:01 to win the London Marathon in April. Although outside the time 
frame for the annual awards, Keitany finished second in New York last 
Sunday, November 5.

Rosa Mota is the 2017 winner of the AIMS Lifetime Achievement Award. The 
Portuguese was one of the standard bearers for women's running in the 1980s 
and not only because she won the first ever official Women's Marathon 
during the 1982 European Championships in Athens, held on the authentic, 
classic course. Mota followed her initial triumph in Athens with two 
further European Marathon titles in 1986 and 1990. In 1987 she won the 
world title in Rome followed by Olympic gold in Seoul the next year. Still 
the national record holder with 2:23:29 for third place in Chicago in 1985, 
Mota was one of those who showed that women should be able to run at 
whatever level and not left on the sidelines.

Two more awards for 2017 will be presented at Friday's reception, organized 
by AIMS and the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS): the AIMS Green Award 
goes to the Sanlam Cape Town Marathon and the Maraton de las Flores 
Medellin in Colombia will receive the AIMS Social Award.

On Saturday, November 11, 65 race directors representing 40 countries and 
some of the world's best distance races will take part in the 11th AIMS 
Marathon Symposium. This year's theme in Athens will be: "Developing your 
race through the development of the running market in your region" and 
speakers will include the AIMS president Paco Borao and the Athens Marathon 
General Manager Makis Asimakopoulos.

More information is available at: www.athensauthenticmarathon.org
 
                                   ###