Press Release - London Marathon - 4/20/10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


            London Champions Look To Extend Their WMM Leads

			
Reigning World Marathon Majors champions Sammy Wanjiru and Irina Mikitenko 
will aim to extend their leads at the top of the men's and women's 
standings when they defend their London Marathon titles in the British 
capital on Sunday, 25 April.

With four races to go in the 2009/10 series Wanjiru heads the men's 
leaderboard with 50 points, 15 ahead of Ethiopia's Deriba Merga who moved 
into second place above USA's Meb Keflezighi when he finished third in the 
Boston Marathon on Monday.

Keflezighi gained a point by finishing fifth and now shares third place 
with Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot whose stunning victory in Boston saw him leap 
up the standings. The Kenyan is now equal with Keflezighi on 26 points.

London hopefuls Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia and Abel Kirui are merely a 
point behind in equal fifth, while Emmanuel Mutai and Jaouad Gharib are 
together on 20 points in equal eighth.

Already a double WMM champion, Mikitenko arrives in London with 40 points 
and a four-point lead in the women's standings over Kenya's Salina Kosgei 
who moved into second place after finishing third in Boston.

Boston winner Teyba Erkesso moved up to fourth on 30 points, five behind 
Liliya Shobukhova, the Chicago champion who will be looking to improve her 
position in London.

Other London hopefuls seeking points on Sunday include Ethiopia's Atsede 
Habtamu and China's world champion Bai Xue, who currently lie equal fifth 
on 25, while Britain's big hope Mara Yamauchi has 15 points from her second 
place in London last year and sits in eighth place alongside the 2009 New 
York runner-up Lyudmila Petrova and world championships silver medallist 
Yoshimi Ozaki.

Following the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday 25 April, the season will 
continue with the real,- Berlin Marathon on Sunday 26 September and the 
Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday 10 October, and it concludes 
with the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday 7 November.

The top five men and women at the Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New 
York marathons, plus those at the IAAF World Championships and Olympic 
marathons, earn points in a two-year World Marathon Majors series. The 
men's and women's WMM champions each win US$500,000. The points available 
from each race are: 1st - 25; 2nd - 15; 3rd - 10; 4th - 5; 5th - 1.

The current 2009/10 standings are:

Men
1. Samuel Wanjiru            KEN 50 points
2. Derba Merga               ETH 35 points
3. Meb Keflezighi            USA 26 points
3. Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot  KEN 26 points
5. Abel Kirui                KEN 25 points
5. Haile Gebrselassie        ETH 25 points
5. Tesgaye Kebede            ETH 25 points

Women
1. Irina Mikitenko           GER 40 points
2. Salina Kosegi             KEN 36 points
3. Liliya Shobukhova         RUS 35 points
4. Teyba Erkesso             ETH 30 points
5. Deratu Tulu               ETH 25 points
5. Atsede Habtamu            ETH 25 points
5. Bai Xue                   CHN 25 points



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