LOS ANGELES, CA – Sept. 5, 2018 – The Abbott World Marathon Majors Wanda Age Group World Rankings will officially launch on September 16 when the 45^th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON marks the start of the one-year qualification period for the inaugural AbbottWMM Wanda Age Group World Championships which will take place in spring 2020.

(photo: www.photorun.net) Will the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon witness its first ever women’s time under 2:20? That is the hope of the organizers after assembling an elite women’s field with impressive strength in depth to achieve this quest. The course record stands at 2:21:01, set by the Ethiopian Meselech Melkamu six years ago and, given good weather conditions, this should come under threat on October 28. Heading the women’s start list is Ethiopia’s World champion marathoner Mare Dibaba, winner of that title in 2015. She will be the first woman to run Frankfurt with a personal best of sub-2:20. The organizers expect up to 15,000 participants for the 37th edition of German’s oldest city marathon. The Mainova Frankfurt Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label race, the highest category awarded by the world governing body of athletics.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. / TAMPA, Fla. (August 23, 2018) – The 2018 Rock ‘n’ Roll^® Philadelphia Half Marathon will once again include a world-class group of elite men and women when they toe the line on September 15-16. With the depth of the elite field, the half marathon, which will take place on September 16, is set to be one of the most thrilling races of the year, taking runners along the flat and fast course that starts on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, runs through Center City before winding along the city’s scenic Schuylkill River and finishing at the iconic “Rocky Steps” of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

New York, August 23, 2018 – Five-time Olympian Bernard Lagat of the United States will make his highly anticipated marathon debut at the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 4, as the five-time world champion will join defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya to lead a men’s professional open division that features nine Olympians and three Abbott World Marathon Majors race champions.