IAAF Gold Label Road Races 2009

Xiamen International Marathon is First of 19 Top Road Races in 2009

Mar 14, 2009

For the media, some road races are hotter than the others. From 2008 onwards, the International Association of Athletics Federations publish their most wanted lists.

What is the IAAF? The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is the international governing body for the athletic sports. At its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912, it was formed by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation. It has been headquartered in Monaco since October 1993. In 2001, the word "amateur" was dropped from its title. The IAAF has a total of 213 member federations from the seven continents. The IAAF organizes many major athletics competitions worldwide and is charged with the standardization of timekeeping methods and world records.

What are IAAF Gold Label Road Races

Following the recommendations of the IAAF Road Running Commission, chaired by President Lamine Diack, Council approved the introduction of the IAAF Label for Road Races in 2008. The Labels are attributed to races that satisfy a number of important criteria concerning the organizational standard of the race, course measurement, safety and medical standards and media services. The deciding factors for the attribution of a Gold or Silver Label are the number of elite athletes engaged and the level of international TV coverage achieved by the participating races.

The following road races have made it to the Gold Label list in 2009.

Xiamen International Marathon, 3 January , held in Xiamen, China
Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, 1 March, held in Osaka, Japan
World's Best 10k Race, 1 March, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico
EDP Half Marathon of Lisbon, 22 March, held in Lisboa, Portugal
Marathon International de Paris, 5 April, held in Paris, France

BAA Boston Marathon, 20 April, held in Boston, United States
Conergy Marathon Hamburg, 26 April, held in Hamburg, Germany
Flora London Marathon, 26 April, held in London, United Kingdom
Bupa Great Manchester Run, 17 May, held in Manchester, United Kingdom
Bogota International Half Marathon, 2 Aug, held in Bogota, Columbia

Bupa Great North Run, 20 September, held in Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Real Berlin Marathon, 20 September, held in Berlin, Germany
RTP Half Marathon of Portugal, 27 September, held in Lisboa, Portugal
Bank of America Chicago Marathon, 11 October, held in Chicago, United States
Beijing International Marathon, 18 October, held in Beijing, China

Bupa Great South Run, 25 October, held in Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon, 25 October, held in Frankfurt, Germany
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, 1 November, held in Delhi, India
ING New York City Marathon, 1 November, held in New York

On top of these races, other races are listed under their Silver Label List. These two lists together cover most of the races elite long distance runners are focusing on in 2009. These are often the dream races that ordinary runners are trying to enter. Hence, the media like them and follow them like wasps. Somewhere in the world, be it in United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Africa or Asia, there is always one of these important races going on. The world is getting smaller, so is the long distance runner's world.

The copyright of the article IAAF Gold Label Road Races 2009 in Running Marathons/Races is owned by Benson Yeung. Permission to republish IAAF Gold Label Road Races 2009 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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