Posted: January 19, 2007

Athletics: Who Were The Best Marathoners Of 2006?

From David Monti © 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com Who were the best marathoners of 2006? It all depends on whom you ask. Track & Field News, whose rankings are most often referenced by fans and the media alike, selected Haile Gebrselassie and Deena Kastor as their world #1's for 2006. Athletics Weekly, the venerable British glossy, also gave Gebreselassie the #1 spot in their annual merit rankings, but ranked Berhane Adere #1 on the women's side. Race Results Weekly ranked Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot #1 on the men's side and Deena Kastor #1 on the women's side. For the sake of comparison, here are the top-10 marathoner rankings according to the three publications: MEN - TRACK & FIELD NEWS ATHLETICS WEEKLY RACE RESULTS WEEKLY 1 Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie Robert K. Cheruiyot 2 Robert K. Cheruiyot Robert K. Cheruiyot Haile Gebrselassie 3 Felix Limo Sammy Korir Felix Limo 4 Martin Lel Felix Limo Marilson Gomes 5 Marilson Dos Santos Martin Lel Martin Lel 6 Benson Cherono Stefano Baldini Stefano Baldini 7 Ambesse Tolossa Paul Kirui Julio Rey 8 Sammy Korir Julio Rey Hendrick Ramaala 9 Stefano Baldini Hendrick Ramaala Daniel Njenga 10 Hendrick Ramaala Charles Kibiwott Sammy Korir WOMEN - TRACK & FIELD NEWS ATHLETICS WEEKLY RACE RESULTS WEEKLY 1 Deena Kastor Berhane Adere Deena Kastor 2 Jelena Prokopcuka Deena Kastor Jelena Prokopcuka 3 Rita Jeptoo Gete Wami Berhane Adere 4 Berhane Adere Galina Bogomolova Rita Jeptoo 5 Galina Bogomolova Jelena Prokopcuka Catherine Ndereba 6 Gete Wami Ludmila Petrova Zhou Chunxiu 7 Tatiana Gladyr Catherine Ndereba Galina Bogomolova 8 Catherine Ndereba Zhou Chunxiu Gete Wami 9 Zhou Chunxiu Rita Jeptoo Tatiana Hladyr 10 Ludmila Petrova Susan Chepkemei Ludmila Petrova Comment on this story. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest

Check out our FrontPage for all the latest running and triathlon news. Top of News Runner's Web FrontPage