IAAF Ranks Road Races for 2008!

The IAAF press release from December 20, 2007 noted that the IAAF was recongnizing
major races for their professional standards. These standards include certification of courses, media services, safety and medical standards.
This blogger welcomes the IAAF standards and sees this as a way for the IAAF and the ….

sport to work better together. High rankings, well promoted, will help in developing the sport and also are among the kudos that should be noted as a race looks to find sponsors and further support to develop its event.
Road racing continues to grow globably, especially in Asia, and especially in opportunities for women runners and walkers. That the IAAF recognizes the need to promote road running and the importance of creating a dialogue between the disparate groups is good news.
Rankings are important in professionalizing the sport. Note the races- a small but well thought out list. I would welcome your comments on this new practice!
IAAF awards Gold and Silver Labels for Road Races
Thursday 20 December 2007
Monte-Carlo – The IAAF has issued Labels to a number of leading Road Races around the world for 2008.
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.
For 2008, the following races have been awarded IAAF Road Race Labels:
IAAF GOLD LABEL ROAD RACES 2008
Xiamen International Marathon CHN 05/01/2008
World’s Best 10K Race PUR 24/02/2008
EDP Half Marathon of Lisbon POR 16/03/2008
Marathon International de Paris FRA 06/04/2008
Flora London Marathon GBR 13/04/2008
BAA Boston Marathon USA 21/04/2008
real,- Berlin-Marathon GER 08/09/2008
RTP Half Marathon of Portugal POR 28/09/2008
LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon USA 12/10/2008
Beijing International Marathon CHN 19/10/2008
Vodafone Delhi Half Marathon IND 19/10/2008
ING New York City Marathon USA 02/11/2008
IAAF SILVER LABEL ROAD RACES 2008
Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon IND 20/01/2008
Osaka Intl Ladies Marathon JPN 27/01/2008
Ohme Marathon JPN 03/02/2008
Tokyo Marathon JPN 17/02/2008
Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon JPN 02/03/2008
Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon JPN 03/03/2008
Nagoya Intl Women’s Marathon JPN 09/03/2008
Fortis City-Pier-City Run NED 15/03/2008
Maratona CittÃ di Roma ITA 16/03/2008
Seoul International Marathon KOR 16/03/2008
Hervis Prague Half Marathon CZE 29/03/2008
Turin Marathon ITA 13/04/2008
Fortis Rotterdam Marathon NED 13/04/2008
Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon JPN 20/04/2008
Conergy Marathon Hamburg GER 27/04/2008
Maraton de Madrid ESP 27/04/2008
Maratona S.Antonio Padova ITA 27/04/2008
Volkswagen Prague Marathon CZE 11/05/2008
Course FÃ©minine de Casablanca MAR 18/05/2008
MDS Nordion 10K CAN 24/05/2008
ING Ottawa Marathon CAN 25/05/2008
Freihofer’s Run for Women USA 01/06/2008
Hokkaido Marathon JPN 07/09/2008
Tilburg Ladies Run NED 07/09/2008
Tilburg Ten Miles NED 07/09/2008
Fortis Half Marathon Rotterdam NED 14/09/2008
Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon CAN 28/09/2008
Turin Half Marathon ITA 28/09/2008
Ford KÃ¶ln Marathon GER 05/10/2008
ING Brussels Marathon BEL 05/10/2008
ING Amsterdam Marathon NED 19/10/2008
Classique Internationale Marseille-Cassis FRA 26/10/2008
Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon GER 26/10/2008
JoongAng Seoul Marathon KOR 02/11/2008
Athens Classic Marathon GRE 09/11/2008
Athens 10 KM GRE 09/11/2008
Tokyo Intl Women’s Marathon JPN 16/11/2008
Fortis Zevenheuvelenloop NED 16/11/2008
Tutta Dritta Torino ITA 30/11/2008
Fukuoka Intl Open Marathon Champs JPN 07/12/2008
For more on the IAAF, please click: http://www.iaaf.org

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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