ELIUD KIPCHOGE AND JEMIMA SUMGONG TO BE PRESENTED WITH THE 2016 AIMS BEST MARATHON RUNNER’ (BMR) AWARDS
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27
10
2016

Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin 2015 ©Victah Sailer

ELIUD KIPCHOGE AND JEMIMA SUMGONG TO BE PRESENTED WITH THE 2016 AIMS BEST MARATHON RUNNER’ (BMR) AWARDS

By GRR 0

The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) is delighted to announce that the Kenyan athletes Eliud Kipchoge and Jemima Sumgong are the male and female recipients of the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Award for 2016.

They were selected by an expert panel on behalf of AIMS Members, made up of 410 of the world’s leading and most prestigious distance races from over 110 countries and territories.
 
Their outstanding achievements over the past year will be recognised by AIMS, their sponsors and members at the fourth annual AIMS Best Marathon Runner’ (BMR) Awards Dinner Reception to be held in the birth place of the Marathon in Athens, Greece on 11 November 2016.
 

This is the second consecutive year that Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) has been recognised with the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Award. Eliud, 31, has continued his excellent form from 2015 into 2016, winning two of the biggest marathon events in the last 12 months. In April 2016 he won the London Marathon for the second consecutive year, setting a new course record of 2:03:05. He then followed that up by winning his first – and Kenya’s second – ever Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janiero, winning the marathon in a time of 2:08:44.
 
Jemima Sumgong (31) has also enjoyed a very impressive year. Despite falling, she recovered to win the London Marathon in April this year in a time of 2:22:58. She then travelled to Rio for the Olympic Games and again was the outstanding athlete of the event, winning Kenya’s first gold medal in the women’s marathon, setting a time of 2:24:04.
 
Eliud Kipchoge comments “I am delighted to receive this award for the second year in a row. I really enjoyed receiving the Best Marathon Runner Award last year in Athens and I am very pleased to have been recognised by AIMS and their members from around the world again. It is a great honour to receive this award.”
 
Jemima Sumgong comments “It is so special for me to be recognised in this way by AIMS, their members and sponsors. I would like to thank them for awarding me in recognition of my achievements this year. I have been delighted with my form this year and this is a wonderful way to have my efforts recognised by the people at the top of organising my sport at the highest level. It is extra special the fact that I will receive this in the birth place of the marathon, Athens, Greece, at a special year, the 120th year after the first ever Marathon race and during the special weekend of the annual Athens Marathon, the Authentic Marathon.”
 
AIMS President Paco Borao comments: “Jemima and Eliud are clearly the outstanding performers of our sport in 2016. It will be our great pleasure to recognise them here in such a special location for all marathon runners, where their own rightful place of history making in the modern day is recorded for all time alongside over 2,500 years of marathon history in the home of the marathon Athens, Greece. They will be warmly recognised by our members at our Congress here in Athens next month.”
 
The AIMS Best Marathon Runner Awards Receptions Dinner Reception, part of the AIMS Congress this year (details below), will also see Distance Running Legend Haile Gebrselassie recognised with the AIMS Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the AIMS Green Award and AIMS Social Award given to AIMS Members who have demonstrated best practice in event organisation.

About the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Awards Dinner

The purpose of the BMR Awards Dinner is to:
 
I.             Announce and honour the best male and female Marathon runners of the year through the AIMS BEST MARATHON RUNNER (BMR) Award. The BMR Award replaces the AIMS World Athlete of the Year Award.
 
II.            Recognise and honour exceptional Marathon figureheads and personalities for their contribution to the development of the Marathon movement.

III.          Publicise and promote the best practice and initiatives of AIMS members (410+ race organisers) through the establishment of special environmental and social awards.
 
IV.          Enhance the role, programs and services of AIMS.

The event will be staged in Athens, Greece on Friday 11 November 2016.

About AIMS
AIMS is a member based organisation and since being established in 1982 has grown to a membership of more than 410 of the world’s leading distance races, from over 110 countries and territories. AIMS Members come from every continent on the planet. The three key objectives of AIMS are:

    To foster and promote distance running throughout the world
    To work with the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) on all matters relating to international road races.
    To exchange information, knowledge and expertise among members of the association

For further information on AIMS please visit:  www.AIMS-worldrunning.org
 
About the 21st World Congress of AIMS – 10-12 November – Athens, Greece
 
The 21st World Congress of AIMS is being hosted by the ‘Athens Marathon, the Authentic’ at the Crowne Plaza Athens City Centre Hotel between November 10 – 12. The weekend will include many events including the AIMS Best Marathon Runner Awards, the Athens Marathon Expo, the Athens Marathon Opening Ceremonies & Marathon Flame Lighting inside the Marathon Tomb.

The weekend finishes with the 34th edition of the ‘Athens Marathon. The Authentic’ on Sunday 13 November. The Congress will also mark the 120th anniversary of the Olympic Marathon race, held for the first time at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
 
The Congress is being co-organised by the ‘Athens Marathon, the Authentic’ and the Hellenic Athletics Federation (SEGAS), Greece’s governing body for athletics.
 
The Congress will feature expert speakers
including Dr Kevin Dutton, a research psychologist at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford will speak on the subject of “why do people cheat?”, a topical subject in world sport at this time. Another speaker at the Congress is British former middle distance runner Diane Modahl, who was falsely accused of a doping offence in 1994. Diane will speak about her fight to clear her name which ultimately cost her two years of her career. Diane is a three-time medallist at the Commonwealth Games.
 
The Congress will also give race organisers the chance to promote their races to hundreds of international runners and visitors. AIMS Members can attend the Congress for free (accommodation charges apply), while non-Members can attend for a Congress Registration Fee of €270 in addition to accommodation charges.

As part of this Congress Registration Fee, non-Members will receive one year’s Associate Membership to AIMS (subject to meeting qualifying criteria).
 
Both Members and non-Members should visit www.aimsworldcongress2016.gr to register.
 
To register for the Athens Marathon race, Congress participants should visit the official Congress website (www.aimsworldcongress2016.gr) where all information including how to participate in the race is detailed.
      

Peter McLean
Association of International Marathons & Distance Races

author: GRR