London was Nr.1 marathon again; Asia had the best Road Running races
Since 2003 London Marathon has been permanently ranked as the number one marathon competition in the world and it has not been different this time either. In Road Running four of the five best races were held in Asia - according to the All-Athletics.com Competition Rankings.
The dominance of London Marathon is clear in all categories and the marathon giants like Chicago, New York and Berlin fill up the top-3 positions. Interesting to note Toronto's third rank among women's marathons. The Canadian race produced great performances.
The most Top-100-ranked marathons (14) were organized in the United States, one more than last year. Italy is second in the list with nine races in the Top-100, while quite surprisingly Japan dropped from 11 marathons to 4(!) in this section.In the Road Running category the USA is leading the list with 18 top races (same like in 2009), followed by France and the small Netherlands.
However the very best Road Running competitions in 2010 were organized in Asia. Four of the Top-5 races were held in Asia, two of them in the United Arab Emirates.Germany has doubled its Top-100-ranked events (from four to eight) and is fourth in the list.
The only country which had a Top-100 road race a year earlier, but not in 2010 is Canada, but it was close as the Ottawa 10K is ranked 103rd.The Rankings are based on results and the level of top participants (Ranking Rules), with the exceptions where it is mentioned.
