The domination of long distance running by athletes from East Africa has reached such heights that in an effort to balance out future race fields organizers of the six World Marathon Majors will soon announce a new prize purse policy which will award cash winnings on a “coin-of-the-realm” payment schedule.

According to a well-placed World Marathon Majors source, an announcement will be made next week in Boston where the new policy will be instituted at the April 15th race.  The new system will stipulate that any athlete who wins the 2013 Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, or New York City Marathons, and then Tokyo in 2014, will receive the event’s top prize in the same numerical amount as listed, but instead of being paid across the board in U.S. dollars, each prize will be linked to the athlete’s home currency. (more…)