[Note: I serve as assistant editor for Race Results Weekly--BR] .

Race Results Weekly, the wire service of distance running, announced today that Kenenisa Bekele and Meseret Defar, both of Ethiopia, have been selected the Race Results Weekly 2006 Runners of the Year. RRW, the most comprehensive global source of middle and long distance running results and news, selected Bekele and Defar for their superior performances in cross country, track and road running throughout 2006.

"Bekele and Defar had such excellent years that we concluded our internal debate relatively quickly," said Editor & Publisher, David Monti. "However, choosing Bekele was easier than choosing Defar because her compatriot, Tirunesh Dibaba, also had a spectacular year."

Bekele, 24, the reigning Olympic 10,000m champion, won 13 races in 18 starts (not including heats), and never finished lower than second in any competition. He captured three world titles during 2006, winning the 4-K and 12-K IAAF World Cross Country Championships titles plus the IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medal at 3000m. He also ran the world-leading time at 5000m, 12:48.09, breaking the 13-minute barrier over that distance six times during the year, Incredibly, he broke 12:50 three times.

"He didn,t have a perfect record, and was beaten twice by American Bernard Lagat," Monti said of Bekele. "However, he turned back repeated challenges from the world,s best runners and, overall, had the most compelling record."

Meseret Defar, 23, the reigning Olympic 5000m champion, notched 14 victories in 18 starts, and like Bekele, never finished lower than second. She won the IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medal at 3000m, the African Championships and World Cup at 5000m, set a world record at 5000m (14:24.53) and set two world bests on the road: 14:46 at 5-K and 8:46.9 at 3-K. She was beaten only by one other athlete, Tirunesh Dibaba, who defeated her four times in seven meetings. But Monti and Assistant Editor Bob Ramsak thought that Defar had the better year, if only slightly.

"Two of Defar,s three wins over Dibaba were in some ways more important,o/oo said Ramsak, who is also the editor and publisher of the Track Profile News Service. "The difficult African Championships where she beat Dibaba to earn her World Cup spot, and the ISTAF Berlin Golden League meeting where she beat Dibaba by 36/100ths and played her spoiler role in the Golden League jackpot chase perfectly."

In determining the Race Results Weekly 2006 Runners of the Year, the editors considered athletes, records in head-to-head competition in major meets, significant titles earned, records set, world leading marks, and the overall quality of their performances across all surfaces.

Founded in 1994, Race Results Weekly is the professional distance running results and news service relied upon by running industry professionals. RRW covers over 2000 middle and long distance races each year; no source is more comprehensive or respected. Subscription information is available at http://www.raceresultsweekly.com.

For more information, check out www.trackprofile.com.