FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Past Champions Abel Kirui and Dickson Chumba
and 2017 Runner Up Brigid Kosgei Headline International Elite Field
to Kick Off the 41st Annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon
CHICAGO - The Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced today that several
international running stars are joining the 41st annual Bank of America
Chicago Marathon elite athlete competition. Past champions Abel Kirui (KEN)
and Dickson Chumba (KEN) lead the charge on the men's side, and 2017
runner-up Brigid Kosgei (KEN) and two-time podium finisher Birhane Dibaba
(ETH) stand out among the women. They will join previously announced global
sensations Mo Farah (GBR), Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) and Suguru Osako (JPN).
This year's elite field includes 11 men who have run 2:07 or faster and
nine women (including three Americans) who have run 2:25 or faster.
Moreover, it features five of the top eight men who placed on top of the
Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM) Series XI leaderboard and two of
the top seven women.
"We have put together an exciting elite field, and it should be a fast race
to the top of the podium," said Bank of America Chicago Marathon Executive
Race Director Carey Pinkowski. "This year's elite field is a collection of
some of the best international and American athletes running on the global
stage today. We are confident that they will continue the great tradition
of memorable and record setting performances in Chicago."
Men's International Field
Dickson Chumba set his personal best, 2:04:32, in Chicago in 2014 when he
finished third on a historic day that witnessed three of the top five times
ever run in Chicago (Chumba is the fifth fastest runner in Chicago's
history). He came back to win in 2015 and while he tried to defend his
title in 2016, he came up three seconds short, finishing second to Abel
Kirui. Since he embarked on his marathon career in 2010, he has finished 17
marathons and he boasts an impressive record: five wins, five runner-ups
and four third place finishes. He lines up this fall after opening his 2018
season with his second win at the Tokyo Marathon. His time, 2:05:30, was
the second fastest winning time in Tokyo's history. Chumba finished in
fifth place on the AbbottWMM Series XI leaderboard.
Abel Kirui literally danced across the finish line when he won his first
AbbottWMM in Chicago in 2016, defeating a strong field in a tactical race
that saw erratic pace swings from 4:33 per mile to 5:24. He returned in
2017 to defend his title, but he failed to match Galen Rupp's kick at the
end. Kirui consistently performs well in both tactical and paced races; he
finished fourth in London to commence his 2018 season, and he owns a
personal best of 2:05:04. Kirui also stands out as one of the most
decorated athletes in the field - he took home a silver medal in the
marathon at the 2012 London Olympics and he won both the 2009 and 2011 IAAF
World Marathon Championships.
Mosinet Geremew (ETH) and Birhanu Legese (ETH) bring both youth and speed
to a competitive international field. Geremew started 2018 with a bang,
breaking the course record in Dubai and posting a fresh personal best,
2:04:00. He has run south of the hour mark four times in the half marathon,
and he is a four-time winner of the Yangzhou Jianzhen International Half
Marathon. Chicago marks his second shot at competing in an AbbottWMM (and
just his fourth go at 42K). He lined up last fall in Berlin and ran away
with an impressive third place finish. Legese, the youngest athlete in this
year's elite field, opened the year by making his marathon debut in Dubai,
finishing sixth in a swift 2:04:15. Prior to moving up in distance, he
specialized in the half marathon, winning titles in New Delhi (twice),
Berlin and the United Arab Emirates. He holds a personal best in the half
of 59:20.
Kenneth Kipkemoi (KEN), Paul Lonyangata (KEN), Geoffrey Kirui (KEN), Bedan
Karoki (KEN), Stephen Sambu (KEN) and Augustine Choge (KEN) continue the
marathon's tradition of welcoming strong athletes from Kenya to the windy
city. Kipkemoi boasts the 25th fastest time in history over the half
marathon distance, 59:01, and he started 2018 with a successful marathon
debut, running 2:05:44 to win the Rotterdam Marathon. He has represented
Kenya in both the half marathon and the 10,000m at the IAAF World
Championships.
Lonyangata just missed a spot in the top three in Chicago in 2016, coming
home in fourth after enduring uneven pace swings. He set his personal best,
2:06:10, while winning the 2017 Paris Marathon, and he welcomed 2018 by
becoming the first back-to-back winner of the Paris Marathon in nearly two
decades. Geoffrey Kirui experienced a significant career breakthrough when
he won the laurel wreath at the 2017 Boston Marathon, shaking off American
Galen Rupp in the 24th mile to cruise home to victory. That win set him up
for what happened next: he took the crown at the 2017 IAAF World Marathon
Championships. Kirui returned to Boston this spring to defend his title,
but he failed to match the strides of a hard charging Yuki Kawauchi and he
was forced to settle for second. October marks Kirui's second attempt in
Chicago - he made his marathon debut here in 2014, but he dropped out of
the race.
Karoki, a two-time Olympian in the 10,000m, is an exciting athlete who made
his marathon debut in 2017. Prior to jumping to the marathon, he spent
nearly a decade polishing his speed on the track, representing Kenya three
times in the 10,000m at the IAAF World Championships. He made a splash this
winter when he won the Ras Al Khaimah International Half Marathon in a
blistering 58:42, making him the fourth fastest man in history in the half
(with the fifth fastest time). He finished second at the 2016 IAAF World
Half Marathon Championships, and he has finished third and fifth at the
London Marathon in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
As a four-time winner of the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K (with
three of the 14 fastest times in course history), Sambu returns to Chicago
as a fan favorite. He made his marathon debut here in 2016 with a fifth
place finish, and he returned in 2017 to accrue another fifth place.
Sambu's speed over shorter distances predicts a faster marathon PR. With
the reintroduction of pacers into this year's field, Sambu could finally
land in the top three.
Choge, a 2008 Olympian in the 1500m, has been a factor on the global stage
for nearly half his life. He competed as a junior and, as a senior
competitor, he has amassed an impressive resume: a world record as part of
the 4x1500m Kenyan relay team, a Commonwealth Games 5000m win, a silver and
bronze at the indoor IAAF World Championships, five Diamond League titles
and eight Gold League wins. Choge started his transition to the roads in
2013 and he holds a personal best of 59:26 in the half. He will be making
his marathon debut on October 7.
Ryo Kiname (JPN) joins previously announced Kawauchi as strong contender
from Japan. Kiname, racing in North America for the first time, enters
Chicago with a fresh personal best and a seventh place finish from the 2018
Tokyo Marathon, 2:08:08. He has one marathon career win to his name - the
Sapporo Hokkaido Marathon in 2016.
International men’s elite field
Name Country Personal best
Mosinet Geremew ETH 2:04:00
Birhanu Legese ETH 2:04:15
Dickson Chumba KEN 2:04:32
Abel Kirui KEN 2:05:04
Kenneth Kipkemoi KEN 2:05:44
Paul Lonyangata KEN 2:06:10
Mo Farah GBR 2:06:21
Geoffrey Kirui KEN 2:06:27
Suguru Osako JPN 2:07:19
Bedan Karoki KEN 2:07:41
Ryo Kiname JPN 2:08:08
Yuki Kawauchi JPN 2:08:14
Mohamed Reda MAR 2:09:18
Stephen Sambu KEN 2:11:07
Tsukasa Koyama JPN 2:11:20
Yohei Suzuki JPN 2:14:53
Taku Fujimoto JPN 2:15:30
Pardon Ndhlovu ZIM 2:16:22
Daniel Wallis NZL 2:19:24
Augustine Choge KEN Debut
Hugh Williams AUS Debut
Women's International Field
Brigid Kosgei (KEN) ran spectacularly in Chicago last fall, finishing
second to Tirunesh Dibaba, arguably one of the greatest runners in history.
En route to her second place finish in Chicago, she smashed her personal
best, running 2:20:22. Nine weeks later, she won the Honolulu Marathon in
2:22:15, a course record by over five minutes. Kosgei recorded her first
marathon finish in 2015, and she has been making waves ever since. Most
recently, she finished second in London in a new PR, 2:20:13. She finished
in third place on the AbbottWMM leaderboard.
Roza Dereje (ETH) impressed fans in Dubai to start her 2018 season, taking
down the course record and setting a three-minute PR, 2:19:17, to become
the eighth fastest woman in history. She followed Dubai with another
personal best, 1:07:00, and a second place finish in April at the Istanbul
Half Marathon. Prior to gaining global recognition this winter, she started
making a name for herself after she won the Shanghai Marathon twice in 2016
and 2017; in 2017, she posted the second fastest time, 2:22:43, in the
history of the Shanghai Marathon. Dereje made her global debut in 2015 with
a 2:34:02 marathon. Since then, she has run nine marathons. The Bank of
America Chicago Marathon marks her first time running in an AbbottWMM.
Birhane Dibaba (ETH) took home a pair of third place finishes in Chicago in
2014 and 2015, and she arrives this fall with something only 27 women have
accomplished in history: a sub 2:20 PR. Dibaba joined this exclusive club
after winning the Tokyo Marathon this winter in 2:19:51. She primarily
races the marathon distance, and she has finished in the top five of 13 of
the 14 marathons she has run. Her compatriot, Shure Demise (ETH), is
running her first Bank of America Chicago Marathon, but she has fared well
on the global stage since she picked up back-to-back wins in Toronto in
2015 and 2016. She set her personal best, 2:20:59, at the 2015 Dubai
Marathon. She performed well at the 2017 IAAF World Marathon Championships,
finishing fifth. She opened her 2018 season with a fourth place at the
Tokyo Marathon.
Yuka Ando (JPN) made headlines in 2017 (just shy of her 23rd birthday) when
she clocked the fastest ever debut marathon by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36,
at the Nagoya Marathon. Her debut performance also made her the fourth
fastest woman in Japan's history, and it was the fastest time by a Japanese
woman since 2005. As a result, she punched her ticket to the 2017 IAAF
World Marathon Championships where she finished 17th. She kicked off her
2018 season with a third place finish at the Osaka Marathon, but most of
her energy this summer has been focused on the track sharpening her speed
over 5000m and 10,000m.
Madai Perez (MEX) is back after a successful run in 2017. A two-time
Olympian in the marathon, announced her comeback last fall with a 2:24:44
fourth place finish in Chicago. She logged this time fourteen years after
she made her marathon debut in Chicago, and 11 years after she ran her
still-standing personal best in Chicago, 2:22:59. She is a national
champion in the 10,000m (2003, 2010) and a silver medalist in the Pan
American Games Marathon, (2011); she has also represented Mexico at the
IAAF World Championships in both the marathon and half marathon. Alexi
Pappas (GRE) announced her debut on Instagram, writing "I've broken tape in
Chicago * paced the 26.2 * I'm coming back this October * to chase what I
dream to do: my MARATHON DEBUT!" Pappas, a 2016 Olympian (she holds dual
Greek and American citizenship), is familiar with the energy and enthusiasm
of Chicago's running community. She won the 2015 and 2016 Bank of America
Shamrock Shuffle 8K, but her first experience in Chicago was the 2014 Bank
of America Chicago Marathon where she led a group of U.S. Olympic Trials
hopefuls as a pacer. Pappas experienced an impressive Olympic debut
performance in the 10,000m. She set the Greek national record and a new PR
to finish 17th in 31:36.16.
Other notable athletes include Jessica Draskau Petersson (DEN) with a
personal best of 2:30:07; Vianey De la Rosa (MEX) with a personal best of
2:32:01; Dayna Pidhoresky (CAN) with a personal best of 2:36:08; and Hiruni
Wijayaratne (SRI) with a personal best of 2:36:35.
International women's elite field
Name Country Personal best
Roza Dereje ETH 2:19:17
Birhane Dibaba ETH 2:19:51
Brigid Kosgei KEN 2:20:13
Shure Demise ETH 2:20:59
Yuka Ando JPN 2:21:36
Madai Perez MEX 2:22:59
Jessica Draskau Petersson DEN 2:30:07
Vianey De la Rosa MEX 2:32:01
Dayna Pidhoresky CAN 2:36:08
Hiruni Wijayaratne SRI 2:36:35
Melanie Myrand CAN 2:39:07
Chirine Njeim LBN 2:39:21
Alexi Pappas GRE Debut
Journalist interested in covering the 2018 Bank of America Chicago Marathon
can apply for media credentials now at
chicagomarathon.com/mediacredentials.
About the Bank of America Chicago Marathon
In its 41st year on Sunday, October 7, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon
welcomes thousands of runners from more than 100 countries and all 50
states, including a world-class elite field, top regional and Masters
runners, race veterans, debut marathoners and charity runners. The race's
iconic course takes runners through 29 vibrant neighborhoods on an
architectural and cultural tour of Chicago. Annually, an estimated 1.7
million spectators line the streets cheering on more than 40,000 runners
from the start line to the final stretch down Columbus Drive. As a result
of the race's national and international draw, the Chicago Marathon assists
in raising millions of dollars for a variety of charitable causes while
generating $282 million in annual economic impact to its host city. The
2018 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, a member of the Abbott World
Marathon Majors, will start and finish in Grant Park beginning at 7:30 a.m.
on Sunday, October 7. In advance of the race, a two-day Abbott Health &
Fitness Expo will be held at McCormick Place Convention Center on Friday,
October 5, and Saturday, October 6. For more information about the event
and how to get involved, go to chicagomarathon.com.
For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other
important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom. Click here to
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