FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2012 Chicago Champion and Current Half Marathon World Record-holder
Headline 2015 Bank of America Chicago Marathon Elite Field
International Elites Attempt to Qualify for National Olympic Teams
CHICAGO, September 10, 2015 -- Today, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon
announced 2012 champion Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia and current half
marathon world record-holder Florence Kiplagat of Kenya will return to
compete for the crown at the 38th annual event.
Kebede and Kiplagat accent an international elite field that represents the
global road to Rio de Janeiro. Many athletes hope to use the 2015 Chicago
Marathon as a springboard (via qualifying times and notable performances)
to representing their countries at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
Chicago marks the site of Kebede's 2012 marathon personal best (2:04:38)
and his sole victory in three attempts down the homestretch on Columbus
Drive. His 2010 epic, head-to-head battle against the late Sammy Wanjiru is
considered by many to be one of the most courageous marathon duels of all
time.
On the women's side, Kenya's Florence Kiplagat comes back to Chicago after
finishing in 2:25:57 last year. Kiplagat has something no other woman in
the field has: the half marathon world record. The 2010 IAAF World Half
Marathon champion and the 2011 and 2013 Berlin Marathon champion broke her
own half marathon world record in February, clocking a remarkable 1:05:09
in Barcelona (she also set the 15K and 20K world records en route).
Kiplagat ran her personal best in 2011, 2:19:44.
"These athletes have the ability to test themselves and chase their goals
on race day," said Bank of America Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director
Carey Pinkowski. "The streets of Chicago will see some incredible talent
and competition as these men and women show off their Olympic-level
talent."
October 11 will be the first time under Pinkowski's 26-year leadership that
the race will not feature elite pacesetters. This change has the potential
to produce more Olympic-like race conditions and a more strategic, tactical
competition for runners. But with time bonuses still intact, a
record-chasing speed show is not an artifact of the past.
Men's field:
Kebede, a 2008 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist, is one of the most
accomplished and consistent marathon runners of the last decade. He will
arrive in Chicago as a major presence on the AWMM race circuit, finishing
in the top 10 of 15 AWMM races since 2009, including three victories, three
second-place and five third-place finishes. After being left off of the
2012 Ethiopian Olympic team, a win in Chicago could catch the eye of his
national federation and help him earn a spot in Rio.
Kenya's Sammy Kitwara stands out as Kebede's main contender. As the
fifth-fastest man in history over the half marathon distance, Kitwara will
toe the line in the windy city for the fourth time after steadily rising in
the ranks over the past three years. He finished fourth in 2012, third in
2013 and second in 2014. He set a new personal best last year in Chicago,
2:04:28, making him the fastest man in this year's elite field.
Kebede and Kitwara will be joined by Kenyan elites Dickson Chumba
(2:04:32), Wesley Korir (2:06:13), Lucas Rotich (2:07:17) and Sammy Ndungu
(2:07:04).
Chumba was a relative unknown until he burst onto the scene in 2014 with a
win and course record at the Tokyo Marathon. He followed that performance
with a third-place showing at the 2014 Chicago Marathon in a new personal
best, 2:04:32.
Wesley Korir, an elected member of the Kenyan Parliament, will make his
seventh appearance in Chicago, the most of any elite athletes in the field.
Career highlights include his second-place finish at the 2011 Chicago
Marathon, followed by his victory in Boston in 2012 and his fifth-place
finish and personal best, 2:06:13, in Chicago in 2012.
Ethiopia's Endeshaw Negesse (2:04:52) has a lot at stake in his Chicago
Marathon debut. As the 2015 winner of the Tokyo Marathon, he is in the
running for the AWMM series title. He needs to score in Chicago to have a
chance at the $500,000 prize. Also in the hunt from Ethiopia are Tilahun
Regassa and Abera Kuma. Regassa, who placed second at the 2015 Xiamen
Marathon and fifth at the 2015 London Marathon, made his marathon debut in
Chicago in 2012 in a time that remains his personal best, 2:05:27. Kuma won
the Rotterdam Marathon in April, and he holds a personal record of 2:05:56.
Yoshii Satoshi leads a strong contingent of Japanese runners. He has a
personal best of 2:10:45. Australia's Liam Adams, Canada's Rob Watson and
Great Britain's Mitch Goose round out the international field. Adams ran
his 2:13:49 personal best in 2014, and Watson clocked a 2:13:29 in 2013.
Goose will be making his 26.2-mile debut following a successful collegiate
career at Iona College.
Fernando Cabada, of Fresno, Calif., will make his first Chicago appearance
as the top American in the field. He set his personal best, 2:11:36, last
year in Berlin. Sean Keveren, of Charlottesville, Va., will be making his
marathon debut after posting an impressive 1:02:52 half marathon at the
2015 U.S. Half Marathon Championships in Houston.
Women's field:
Several women in the field boast the potential to make the 38th annual
event a thrilling contest of strength, endurance and speed.
Mulu Seboka of Ethiopia enters Chicago, challenging Kiplagat and seeking
her first AWMM career win. She launched her professional running career 12
years ago with a modest 2:46:33. Over the past decade, she has run more
than thirty-five marathons - unprecedented for an elite marathoner - and
she welcomed the new year with a personal record in Dubai, 2:21:56.
In addition to Seboka and Kiplagat, Ethiopia's Amane Gobena hopes to be
among the leaders down the homestretch. She arrives fresh off a personal
best and a second-place finish at the 2015 Paris Marathon in 2:23:30.
Hoping to prevent an East African sweep, Kayoko Fukushi of Japan is a
three-time Olympian (Athens, Beijing, London) and a former world
record-holder in the 15K. She finished second in the 2011 Chicago Marathon,
and with a marathon personal best of 2:24:21 and a half marathon personal
record of 1:07:26, she has the speed necessary for a podium finish.
Highlighting an internationally diverse field is Ireland's Fionnuala
Britton. Britton represented Ireland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
(steeplechase) and 2012 London Olympics (5,000m, 10,000m) and she has set
her sights on chasing an Olympic qualifying time in the marathon. She made
her 26.2-mile debut in 2014 (2:31:46). The United Kingdom's Susan Partridge
(2:30:46) also comes to Chicago in an attempt to qualify for Rio.
Two more international sensations have the potential to mix it up among the
top 10: Burundi Olympian Diane Nukuri (2:27:50) and Denmark's Jessica
Draskau Petersson (2:30:53).
On the U.S. side, 2005 Chicago Marathon champion, Olympian and American
record-holder Deena Kastor (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) will attempt to break
Colleen De Reuck's American masters record of 2:28:40, set in 2005 in
Chicago. Kastor had an impressive 2014 where she set five masters world
records en route to her half marathon masters world record (1:09:37).
Kastor is an Olympic Marathon bronze medalist (Athens) and the only U.S.
woman in history to break the 2:20 barrier.
Alongside Kastor, Blake Russell (Pacific Grove, Calif.) stands out among a
deep field of American contenders. Russell, a 2008 Olympian and 2:29:10
marathoner, announced her comeback with a win at the 2015 USATF National
Marathon Championships.
Lindsey Scherf (Chapel Hill, N.C.) returns to Chicago after posting a
2:32:19 personal best at Grandma's Marathon in June. She ran the
sixth-fastest marathon time by an American woman in 2015. Sarah Crouch
(Blowing Rock, N.C.) also returns after experiencing a huge breakthrough in
Chicago in 2014, subtracting 12 minutes from her personal record to finish
in the top 10 in 2:32:44.
Sara Hall (Flagstaff, Ariz.) made her highly anticipated marathon debut at
the 2015 Los Angeles Marathon, finishing in a disappointing 2:48:02. She
rebounded two weeks later at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships
with a 20th place finish. Hall posted a 1:10:49 half marathon this summer,
indicating she is ready for redemption in Chicago.
Tera Moody (Chicago, Ill.) will be seeking the Olympic Trials "A" standard
after not racing the marathon distance since 2013. A veteran of five
Chicago Marathons, Moody knows the course well; she set her personal best,
2:30:53, in Chicago in 2010.
For more information and elite athlete quotes, visit
www.chicagomarathon.com/2015elites.
About the Bank of America Chicago Marathon
In its 38th year, 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. In 2014, an estimated 1.7 million spectators lined the
streets cheering on a record, 40,659 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 $253 million in
annual economic impact to its host city. The 2015 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 11. In
advance of the race, a two-day Abbott Health & Fitness Expo will be held at
McCormick Place Convention Center on Friday, October 9, and Saturday,
October 10. For more information about the event and how to get involved,
go to www.chicagomarathon.com.
Visit the Bank of America newsroom for more Bank of America news.
www.chicagomarathon.com
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