Chicago Marathon preview

Race director Carey Pinkowski should be giving himself a medal for the the monster field he’s assembled to race in Sunday’s Chicago Marathon.

The men’s side is particularly stud-stacked, but there should be no shortage of fast times run in the women’s race either. Anticipate more than one or two athletes up front also, as there are no clear favourites. The course is flat, it’s fast, and as of Friday afternoon the weather seems to be playing along nicely. It certainly wouldn’t be out of the question to think the course and US all-comers record of 2:04:38 is in danger.

Five men in the field have run sub-2:06, but the water gets deeper still.

Kenyan Moses Mosop has the fastest PB of the group, 2:03:06, albeit from Boston which is a downhill, point-to-point course. Astonishingly, he didn’t even win that race. He did win the 2011 Chicago Marathon and will be looking to reclaim his title after skipping the event last fall. Mosop hasn’t raced since the spring of 2012, but he is still one of the top-dogs to watch on Sunday.

Mosop will be racing three countrymen who also have PBs in the sub-2:06 range. Dennis Kimetto, Emmanuel Mutai, and Sammy Kitwara have PBs of 2:04:16, 2:04:40, and 2:05:54, respectively.

Kimetto’s PB was run in his debut over the 42.2K distance and still stands as the fastest marathon debut ever. He also won this year’s Tokyo Marathon in record time with a 2:06:50.

Mutai is the most experienced of the group with 11 marathons under his belt. He’s finished second at the World Championships, as well as been runner up twice in both London and New York.

Sammy Kitwara may be the wildcard of heavy-hitter Kenyans this year. It’s hard to say he’s unproven over the distance, with a 2:07:22 third place Rotterdam debut in the spring of 2012, followed up by a 2:05:54 in Chicago last year, but this race is that deep. He will probably shake it up with the leaders.

The final sub-2:06 star is Ayale Abshero of Ethiopia. He’s the only non-Kenyan boasting a PB below 2:06. He went out with the leaders this spring in London, finishing third in 2:06:57. The PB on this guy is 2:04:23 from his debut in Dubai last year. Expect him to break up the Kenyan front-runners and compete for the win.

Others to watch are Eritrean Zersenay Tadese, the world record holder over the half-marathon (58:23) who has struggled over the full-marathon, and Ethiopian Atsedu Tsegay, another 21.1K stud making his marathon debut.

Also racing is Dathan Ritzenhein. It’s difficult to imagine a 2:07:47 runner may not be in the mix for a medal, but that’s probably the case. He is the top American athlete entered and finished 10th in the 10,000m at World Championships this summer. He will go out near or with the leaders, which should put him not far off American record pace (2:05:38). He could surprise, but is almost certainly outclassed by the east-African contingent he’ll be racing with.

The women’s field isn’t as rich in superstars as the men’s, but it will still be a good race. There are two women who have run 2:22 and five more who have run 2:23.

The race to watch for will be a repeat showdown of Ethiopian Atsede Baysa and Kenyan Rita Jeptoo. Last year in Chicago Baysa won in 2:22:03 after a sprint finish. Jeptoo crossed second in 2:22:04. These are both women’s PBs. Jeptoo won this year’s Boston Marathon and a win will put her in good position to win the World Marathon Majors, which carries a $500,000 prize purse.

Jemimia Sumong of Kenya could contest the two favourites for the win after a huge breakthrough in Rotterdam this spring, which brought her PB down by over six minutes to 2:23:27. She also won that race.

Other’s mixing it up in the lead pack may be Ethiopians Merima Mohammed (2:23:06), Ehitu Kiros Reda (2:23:39), and Abebech Afework (2:23:59). Russian Mariya Konovalova is the remaining woman entered holding a PB under 2:24.

In both races there are no standout favourites. They will be fast and they will be close. Expect fireworks.

The race gets off at 7:30am EST.