Elite runners of the 2009 Bank of America Chicago Marathon
After running as a pace-setter at the 2008 Chicago Marathon, Boaz Cheboiywo, of Kenya, made his 26.2-mile debut three weeks later in New York City where he finished in a scorching-fast 2:21:40.
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Abderrahim Goumri, of Morocco, has finished second in three major marathons (London 2007, NYC 2007, NYC 2008).
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Procopio Franco Hernandez, of Mexico, is a two-time Olympic marathoner from Mexico. He ran almost identical times in 2004 (2:23:34) and 2008 (2:23:24).
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Kenyan Vincent Kipruto is the 13th fastest marathoner in history. He won the Paris Marathon this past spring.
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Wesley Korir, of Kenya, competed collegiately at the University of Louisville. Running as an amateur in last year’s Chicago Marathon, he blazed through the course in 2:13:53, slower than only three men in the elite field.
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At the 2004 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, Benjamin Maiyo (of Kenya) acted as a pacer to the men’s lead group, and went on to finish ninth in 2:13:17.
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Last August, Kenyan Isaac Macharia won his third straight Bogota International Half Marathon. Despite 2,600 meters of altitude he crossed the finish line in 1:02:49.
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Charles Munyeki will be making his competitive marathon debut at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. The Kenyan belongs to the club of sub-one hour half marathoners with a best of 59:44 at Rotterdam in 2008.
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Seth Pilkington, of Roy, Utah, is the son of Paul Pilkington, a former national class marathoner who won the 1990 Houston Marathon and 1994 Los Angeles Marathon and had a 2:11:13 personal best.
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Pat Rizzo, who was born in Schaumberg, has set personal bests at both the marathon and half marathon this year. At Boston he placed 15th in 2:17:05 and at the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon his 1:05:34 was good for second place.
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Bret Schoolmeester lives in Cornelius, Oregon and competes for the Bowerman Athletic Club. The Nike employee is making his marathon debut on Sunday 11.
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Tadese Tola, of Ethiopia, makes his 26.2-mile debut this weekend. His half marathon personal best of 1:00:45 (New Delhi, 2008) indicates solid potential for a speedy marathon.
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Sammy Wanjiru, of Kenya, overcame the heat and humidity at the 2008 Beijing. Olympics. He reached the finish in 2:06:32, smashing the 24-year-old Olympic record by two minutes and 49 seconds.
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The 26-year-old Ethiopian, Teyba Erkesso, has greatly improved her half-marathon pace in 2009. She began the year at 1:10:00 but then ran 1:09:37 at Ras al Khaimah in February and 1:08:39 at Lille in early September.
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Russian Lidiya Grigoryeva has made a name for herself at the marathon distance the past few years lowering her PR by nine minutes and posting commanding wins at the 2005 Paris and 2006 City of Los Angeles marathons preceding her dramatic victory at the 2007 Boston Marathon.
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Mizuho Nasukawa, of Japan, dropped four minutes from her previous best to win the Tokyo Marathon last March.
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Romanian Adriana Pirtea had a heartbreaking finish to her tremendous effort at the 2007 Chicago Marathon. Coming down the homestretch, Pirtea was waving to the crowd and didn’t notice defending champ Berhane Adere running toward the finish line like a bat out of hell—three seconds ahead of the Romanian.
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Russian Liliya Shobukhova had a sparkling 26.2-mile debut at the 2009 Flora London Marathon with a third place finish of 2:24:24.
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Irina Mikitenko of Germany, had a blistering fast marathon debut in Berlin in September 2007. She came in second in 2:24:51.
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Melissa White, of Rochester Hills, Michigan, has already been a winner in Chicago this year, taking the top female spot at the Chicago Half Marathon on September 13.
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Deena Kastor, who lives in Mammoth Lakes, California, holds the American woman’s world record in the marathon distance and won the Chicago Marathon in 2005. This is her first marathon since suffering a broken foot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
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Coloradoan Tera Moody—who was a high school star in St. Charles, Illinois—ran her way to ninth place in the 2007 Chicago Marathon and competed in the Marathon World Championships in Berlin in late August, where she took 28th place.
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After running as a pace-setter at the 2008 Chicago Marathon, Boaz Cheboiywo, of Kenya, made his 26.2-mile debut three weeks later in New York City where he finished in a scorching-fast 2:21:40.
10/07/2009
On Sunday 11, butterflies will flutter in the stomachs of 45,000 runners. But for some athletes, that excited, nervous, oh-my-gosh-this-race-is-about-to-begin–feeling will be about more than just banking a personal record. It'll be about the whopping $450,000 in prize money that's up for grabs (plus, potentially hundreds of thousands more in all-time-course-record bonuses). Click through the slide show above for pics and bios of the top male and female athletes gutting it out over 26.2 miles for places in history—and fatter wallets.
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