Organizers of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon will have the sparkle of gold at their race on Sunday, October 12, when Romania's Constantina Dita steps to the starting line. The newly crowned Olympic Games gold medalist will have just 56 days to recover from her breakaway win in Beijing, then rally back to perform at her best in Chicago. It will be her fifth appearance in the Windy City, a race she won in 2004 and finished second one year later in a personal best 2:21:30.
"I am delighted to be returning to Chicago," said Dita through a press release. "I have always felt great running there and have been fortunate to have some of the best races of my life there. It will also be nice to return because I understand Chicago is bidding for the 2016 Olympic Games and I think it would be a wonderful place to have them."
In Beijing Dita pulled away from the field just before the halfway point, and romped to a solo victory in 2:26:44, 22 seconds ahead of silver medalist Catherine Ndereba of Kenya. She became the oldest Olympic Games marathon champion at 38.
In Chicago, Dita's key rivals will be Ethiopians Bezunesh Bekele (2:23:09) and Worknesh Tola (2:25:37) and Russians Lidiya Grigoryeva (2:25:10) and Alevtina Biktimirova (2:25:12).
On the men's side, athletes from Kenya are set to dominate the race (Kenyans have won the last five editions). The fastest men in the field are William Kipsang and Emmanuel Mutai who both set personal best times last April. Kipsang ran a course record 2:05:49 at Rotterdam, while Mutai was fourth at London in 2:06:15.
"The Bank of America Chicago Marathon has a reputation for producing historic efforts and breathtaking finishes and the quality of this year's elite field is an extension of that tradition," said executive race director Carey Pinkowski of Chicago Event Management, now in his 19th year overseeing the event. "This year's men's field features four men who have run under 2:07:00, one who has run under 2:06:00 and champions from some of the great marathons of the world which should produce another great day of marathon running on Oct. 12."
Neither of the 2007 Bank of America Chicago Marathon champions, Patrick Ivuti of Kenya and Berhane Adere, were named for this year's race. They both earned their victories in unusually hot conditions last year which were so severe that organizers had to shut down the race after about four hours of running.
The complete elite fields are below with personal best times:
| MEN - |
| Moses Arusei | KEN | 2:06:50 |
| Christopher Cheboiboch | KEN | 2:08:17 |
| Timothy Cherigat | KEN | 2:09:34 |
| James Getanda | KEN | 2:11:50 |
| Salim Kipsang | KEN | 2:07:29 |
| William Kipsang | KEN | 2:05:49 |
| Richard Limo | KEN | 2:06:45 |
| Emmanuel Mutai | KEN | 2:06:15 |
| WOMEN - |
| Bezunesh Bekele | ETH | 2:23:09 |
| Alevtina Biktimirova | RUS | 2:25:12 |
| Colleen De Reuck (40+) | USA | 2:26:35 |
| Zoila Gomez | USA | 2:33:53 |
| Lidiya Grigoryeva | RUS | 2:25:10 |
| Kate O'Neill | USA | 2:36:15 |
| Adriana Pirtea | ROU | 2:28:52 |
| Kiyoko Shimahara | JPN | 2:26:14 |
| Worknesh Tola | ETH | 2:25:37 |
| Constantina Dita | ROU | 2:21:30 |
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
