“I follow Kitwara and the other guys”, he said, referring to the fastest man in the field, Kenya’s Sammy Kitwara, who has a 2:04:28 personal best.
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Legendary marathon runner Joan Benoit Samuelson, who was slated to run the Chicago Marathon Sunday, will no longer participate in the race due to an illness, marathon officials announced Saturday.
Kenyan runner Wesley Korir said an example set by removing pacesetters from Chicago’s race will help reduce pressure for faster times and temptation to engage in doping.
The men’s and women’s races are part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series of eight races conducted over a year and awards a $500,000 prize to the overall male and female point earner. The start to 2015 was not as great, with a third in Tokyo, but that does not mean it was a disappointment, as Chumba still clocked a 2:06:34 in Japan. “So, we’ll take a look on Sunday and we’ll see”.
In a mild disagreement with his manager, Michel Boeting, Rotich said he thought that the race would have pacemakers when he agreed to run, saying that he only found out about it by reading a running message board on the Internet. Ethiopian Mare Dibaba, second last year at Chicago but not entered this year, tops the women’s standings.
Organizers also tried a regional marketing approach to provide more runners another competitive option with the Mill Race Marathon – a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. But for Sara Hall, Blake Russell, Deena Kastor, and Joan Benoit Samuelson, Chicago is the flawless stage to display their collective prowess. “The issue of time, the issue of the under two-hour marathon, that is the problem”.
The data visualization system uses a large volume of health, performance and situational data from every Chicago Marathon since 2008 and periodic data from timing chips in the shoes of runners in this year’s marathon. He struggled in April’s Boston Marathon, where he ran 2:22:05 and finished 22nd.
The 28-year-old Kitwara has finished among the top four in the past three years.
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Luke Puskedra looks to rebound on the World Marathon Majors stage after tanking in his marathon debut last fall in New York City. Puskedra briefly quit the sport and was dropped by his sponsor Nike. Puskedra hopes to finally match the level of his 1:01:36 half-marathon personal best from 2012 at the 26.2 mile distance.
