Complete start list announced for sold-out Oct. 12 race
CHICAGO - (October 2, 2008) - Bank of America has announced two-time women's champion Berhane Adere of Ethiopia will attempt a first-ever three-peat at the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, while six-time top three Chicago finisher Daniel Njenga of Kenya looks for his first win in the Windy City. The additions of Adere and Njenga complete the professional field for the Sunday, Oct. 12 race.
Adere, 35, has thrilled Chicago fans the last two years winning back-to-back titles in the final stretches, most recently sprinting past an unaware Adriana Pirtea of Romania in the final meters of the 2007 race. In 2006, Adere and Galina Bogomolova of Russia trailed Constantina Tomescu-Dita of Romania who led the field at record pace through the first 16 miles of the 26.2-mile course. Catching the Romanian in the 22nd mile, Adere and Bogomolova battled shoulder-to-shoulder until the Ethiopian edged into the lead and broke the tape only five seconds in front of runner-up Bogomolova.
Adding drama to the mix, Adere will face off against both Pirtea and Tomescu-Dita in the 31st running of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Tomescu-Dita arrives hot off an Olympic gold medal win in the women's marathon in Beijing, while her fellow Romanian Pirtea shaved five minutes off her marathon debut in Chicago last fall with a 2:28:52 in London last April.
U.S. Olympians Colleen De Reuck and Kate O'Neill lead the American contingent. At last year's race, O'Neill of Team Running USA finished third in her marathon debut.
Njenga, 32, is Chicago's very own heartbreak kid, finishing second or third in each of his previous six consecutive Chicago appearances, including a third place showing behind the photo finish of Patrick Ivuti of Kenya and Jaouad Gharib of Morocco. Never losing to the same competitor twice, Njenga has placed behind Chicago champions Ivuti, Robert K. Cheruyiot, Felix Limo, Evans Rutto and Khalid Khannouchi, virtually a who's who of the world's best marathon runners. Njenga is one of six men in the field who have posted personal bests below 2 hours, 7 minutes.
2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon Professional Field
Name / Citizenship / Personal Record (PR)
WOMEN
Berhane Adere (ETH), 2:20:42
Bezunesh Bekele (ETH), 2:23:09
Alevtina Biktimirova (RUS), 2:25:12
Desiree Davila (USA / MI), 2:37:50
Colleen De Reuck (USA / CO), 2:26:35
Zoila Gomez (USA / CO), 2:33:53
Lidiya Grigoryeva (RUS), 2:25:10
Kate O'Neill (USA / CA), 2:36:15
Adriana Pirtea (ROU), 2:28:52
Kiyoko Shimahara (JPN), 2:26:14
Worknesh Tola (ETH), 2:25:37
Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROU), 2:21:30
MEN
Moses Arusei (KEN), 2:06:50
Christopher Cheboiboch (KEN), 2:08:17
Timothy Cherigat (KEN), 2:09:34
Evans Cheruiyot (KEN), 2:09:16
Joseph Chirlee (KEN), 2:12:10
Arata Fujiwara (JPN), 2:08:40
James Getanda (KEN), 2:11:50
Salim Kipsang (KEN), 2:07:29
William Kipsang (KEN), 2:05:49
Richard Limo (KEN), 2:06:45
David Mandago (KEN), 2:07:23
Emmanuel Mutai (KEN), 2:06:15
Daniel Njenga (KEN), 2:06:16
Michael Reneau (USA / MI), 2:17:46
Todd Snyder (USA / MI), 2:21:00
The 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will start and finish in Chicago's Grant Park beginning with the wheelchair race at 7:50am on Sunday, Oct. 12. Registration opened to the public on Feb. 1 and closed on April 23 when the participant capacity of 45,000 was reached. In advance of the race, a two-day Health & Fitness Expo will be held at McCormick Place on Friday, Oct. 10 and Saturday, Oct. 11. In its 31st year, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon annually attracts 45,000 runners, 1.5 million spectators and 125,000 Expo visitors and generates more than $10 million for charities. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is one of the five races that comprise the World Marathon Majors. For more information on the race, visit: ChicagoMarathon.com
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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