The press conferences are taking place right now. Stay tuned for more detailed reports on the athletes and the races.
|1 Grigoryeva, Lidiya RUS 02:27:17 |
2 Biktimirova, Alevtina RUS 02:29:32
3 Shimahara, Kiyoko JPN 2008 02:30:19
4 Tomescu-Dita, Constantina ROM 02:30:57
5 Davila, Desiree USA 02:31:33
6 De Reuck, Colleen USA 02:32:25
7 Bekele, Bezunesh ETH 02:32:41
8 Higgins, Paige USA 02:33:06
9 O'Neill, Kate USA 02:34:04
10 Adere, Berhane ETH 02:34:16
|1 Cheruiyot, Evans KEN 02:06:25|
2 Mandago, David KEN 02:07:37
3 Cherigat, Timothy KEN 02:11:39
4 Korir, Wesley K USA 02:13:53
5 Lauret, Martin NED 02:15:10
6 Mutai, Emmanuel KEN 02:15:36
7 Reneau, Mike USA 02:16:19
8 Kipsang, William KEN 02:16:41
9 Njenga, Daniel KEN 02:17:33
10 Limo, Richard KEN 02:18:48
Biktimorova, 2:29+. Shimara 2:30+. Dita fourth. Looks like American Desiree Davila might be fifth.
Grigoryeva, 2:27:17! After a first half in 1:16:00. In Beijing, for comparison, Dita ran a 2:26:44 with a 1:15:23 first half. So the women are getting very good at strong second halfs.
The women's winners will also receive $100,000 and $55,000 for first and second place. They're outside the bonus time zone, however, due to the slow first half.
Grigoryeva is going to finish in about 2:27/2:28 after running the first half in 1:16. So she has run an amazing negative splits race. She'll be around 1:12 for the second half. She should finish in about 5 minutes.
Kiyoko Shimara of Japan is in third place behind the two Russians, and Dita in 4th.
Grigoryeva headed for victory. She's a 34 year old Russian with a marathon PR of 2:25:10 and a long record of great marathon running. She won the 2007 Boston Marathon in 2:29:18.
Grigoryeva dumps about 3 cups of water over her head at the 25 mile mark. She's still running 5:25 pace, a very strong effort.
Cherigat 3rd in about 2:11:30. Cheruiyot got a $40,000 bonus for his sub 2:07, and Mandago $15,000 for his sub 2:08. The "open" prizes were $100,000 and $55,000.
Timothy Cherigat apparently in third, though we haven't seen him yet. Grigoryeva with a big lead in the women's race. Now she has to hold it in the warm sunshine.
Mandago, 2:07:35, well beaten over the last several miles. But he fought a very good fight from the half marathon to the 24 mile mark.
Cheruiyot, 2:06:25! He's won both his career marathons, and moves onto center stage among the world's great ones. First half was 1:02:25, so second half 1:04:00. Not bad in these conditions.
Cheruiyot running strong to the tape. We'll have his finish time in 90 seconds.
Cheruiyot hits 25 in 2:01:20, so the course record and sub 2:06 are out of reach. Still, it's going to be a significant victory, a big payday, and a possible catapult to future marathon greatness.
Cheruiyot will be the winner. He'll break his personal record of 2:09:16 by a big margin, and establish himself as one of the world's great marathoners. He's 26 and has run 59:05 for a half marathon, as well as a number of other halfs in the 59+ range. On September 8, just a month ago, he won the Rotterdam Half in 59:29. The question is, Can he get a course record and sub 2:06?
Cheruiyot has a clear lead on Mandago now, chugging right along, going after Khannouchi's course record of 2:05:42, and also the $50,000 bonus for breaking 2:06 if he can manage it
Grigoryeva has made a big surge in the women's race. She has maybe a 7 second lead. Cheruiyot has broken away from Mandago, and run another 4:52 mile. He runs like a fast-shuffling metronome.
David Mandago was probably the 6th or 7th rated Kenyan in the field pre-race. So it's a bit of a surprise to see him still running so strongly at the 24th mile. He's also a bit of a late comer at 33 years old.
Women's race, no differences, Biktimorova and Grigoryeva back and forth.
M23, Cheruiyot is back at Mandago's stride. Cheruiyot looks like he's working harder, with his short shuffle stride, but we can't tell who it will be at the finish. Last mile of 4:52, pretty much what they've been doing the last 4 miles. We expected them to slow more the second half, but so far, no big sign of that. They were 62:25 at the half way, and won't match that pace to the finish. But it will be fast. Possibly a course record. Current record, 2:05:42.
M 23, it looks like Mandago is opening up a little. He's putting a few meters between himself and Cheruiyot.
We'll focus on the men's race to the finish. It's now 78 degrees with 41 percent humidity. Mandago leading by a stride. Cheruiyot on his heels, trying to hang on. They're running a very impressive race, giving the conditions. Again, it's a little like Sammy Wanjiru's incredible winning marathon in Beijing. Although conditions here in Chicago today are considerably better than Beijing was.
M 21, last mile in 4:55. Mandago a stride or two ahead.
W 18, Grigoryeva now at the front, pushing the pace, opening just a little road on her countrywoman Biktimorova. Latest mile 5:33, and Biktimorova leading again. It's a back and forth battle.
The temperature at 9:20 is reported to be 75 degrees, so conditions are getting tough out there.
M 20, the last mile was 4:50. No sign that they're slowing. Mandago and Cheruiyot offer quite a contrast in physiques and running styles. Mandago stands a head taller than Cheruiyot, and runs with a slight forward lean at the shoulders. Cheruiyot has a quick shuffle. His arms look like they're going twice as fast as Mandago's. But their legs are moving at the same speed, and that's all that matters.
W 16, 1:31:31, two at the front, last mile 5:27. They're running 30 seconds per mile faster than the early pace, and 20 seconds per mile faster than the first half. A very dramatic shift. They're now almost a minute ahead of the third-placer, Bizunesh Bekele.
M 19, Cheuiyot and Mandago missed their special bottles at a drinks table, but both grabbed water a few meters later. They're definitely working together now. It's a simple race of attrition now to see who can hold the pace the longest. They passed 30 K in 1:29:05, still a sub 2:06 pace. But it will be tough to hold.
W 15, Biktimorova has run a 5:25 on the heels of her 5:14, so she's piling on the pace as hard as she can. Grigoryeva is still with her, but no one else.
M 18, Mandago is forcing the pace, as Mutai drops back. Mandago is trying to get Cheruiyot up with him to share the pace. Mandago won the Hamburg Marathon last April in 2:07:23 and Rome in 2006 in 2:08:38. But this is his first appearance in a Marathon Major or another talent-packed race.
W 15, the Ethiopian Bekele seems to have dropped back, leaving Biktimorova and Grigoryeva at the front.
W 14, now we know why the break was so dramatic. It appears that Biktimorova ran a 5:14 mile.
M 17, 4:58 split, so the men are slowly slightly as they run into more sun and gradually rising temps. Mandago is leading now. It's almost like they're taking turns.
Women's half marathon, 1:16 flat, so the pace keeps picking up. We now have two three-person races. On the women's front it's Alevtina Biktimorova, Lidya Grigoryeva and Bezunesh Bekele. The three top women broke away so quickly, we can't yet figure out what happened to everyone else. Especially the two big favorites, Dita and Adere.
The women's race has broken up big time, with Biktimorova, Grigoreyva and Bekele having broken away from the big pack.
M 16, 4:53 split. There's little to say about the men's race except that Mutai, Mandago or Cheruiyot will be the likely winner.
Cheruiyot pushing the pace a little in the men's race now, but all 3 leaders still tight.
Stephanie Hood of Canada has made a small break in the women's race. We think this might be her marathon debut. She ran Division III competition in the U.S. at Principia College in southern Illinois. She's fllowed by Dita, Biktimorova and a big pack.
M 14, covered in 4:38. No change up front. Cheruiyot has been picked by many, based on a bunch of super fast half marathons that are better than his marathon best of 2:09:17. Last year he was third in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championship, and runs 59+ in the half marathon at the drop of a hat, it seems.
W 11, 1:03:45, the pack still with all the main contenders. Kate O'Neil at the front for now.
M half marathon, 62:25. Just three, Emmanuel Mutai, Evans Cheruiyot and David Mandango.
Men are approaching the half marathon. Only three left up front. Quite unusual for a Chicago Marathon race to break up this early.
Dita going to the front and making a little move. But everyone else holding on pretty well. Certainly the Ethiopians are covering Dita's moves.
M12, Mutai just ran a 4:35 mile. He's taken the pace down to sub 2:06 territory, which could get him a $50,000 bonus if he holds it to the end. It's Mutai, Evans Cheruiyot and David Mandanago.
Paige Higgins, Colleen DeReuck and a good sized pack are still up front with Dita in the women's race. The pace keeps dropping slightly, but not a lot. That's why the pack is so big. Much bigger than the men's pack, which is a surprise.
W9 miles, Dita and fellow Romanian Adriana Pirtea sharing the lead. They hit 9 in 52:29, having just run a 5:45 mile.
Emmanuel Mutai has taken the lead, working it pretty good. He ran 2:06:29 to win Amsterdam last fall, so he knows how to run this pace and how to win. He's closely followed by tall David Mandanago, who has a best of 2:07:23. Mutai just ran a 4:38 mile, the fastest of the race. Four are lined up in single file behind Mutai: also Kipsang, Arusei and Limo.
Daniel Njenga seems to be falling off the pack. He was reportedly running 200 miles a week to improve on string of second and third-place finishes. But it looks like his strategy might not have worked. Men's pacers are gone now, so it will be interesting to see if the pace holds up.
M10, last mile was 4:42, the fastest of the race. The pacers continue to keep it honest. The 10-mile split was 47:54.
Ed Eyestone just said the men's leaders were running at a "breakneck" speed. I don't know that that's right, but I think they'll have a hard time holding 2:06 pace to the end. Of course, Sammy Wanjiru did it in Beijing, on a warmer day than this. Seven men in the lead pack.
American Paige Higgins now leading the women's race, followed by Biktimorova, who was second at Boston last April. Higgins is part of Greg McMillan's training group in Flagstaff. She ran 2:40:12 in the Chicago steambath last year. Dita has one to the back of the pack, presumably to rest.
M 8, the last split was 4:52, so the men are holding pace still.
Women's 10K, 36:30, with the pace remaining in the 2:34/2:35 range. Unlike the men, the women probably will run negative splits.
No big changes to report in either race. The runners are now coming into some sun for the first time. The men's pace is slightly faster than Khalid Khannouchi's pace when he set the course of 2:05:42 in 1999. But he ran a negative splits race that day. And it will be tough to run negative splits today.
M6, 28:48. No changes. The W 5 split was 29:28, so the women are speeding up slightly.
Because of the slow pace, the women's group is bigger than expected. It includes Americans Colleen DeReuck, Paige Higgins, Kate O'Neill, and Zoila Gomez.
M 5, men went through 5 miles in 24:00, which is 2:06:20 pace. That would be a very good effort on this warm day, if someone can hold it to the end.
Dita definitely at the front of the women's pack now. But not forcing it yet. Not making any big moves. Just staying out of trouble.
W 5K, 18:31. Pack close together. Adere tall over Dita's shoulders.
The early miles of the course are run largely in urban canyons, with lots of shadow. So the runners aren't feeling the temperature and the sun. That will come later.
M 4, 19:13, still going strong. Now Fujiwara is having a hard time holding on. In fact, he has dropped.
Dita's uniform is getting lots of attention. It's supposed to be gold for her Beijing medal, but seems more an unattractive beige or skin color. The women passed 3 miles in 17:55, still around 6 minute pace.
Dita has gone to the front of the women's race, but no big acceleration yet. Not like Beijing.
M 5K in about 15:00. Fugiwara back with the group. The men continue to press on at 4:50 pace. Eleven men in the field have broken 2:11.
As the men approach mile 3, Fugiwara looks to be struggling at the back of the Kenyan pack of 7-8 top athletes.
Women's second mile, 5:59. They're still running at a 2:37 pace.
The top women are running with little, mincing strides, obviously holding back. They haven't gotten into gear yet.
M2, another 4:50 so they're holding pace. The pacers are doing their job.
Mens mile: 4:51. Women at first mile 6:04. Little action so far.
Clean start. There are at least a couple of pacers leading the men's race. There are no pacers in the women's race.
Dita is smiling on the start line. The Kenyans, especially Richard Limo, are cracking up over something. Someone must have told a good joke.
We have an estimate of 34,500 starters. The elite start is in 3 minutes. A beautiful morning in Chicago. It should pull a lot of spectators out to cheer on the runners.
Weather in Chicago is warmer than the runners would like this morning, mid 60s at 7:20 am, but nothing like last year.
The men's race is expected to be a battle among top Kenyan marathoners who weren't selected to run in the Beijing Olympics. Daniel Njenga is the sentimental favorite, with his six straight years of second or third place finishes in Chicago, but never a victory. He'll face plenty of competition from William Kipsang (2:05:49), Emmanuel Mutai (2:06:29), Richard Limo (2:06:45) and Evans Cheruiyot (2:09:16, but a number of fast half-marathons).
The women's race is expected to be a close race between Berhane Adere, the two-time defending champion, who has a best of 2:20:42, and Constantina Dita, the Olympic champion in Beijing.
The elite race begins at 7:55 Chicago time. We'll be back a few minutes before then.
This is where Runnersworld.com will be providing "near live" updates of the 2008 Chicago Marathon on Sunday morning, Oct. 12, 2008.