the ethiopian Topping the list is Herpasa Negasa of pretenders to the throne of his countryman Seifu Tura in the Chicago marathon, which will take place this Sunday with the Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich as the favorite, in the female categoryto revalidate the victory won last year.
More than 40,000 people will compete in the Chicago Marathon, with a top-level start list that includes six athletes capable of running the event in under two hours and five minutes and nine with a personal best time of no another 2:06.
Ethiopia is emerging as the favorite country to retain the crown in the men’s category. Negasa, with a personal best of 2h03.40, arrives in Chicago determined to dethrone Seifu Tura, who ran 2h04.29 in Milan in 2021, and fellow Ethiopian Dawit Wolde (2.04.27) will face the race with the highest ambition.
Tura won last year in an attack at kilometer 38 and sealed, with 2h06.12, the most important victory of his career.. This season, he ran a half marathon in 58.36 and was second in the Paris marathon, as well as finishing sixth at the World Championships in Eugene.
Kenyans Bernard Koech and Benson Kipruto represent the main alternatives in a marathon part of the six ‘majors’ of the season and this year reaches its 44th edition.
“I’ve trained well, I’m confident and if the weather is good I can improve my personal best and be on the podium. That’s what I’m hoping for,” Kipruto told EFE at his hotel in downtown Chicago.
In the women’s category, the favorite is last year’s reigning champion, Chepngetich, who arrived in Chicago with a best time of 2h17.09, determined to capture the world record of her compatriot Brigid Kosgei (2h14.04).
“I tried to break the record for several Marathons. In 2018, in Istanbul, I had the speed to break the world record, but my hare stopped a few kilometers from the end and I didn’t make it. There were many attempts where I missed Chepngetich just said this to EFE.
“When I started competing I saw that I could break the record and I can say that this is my chance to break the world record. My hare is strong and I hope everything goes well,” he added.
At 28 years old, Chepngetich was this year’s champion in Nagoya, when he came within ten seconds of his personal record, finishing in 2.17.18. You already know how to break a world record, having done it last year at the 2021 Istanbul Half Marathon, with a later improved pace of 1.04.02.
Ethiopian Ruti Aga and Kenyan Vivian Kiplagat are emerging as Chepngetich’s main threats.
Kiplagat told EFE that he arrived in Chicago with optimism, after a problem with his shoe size prevented him from pushing as hard as he wanted in last year’s Marathon.
“Last year it was a mistake and they took me a shoe that was too small. I wore a 5.5 (US size, 36.5 in Europe) and I ran with a 5, which did not fit my foot. But this year the all and I hope to improve my time,” he said.
There will be more than 40,000 participants in one of the most important Marathons of the season, starting and ending in Grant Park, steps from Lake Michigan.
The flat, fast course allowed athletes to aim for big scores and four world records were broken on the streets of Chicago.
The athletes will tour 29 neighborhoods in the city and will have the support of nearly 1.7 million fans.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
