Really good men’s field, really weak women’s field. The rumor is they were left scrambling after Ruth C got popped. Probably didn’t help in getting Americans either.
She didn’t test positive for a PED. She should be allowed to compete - HCTZ has no performance benefits.
The idea that the marathon world record holder has hypertension requiring a prescription for HCTZ is hilarious
Kiplimo choosing to run a race targeting 2:00:35 is exciting. Mantz trying to run a time 5 mins slower..... hopefully he's shooting for a 2:03 because if he's trying to run 2:05 with something close to resembling an even split, he'll be out the back after the first mile. I'd love to see him take a crack at the AR, don't get me wrong, I just hope he looks competitive in the race he does it in for a while. I don't think 2:03 high or 2:04 low is out of the question for him at some point. Chicago is a super fast course and he ran 2:05:08ish in Boston.
Really good men’s field, really weak women’s field. The rumor is they were left scrambling after Ruth C got popped. Probably didn’t help in getting Americans either.
On the W side, some heavy hitters who might've entered Chicago are slotted for the Tokyo 25 marathon: Amane Beriso, Tigst Assefa, YY. Ethiopia selected Taye as a reserve for the 10000m, so there's a slim chance she races both distances in Sep/Oct.
The Clinger entry surprised me a bit. He has only raced once longer than 10k, beating Klecker & Talbi over 25k in May 2025. I thought he'd knock down a half this fall, target making the US World XC Champs squad and start his marathon career in 2026, but maybe Eyestone believes he's ready to roll now.
I have read that YY and Beriso are both out of Worlds?
Sad to see Kamworor not even getting a mention in the OP. I know he's not been at the very top for a while but he's still a name, former world XC champs and WR holder at the HM.
I see this also means Calli Hauger-Thackery has withdrawn from the World Champs marathon, for which she had been pre-selected. She's either been made promises that she'll be selected for the 10000, or she's gambling on UKA to not take the penny-pinching option of leaving her out.
Last point, will it be a bit of a shame to see the American record go down but Mantz not win the race? Maybe not, since it would remove a shady record from the books. And I wouldn't entirely write off a Mantz win. Korir is going to fall off the pace heavily if he goes for 2-flat. Kiplimo could be a problem, he paced himself well in London.
I have a proposal to mitigate doping in some capacity. If these races establish contracts to fine runners who win prize money and are later popped for PED offense, fined for the amount they won to be repaid to other runners and additionally fined the amount of the first place prize money (or more) as well. Hire creditors to chase them.
The reality of losing money would deter doping because some who do it, weigh the options and perceive they have nothing to lose. Losing their career for a doping infraction is not a catastrophic loss when they would have never been relevant as a clean runner anyways. Well, give them something to lose then.
Glad Rupp is back, hope he can run around 2:08 or so, though 2:10 would be a success after all these injuries. I'm excited for Mantz and also Richtman to run well. Hopefully Kamworor can get a 2:03 or something in the books since he's been stuck at 2:04/2:05 for the last 10 years, essentially. I think Korir could run around 2:01 something. On a side note I like his form a lot
Hey Kiprop fan... normal HCTZ levels in a human are about 14. Her's was 3800. HCTZ is a masking agent for PEDs. If you actually think she ran 2:09:56 clean you are delusional.
I have a proposal to mitigate doping in some capacity. If these races establish contracts to fine runners who win prize money and are later popped for PED offense, fined for the amount they won to be repaid to other runners and additionally fined the amount of the first place prize money (or more) as well. Hire creditors to chase them.
The reality of losing money would deter doping because some who do it, weigh the options and perceive they have nothing to lose. Losing their career for a doping infraction is not a catastrophic loss when they would have never been relevant as a clean runner anyways. Well, give them something to lose then.
Good luck recovering that money once the athlete is out of the country. You think the Kenyan authorities are going to action a (e.g.) US civil law in Kenya? Once that money is awarded, it's gone. That's why some argue the only sanction that could work would be something involving the athlete's agent. It would be easier, for example, to say that Rosa's athletes are banned from all WA sanctioned events until he pays back the prize money. The athletes, particularly the East African athletes, could retire very comfortably off a single WMM win. The agent is in it for the long haul, they need to be able to continually work for decades. They're the vulnerable ones.
Yes, Mantz will be off the 2hour flat pack in the first half mile, as well he should be if he wants to target 2:05 flat. He needs his own pace group and they should encourage some of the Japanese marathoners to come over and run. They have any number of 2:05 - 2:07 men who would likely love to escape the Tokyo summer and come run fast here.it could provide a really good group for Mantz to work with.
i love Chicago t he city but I don’t love Chicago the race really. I don’t think t hat it should be a major, now that they’ve added Sydney, they should have dropped Chicago to keep it at six.
Yes, Mantz will be off the 2hour flat pack in the first half mile, as well he should be if he wants to target 2:05 flat. He needs his own pace group and they should encourage some of the Japanese marathoners to come over and run. They have any number of 2:05 - 2:07 men who would likely love to escape the Tokyo summer and come run fast here.it could provide a really good group for Mantz to work with.
i love Chicago t he city but I don’t love Chicago the race really. I don’t think t hat it should be a major, now that they’ve added Sydney, they should have dropped Chicago to keep it at six.
They just should've added Valencia. Sydney was a stupid choice that makes the name of a world marathon major somewhat a joke. Sydney might have had good participation from the masses in the past, but in terms of elite fields, their fields were very weak in comparison to any well known non-major marathon in the running world like Rotterdam or Valencia.
Yes, Mantz will be off the 2hour flat pack in the first half mile, as well he should be if he wants to target 2:05 flat. He needs his own pace group and they should encourage some of the Japanese marathoners to come over and run. They have any number of 2:05 - 2:07 men who would likely love to escape the Tokyo summer and come run fast here.it could provide a really good group for Mantz to work with.
i love Chicago t he city but I don’t love Chicago the race really. I don’t think t hat it should be a major, now that they’ve added Sydney, they should have dropped Chicago to keep it at six.
the pace groups should be interesting. if i had to guess
Really good men’s field, really weak women’s field. The rumor is they were left scrambling after Ruth C got popped. Probably didn’t help in getting Americans either.
Would Ruth C have been negotiating for a fall marathon if as of April she knew she'd been popped, had to drop out of London as a result, and likely was going to be banned? I'm not 100% sure either way on this. I could see either way happening (her agent negotiates the appearance fee and rolls the dice that there won't be a ban vs. did not seek to enter any fall marathons until she found out what her situation was) ....
If it's the former - an agent negotiated knowing a violation notice had already been served but hoping for the best - I'd be furious if I were Pinkowski and hold it against that agent forever.
I have a proposal to mitigate doping in some capacity. If these races establish contracts to fine runners who win prize money and are later popped for PED offense, fined for the amount they won to be repaid to other runners and additionally fined the amount of the first place prize money (or more) as well. Hire creditors to chase them.
The reality of losing money would deter doping because some who do it, weigh the options and perceive they have nothing to lose. Losing their career for a doping infraction is not a catastrophic loss when they would have never been relevant as a clean runner anyways. Well, give them something to lose then.
Good luck recovering that money once the athlete is out of the country. You think the Kenyan authorities are going to action a (e.g.) US civil law in Kenya? Once that money is awarded, it's gone. That's why some argue the only sanction that could work would be something involving the athlete's agent. It would be easier, for example, to say that Rosa's athletes are banned from all WA sanctioned events until he pays back the prize money. The athletes, particularly the East African athletes, could retire very comfortably off a single WMM win. The agent is in it for the long haul, they need to be able to continually work for decades. They're the vulnerable ones.
First, Ruth's times in Chicago remain valid because the positive result came was after that race.
Second, I think WMM Races pay out the prize money in installments and they do not pay out a dime until after a drug test result is received.
And Third - for the Fall Marathons specifically, they can and should declare that they will no longer work with a certain agent who is known to represent doped athletes. Chicago and New York pay big appearance fees to runners. If they say 'no more' from Agent X, then that limits the opportunities for the agents' runners and thus reduces their potential appearance fee money.
What sort of 'extra precautions' would you recommend?
More delayed payout of money, additional out of comp testing, restricting prize money to runners with an established testing history. That won't ensure a clean race, but it's a good start.
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think a race can demand or dictate additional testing (post-comp or out-of-comp). That's strictly the responsibility of WADA and they have their own criteria for who and how often someone gets tested.
I like the idea of delayed payouts, but it's hard for a race to do that unilaterally if they want top competition to show up. Remember, they would be delaying payouts to clean athletes, as well.
i love Chicago t he city but I don’t love Chicago the race really. I don’t think t hat it should be a major, now that they’ve added Sydney, they should have dropped Chicago to keep it at six.
Total Racers: Chicago had 52k finishers last year, Sydney had 20k.
Population/Crowd: Chicago Metro area has 9ish million, Greater Sydney area has 5ish million.
History: Chicago began in 1977, Sydney began in 2000.
Times: Chicago holds both world records, Sydney has never had a man break 2:06 or a woman break 2:21.