Breaking: Galen Rupp WILL defend his Chicago Marathon title in 2018

I've come to the conclusion that there is literally nothing that Rupp could do that would satisfy this crowd.

Already pointed this out in another thread, but the IAAF release said that there would be pacers this year.

"The Bank of America Chicago Marathon will reintroduce pacers into this year’s elite races after breaking from the tradition for the past few years.

'The championship style of racing that spectators enjoy will continue as the race enters its final miles,” Pinkowski said. “The epic 2010 duel between the late Wanjiru and Tsegaye Kebede – arguably one of the greatest finishes in marathon history – underscores the importance of the tactics that still exist and flourish in paced races.'"

https://www.iaaf.org/news/news/chicago-marathon-2018-mo-farah

gcn109 wrote:

Already pointed this out in another thread, but the IAAF release said that there would be pacers this year.

"The Bank of America Chicago Marathon will reintroduce pacers into this year’s elite races after breaking from the tradition for the past few years.

'The championship style of racing that spectators enjoy will continue as the race enters its final miles,” Pinkowski said. “The epic 2010 duel between the late Wanjiru and Tsegaye Kebede – arguably one of the greatest finishes in marathon history – underscores the importance of the tactics that still exist and flourish in paced races.'"

https://www.iaaf.org/news/news/chicago-marathon-2018-mo-farah

Now this makes things really interesting. Hopefully a few other big names or guys with 2:04-2:05 potential will run as well and we'll have a handful of guys in the mix for a fast time with 10K to go.