LRC Note. The thread was initially titled, "Chicago 2021 Field" but we changed it and linked to our article.
My thoughts:
1) The Olympic year and all six WMM scheduled within a couple of weeks have led to the field being rather weak.
2) Women's race is between Chepngetich, Hall and D'amato (finally racing).
3) Men's race is stronger, with guys running fast times in Milan and Sienna.
Not very exciting. Tough for Hall, who will be going for an American record. Chepnegetich is probably going to be too fast and no one else is in the 2:19-2:20 range. Hall will be doing a lot of running on her own. The organisers should have stumped for a couple more 2:19 women to increase the chances of the AR, it's not like it's hard to find Kenyans and Ethiopians who can hit that time
Won’t there be some men running that time though? She can run with them
High hopes wrote:
Not very exciting. Tough for Hall, who will be going for an American record. Chepnegetich is probably going to be too fast and no one else is in the 2:19-2:20 range. Hall will be doing a lot of running on her own. The organisers should have stumped for a couple more 2:19 women to increase the chances of the AR, it's not like it's hard to find Kenyans and Ethiopians who can hit that time
It's not going to be tough for Hall. She can run with the men. Remember, Chicago doesn't feature a women's only start.
Our concern is weather this field with just 3 sub-2:25 women is worth of major status for the women. We just wrote an article about how this is the weakest major we've seen since we started tracking it in 2017.
Chicago will almost certainly announce more entrants to the field on a later date. In the last number of years they have made it a habit to add at least 2 or 3 elite runners to field on the men's and women's side in the few weeks leading up to the race. I have no doubt they will do the same this year. I have no insider information here but watch for potential names like Lawrence Cherono and Vivian Cheruyiot to be announced in the coming weeks.
Valencia must on the phone with the WMM as we speak asking when they're getting their promotion. Will be interesting to see how their fields compare in December
Illinois Hurdler wrote:
Chicago will almost certainly announce more entrants to the field on a later date. In the last number of years they have made it a habit to add at least 2 or 3 elite runners to field on the men's and women's side in the few weeks leading up to the race. I have no doubt they will do the same this year. I have no insider information here but watch for potential names like Lawrence Cherono and Vivian Cheruyiot to be announced in the coming weeks.
Fair point. I would say the Brojos' concern is valid if this is what we end up with, but it might be a one-year blip. The marathon arsenal of talent is pretty stocked and this is a one-off with everything in the fall.
runnersHI wrote:
Won’t there be some men running that time though? She can run with them
Good point. I didn't realise the men and women went off together. I guess Chicago will stump for male pacers for Hall as well.
Will Rupp attack the AR as well? He needs to be nice back from a disappointing Olympics and what else is there for him to achieve
World Athletics has given the majors (and all levels of label races) a pass on the # of platinum/gold/silver athletes they must have in the field this year:
Section 3.3 of label road race regulations (those not looking for an upgrade in status):
'For all other races, there are no requirements in 2021 as to elite athletes to invite. In
any case, races are on notice that any regulations issued in 2022 may take into
account the quality of the elite athlete fields in 2021.'
This hurts the athletes as the majors won't be negotiating as many appearances in order to meet the former label requirements. The athletes are still required to pay the 'label tax' on prize money though.
So we end up with diluted fields and no (likely) consequences to the organizers for having a diluted field. Add to this the number of majors this fall and there are going to be some very sub par major marathons in 2021.
These fields are weaker than Boston, especially on the women's side. Boston had over 20 women with sub 2:30 PRs, this Chicago field barely has 20 women total, and only like 7 of them sub 2:30. And yes, no good international athletes. It's basically a US championships that only has a tiny portion of top US runners since a lot will be at Boston and New York. Were there massive budget cuts that we don't know about yet? Way less prize money, or no hotel money available?
I'll be curious what New York comes up with to finish the US big 3 for this fall. I imagine most top Americans who you haven't seen on a list yet will be at New York. Guys like Korir, Hehir, Droddy, Ward, among others.
Interesting that Hall (an Asics athlete) was listed for Falmouth (where Asics is the main sponsor) and she didn't run and there was no explanation given.
Will she race before Chicago?
Rojo - which races do you think will join the WMM series in the future?
I've never liked the idea of paying people to show up. I don't think tennis or golf do this for their majors. Put the money up and see who comes to take it. If the field is really that weak, then it should be appealing for one of the top women to show up and collect $100k for < 2.5 hrs of work.
LaneInfringement wrote:
https://www.letsrun.com/news/2021/08/2021-chicago-marathon-elite-womens-field-is-released-it-features-just-1-international-woman-with-a-pb-under-230/LRC Note. The thread was initially titled, "Chicago 2021 Field" but we changed it and linked to our article.
Assuming Chicago isn't being cheap with prizing and appearance money, I suppose the issue is International travel still being a barrier.
They might be afraid of stray bullets.
Its americans trying to make sure they win majors. Just dont invite any good runners
Chicago hasn't been the big show for a while. Stick a fork in it and remove its WMM status.
harry caned wrote:
Chicago hasn't been the big show for a while. Stick a fork in it and remove its WMM status.
I think a problem is the raced is owned by Bank of America. I'd rather see it owned by a non-profit.
I don't agree with it not being a major show in recent years. The depth hasn't been great - it often reminds me of Berlin - but the perfomrances have been spectacular on the women's side in recent years.
The last three women's winning times have ben 2:18;31, 2:18:35 and 2:14:04. No one in the world comes close to that.
Plus Kipchoge won there in 2014. Mo Farah. etc.
But this year's field is crazy. I just came up with this stat which I added to the article. 2021 Boston has 15 women with pbs under 2:23. Chicago has 3.