Emma Bates in “Phenomenal Shape” For Chicago Marathon, Sisson Ready to Compete
By Mike Knapp
October 6, 2023
CHICAGO – Runners by nature tend to keep their tactics and goals close to the vest. It’s one thing to feel that something is possible, but it is totally different to broadcast that to the world.
While some of the runners at the pre-race press conference ahead of Sunday’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon did state their goals, they weren’t really all that bold given their pedigrees. Sure, Kelvin Kiptum wants to go after Dennis Kimetto’s 10-year-old course record of 2:03:45, Ruth Chepngetich wants a three-peat and hopes to top her personal best of 2:14:18, and Conner Mantz wants to make the Olympic “A” standard of 2:08:10, but past history has shown they are more than capable of accomplishing that, so their goals aren’t really all that bold.
Then there is Emma Bates, who made her goal clear: she wants to run significantly faster in a marathon than she ever has before. The 31-year-old Bates, who set a PR of 2:22:10 while finishing fifth at Boston back in April, heads to the line Sunday morning looking for the first sub-2:20 effort of her career – and maybe then some.
“I’m in phenomenal shape”
“Around 69:45 is the goal,” Bates said. “I think I ran about 70 minutes at the (2022) World Championships, but it wasn’t as good of conditions. I think the goal is to feel as good as I can in the first half, then try and finish in the 2:18-2:19 range.
“I’m in phenomenal shape, and I think I have the wheels under me to run fast this weekend.”
Bates’ feels her Boston effort gave her the confidence that she could run faster, as she was in the lead pack through the final stages of the race before falling back and finishing 32 seconds behind winner Hellen Obiri.
Until then she didn’t think she could run sub-5:10 miles late in a race, and learned a lot about the surges and tactics that go on at the front of the field. She comes into Chicago with that knowledge and in better shape than she was in last spring.
What will also help is that she will have people to run with. While it’s a given that Chepngetich will be looking to launch into the sub-2:14-and-below stratosphere – with or without help – there looks to be a solid group of women who will make up a chase pack that could get racy and pull each other to faster times.
“I think (racing people) just keeps propelling you forward,” Bates said. “You have so much momentum when there are people around you, and you kind of forget how fast you are when you are running with other people. It puts your mind at ease knowing there are people around you, and people that are pushing you without thinking about it. It just puts you in a zone.”
Sisson ready to challenge, can she lower American record?
Bates will be joined in that group by Emily Sisson, who returns to Chicago after finishing second a year ago. Sisson, who was running her first marathon since 2017, made a huge splash, running 2:18:29 to set an American record while becoming just the second non-African to break 2:19.
Last year Sisson was accompanied by two male pacers, but otherwise it was more of a solo effort as she didn’t have any other women running with her. The opportunity to actually race people is something she is looking forward to this time around.
“Competing brings something out in you, when you have pacers you have the perfect setup, but it’s almost like a part of your brain isn’t firing, because you are just running behind them and running as fast as you can,” Sisson said. “When you are competing against other women, it’s great because it can pull something out of you that otherwise you might not be able to dig deep and find.”
Sisson plans to follow the same script as last year, which was to not look at her watch, stay in control during the first half of the race and then go from there. If the opportunity to go even faster than she did in 2022 is there, is she ready to go?
“I definitely want to get to the end feeling strong and that I can pick it up,” Sisson said. “That’s what I did last year, at (20-22 miles) we picked it up a bit, and then with 2K to go we picked it up again, and I was really happy to do that. I want to finish feeling strong again, and not that I’m just holding on, but that’s the goal, to try and close.”
The LetsRun.com crew discussed Bates and Sisson’s chances on this week’s podcast. Video clip below