Pros Say They Are Ready To Run FAST At Sunday’s Chicago Marathon – Will The American Record Fall?
By Robert Johnson
CHICAGO — There was a speedy buzz today at the pre-race press conference for Sunday’s Bank of American Chicago Marathon held in the Waldorf Room of the Hilton Chicago.
Admittedly, almost never at a pre-race press event does a runner tell you they aren’t ready to go, which makes sense as if the marathon build didn’t go well many will pull out. With great weather forecast on tap for Sunday (temps in the 50s, 6 mpw wind), the optimism for Sunday’s race seemed higher than usual (although I’ll admit it’s possible I am just misjudging it as I’m excited to be back in Chicago after a half-decade away).
World leader Kebede thinks she’s in the form of her life
The world’s fastest female marathoner of 2024, Sutume Kebede, who won Tokyo in March in 2:15:55, said through the help of translator Hannah Borenstein (who is a LetsRun.com Supporters Club member by the way) that her training for Chicago has been better than it was for Tokyo.
When I asked Kebede, who also ran the fastest half-marathon on US soil in Houston in January (64:37), if Sifan Hassan‘s course record of 2:13:44 or Tigist Assefa‘s world record of 2:11:53 might be challenged, she refused to bite. “I’ve been doing really good. Together we’ll see (how fast I run) on Sunday,” said Kebede, who recently signed a lucrative deal with On, whom she said makes her feel great as they have shown her a ton of “respect.”
New women’s American record?
In terms of the American women, Emily Sisson‘s American record of 2:18:29 was set here in 2022, and it could fall on Sunday. Keira D’Amato, who turns 40 on October 21, comes into Chicago after a great buildup under new coach Ed Eyestone — her first-ever buildup at altitude. While D’Amato admitted it’s a “big question mark” how her workouts will translate into an actual marathon since she’s never done a build under Eyestone or at altitude, she said she’s been training for a PR and her PR of 2:19:12 is only 43 seconds off the American record.
Emma Bates said she heard D’Amato wanted the pacers to go out in 69:00. When I asked D’Amato about that, she said she and Eyestone were going to talk about the first half pace later in the day or on Saturday and said, “That would be a really awesome day.”
Meanwhile Bates said she gets better and better with each marathon build. While her pb is only 2:22:10, that came at Boston in 2023 where she led much of the race. She said she’s analyzed her training data and it all indicates that a sub-2:20 is there for the taking.
“We are like 2:18, 2:19 for sure,” said Bates. “That’s definitely in the cards. And again, I keep saying that and it hasn’t happened yet….It’s really just hitting it on the right day and having the stars align… So hopefully it’ll be a great day. I don’t really care if it’s a 2:18, 2:19, even if it’s a 2:20. As long as I’m PRing, as long as I’m cruising, that’s going to work well.”
However, Bates said 69:00 for the first half “doesn’t really make sense” for her and she planned to go out more conservatively. A free spirit, Bates said she “hates being tied to time” and didn’t seem concerned about not having a designated pacer as she thought there would be a group of men to latch on to if it’s windy and said she thrives on isolation in both training and racing.
American Betsy Saina was on American record pace in her last marathon in Tokyo for 35k before settling for a 2:19:17. Considering she missed some time in this buildup with an injury, one might think an American record is a tall order. But Saina did take solace in the race that she was “really, really fit” before hurting her knee and said the last two months have gone very well for her and it’s better to go into a race on the upswing than on a downswing.
Men Talk Big – 2:00 Last Year, 2:01 This Year?
Considering last year in Chicago Kelvin Kiptum mesmerized the world with his 2:00:35 world record in what unfortunately ended up being the last race of his life, a course record on the men’s side almost certainly isn’t going to happen. That being said, plenty of men said they are READY to run fast.
30-year-old Birhanu Legese’s 2:02:48 pb is five years old and he hasn’t finished top 3 at an Abbott World Marathon Major since 2020, but that isn’t stopping him from talking big. “If everything is good, I think I can run around 2:01,” said Legese.
2:03:13 man Amos Kipruto of Kenya told me he’s in “best shape ever.”
John Korir, the younger brother of former Louisville star and Boston marathon champ Wesley Korir, may only have a 2:05:01 pb but he said he’s in “very big shape” and “I think I can run 2:02.”
What about the American men?
The last time we saw Zach Panning in a marathon he was leading most of the 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials, running 2:06:17 pace for miles 5 through 20 after running a series of killer workouts in his buildup. He said his buildup for Sunday’s race was “very similar” to his Trials buildup.
“It’s so dependent on so many variables but I’d love to PR. I’d love to run under 2:08 for sure,” said Panning who ran his 2:09:28 pb in Chicago in 2022.
CJ Albertson, who comes into Chicago after breaking 2:10 for the first time in Boston (2:09:53), isn’t satisfied to end his career with that pb.
“I think I should run faster than that now. My training for Boston wasn’t that great. This training has gone pretty well, so theoretically I should run faster, but you know, it doesn’t always play out like that. You’d love for your training to always match up with your races, but you know, I mean, the more I coach (the more I realize) that just doesn’t always happen.”
When Albertson learned Panning wanted to break 2:08, Albertson said he’d be happy to go out at that pace. “I mean it depends how far under 2:08 pace, if it’s like 2:07 high pace, then yeah sure, if it’s like 2:05 pace, then probably not.”
“2:08 is well within what I can run,” said Brian Shrader, who was one of five Americans under 2:10 last year (2:09:46) in Chicago and added that he’s been following the BYU training plan of one day off every week during this marathon build.
Reed Fischer‘s agent Josh Cox told me he thought Fischer, who has a 2:10:34 pb, would be aiming to run 2:09 and then hopefully nail it and run 2:08.
We’ll have to wait until Sunday to see how it all plays out but the Hilton was full of optimism today.
Shortly after the press conference ended, we did a live video show from Chicago. Watch it below. Better yet, sign up for our Supporters Club and get it as a podcast as well as a free t-shirt and big shoe discounts (if you live in the US).
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