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2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon - Men's Race
by John Elliott
2013 Winner/Runner-Up Missing from 2014 Race
The winner and course-record setter from the 2013 Chicago Marathon, as well as the runner-up, did not return to Chicago instead running the two fastest marathons in history at the 2014 Berlin Marathon. With the absence of these two, Chicago Marathon officials strove to find runners to fill their shoes and did a fine job of it, bringing in the promising Kenenisa Bekele and consistently strong Eliud Kipchoge.
Kipchoge/Bekele - the Clear Leaders/Rivalry
Kenenisa Bekele has inarguably been one of the greatest track runners in history and many believe him to be the rightful successor to the great Haile Gebrselassie. And Chicago Marathon officials truly wanted Bekele in their race - above all else. Bekele had run only one previous marathon - 2:05:04 to win the 2014 Paris Marathon - but Bekele told us that he went into that race "overtrained" and could and would run faster at Chicago. Eliud Kipchoge had run three marathons with times ranging from 2:05:30 to 2:04:05 - good consistency and he told us he was feeling good and would go for a course record. In addition, Kipchoge and Bekele had something of a rivalry between them on the track and both had the abilities to challenge the Chicago Marathon course record, or even - though a longshot - run for a world record. The race was set to be between these two with a supporting cast of other runners.
photo: Sean Hartnett
Pacers Leading the pack at Halfway
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From the start, the pace was aggressive, strting on track to a 2:04 marathon and settling down to a pace for a 2:04:30 marathon. Allowing that the runners might increase the pace in the final miles, a course record (although not a world record) could still be in the offing. As is often the case in Chicago, many of the elite field would start at the set pace - even though they could not possibly run that fast for 26.2 miles, and the initial pack contained three pacers and 8 competitors, even though most would slow and could not run 2:04.
Through mile 19, the pack remained together and virtually unchanged with the exception of Tadese Tola who dropped out of the race. We were impressed that many could continue at that pace. By mile 21, three men moved ahead of the others: Sammy Kitwara, Dickson Chumba and Eliud Kipchoge - and together these three continued to put distance on the others. Surprisingly Bekele had fallen back.
photo: Sean Hartnett
Kipchoge, Kitwara, Chumba just before the break
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Kipchoge All the Way...and the top four
With two miles remaining in the race, Kipchoge increased his pace and easily ran away from competition. Smiling all the way to the finish, Kipchoge ran the last 2.2 miles 20 seconds faster than Dennis Kimetto had run those miles the year before in his record-setting performance - very fast! With that push, Kipchoge finished in 2:04:11, just six seconds off his personal best from his runner-up finish at the 2013 Berlin Marathon and nearly 20 seconds ahead of the next runner. Sammy Kitwara ran strong to finish in second place in 2:04:28, while Dickson Chumba was just behind in 2:04:32. Kenenisa Bekele disappointed both his fans and himself by finishing fourth in 2:05:51 - well off the leaders.
The Rest
Often in Chicago, in particular, and some other major marathons, in general, the field goes out too quickly and many runners fail to complete the distance. While most in the field had no real chance of completing a marathon in 2:04, the runners that started in the lead pack at that pace uniformly finished the race maintaining their relative position with only Tadese Tola, as mentioned earlier, dropping out. While there was a gap between Bekele and the next runners, the others finished well enough. Bernard Koech, another favorite and a training partner to Kipchoge finished fifth in 2:08:30; one of the pacemakers, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie, continued past his pacing duties to the finish sixth in 2:08:30; Lani Rutto, a last minute entrant finished seventh in 2:10:42; and Wesley Korir, spending as much time recently in his new position as Member of Parliament in Kenya as training, finished eighth in 2:11:09.
The Americans
Chicago offers a significant "Development Bonus" ($2,500 each) to American marathoners who finish their course in times bettering the Olympic Trials Marathon qualifying standards. Due to the bonus and the fact that the fast/flat course offers one of the best opportunities for a runner to achieve the qualifying standard, the field contained a number of Americans. Bobby Curtis was the favorite to be the first American across the finish line and he planned to shoot for a 2:10 finish. Although missing that time, Curtis was happy with his two minute personal best and ninth place finish in 2:11:20. In addition to Curtis, ten other American men ran faster than the OT Qualifying time of 2:18.
photo: Sean Hartnett
The three leaders
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Summary
After a number of record-setting Chicago Marathons and sprint finishes, the 2014 race failed to provide the drama of past years. It did, however, provide a display of very good running and provided the third and fourth best times ever run on the course. The quality and depth of the male marathoners continues to improve and we look forward to continual fast marathons throughout the major marathons.
2014 Finishers
The top 10 finishers:
1. Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 2:04:11 - $100,000 + $55,000
2. Sammy Kitwara (KEN) 2:04:28 - $50,000 + $40,000
3. Dickson Chumba (KEN) 2:04:32 - $25,000 + $40,000
4. Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 2:05:51 - $15,000 + $10,000
5. Bernard Koech (KEN) 2:08:30 - $10,000
6. Ghirmay Ghebreslassie (ERI) 2:09:08
7. Lani Rutto (KEN) 2:10:42
8. Wesley Korir (KEN) 2:11:09
9. Bobby Curtis (USA) 2:11:20 - $10,000 + $2,500
10. Koji Kobayashi (JPN) 2:11:43
Other Top Americans (Trials Qualifiers)
11. Jake Riley (USA) 2:13:16 - $7,500 + $2,500
12. Gabe Proctor (USA) 2:13:45 - $5,000 + $2,500
13. Christo Landry (USA) 2:14:30 - $2,500 + $2,500
14. Tim Young (USA) 2:14:40 - $1,000 + $2,500
15. Mike Morgan (USA) 2:14:42 - $2,500
19. Craig Leon (USA) 2:16:00 - $2,500
20. Carlos Trujillo (USA) 2:16:49 - $2,500
22. Jason Witt (USA) 2:17:31 - $2,500
23. John Dewitt (USA) 2:17:38 - $2,500
24. Matthew Llano (USA) 2:17:43 - $2,500
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