FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Berhane Adere and Daniel Njenga Return to Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Complete Start List Announced for Oct. 12 Race
CHICAGO (October 2, 2008) - Bank of America today announced two-time
women's champion Berhane Adere (ETH) will attempt a first-ever three-peat
at the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, while six-time top-three
Chicago finisher Daniel Njenga (KEN) looks for his first win in the Windy
City. The additions of Adere and Njenga complete the elite field for the
Oct. 12 race.
Adere has thrilled Chicago fans the last two years winning back-to-back
championships in the final stretches, most recently sprinting past an
unaware Adriana Pirtea (ROU) in the final meters of the 2007 race. In 2006,
Adere and Galina Bogomolova (RUS) trailed Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROU)
who led the field at record pace through the first 16 miles of the
26.2-mile course. Catching the Romanian in the 22nd mile, Adere and
Bogomolova battled shoulder to shoulder until the Ethiopian edged into the
lead and broke the tape only five seconds in front of runner-up Bogomolova.
Adding drama to the mix, Adere will face off against both Pirtea and
Tomescu-Dita in the 31st running of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
Tomescu-Dita arrives hot off an Olympic gold medal win in the women's
marathon in Beijing while her fellow Romanian Pirtea shaved five minutes
off her marathon debut in Chicago last fall with a 2:28:52 in London in
April.
Njenga is Chicago's very own heartbreak kid, finishing second or third in
each of his previous six consecutive Chicago appearances, including a
third-place showing behind the photo finish of Patrick Ivuti (KEN) and
Jaouad Gharib (MAR). Never losing to the same competitor twice, Njenga has
placed behind Chicago champoins Ivuti, Robert K. Cheruyiot, Felix Limo,
Evans Rutto and Khalid Khannouchi, virtually a who's who of the world's
best marathon runners. Njenga is one of six men in the field who have
posted personal bests below 2:07:00.
Today's announcement completes the field for the 2008 Bank of America
Chicago Marathon. A complete start list follows.
2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon Elite Field
Name Citizenship Personal Record
Women
Berhane Adere ETH 2:20:42
Bezunesh Bekele ETH 2:23:09
Alevtina Biktimirova RUS 2:25:12
Desiree Davila USA 2:37:50
Colleen De Reuck USA 2:26:35
Zoila Gomez USA 2:33:53
Lidiya Grigoryeva RUS 2:25:10
Kate O'Neill USA 2:36:15
Adriana Pirtea ROU 2:28:52
Kiyoko Shimahara JPN 2:26:14
Worknesh Tola ETH 2:25:37
Constantina Tomescu-Dita ROU 2:21:30
Men
Moses Arusei KEN 2:06:50
Christopher Cheboiboch KEN 2:08:17
Timothy Cherigat KEN 2:09:34
Evans Cheruiyot KEN 2:09:16
Joseph Chirlee KEN 2:12:10
Arata Fujiwara JPN 2:08:40
James Getanda KEN 2:11:50
Salim Kipsang KEN 2:07:29
William Kipsang KEN 2:05:49
Richard Limo KEN 2:06:45
David Mandago KEN 2:07:23
Emmanuel Mutai KEN 2:06:15
Daniel Njenga KEN 2:06:16
Michael Reneau USA 2:17:46
Todd Snyder USA 2:21:00
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