Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Desiree Davila will run Chicago Marathon

Deep fields and fast times on tap for Bank of America Chicago Marathon

INDIANAPOLIS - Reigning Olympic Marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru of Kenya and Liliya Shobukhova of Russia will return to Chicago to defend their Bank of America Chicago Marathon title(s) Sunday.

The 33rd edition of The Bank of America Chicago Marathon will see the deepest field in race history with five men who have run faster than 2 hours, 6 minutes for the marathon distance. In addition to the defending champion, the women's field will feature Irina Mikitenko of Germany. With a personal best of 2:19:19, Mikitenko is the fourth fastest woman ever in the marathon.

Challenging Wanjiru for the overall title will be London Marathon champion Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia and Boston Marathon champion Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot of Kenya and 2009 Boston Marathon champion Deriba Merga of Ethiopia.

A strong contingent of U.S. marathoners will also be on the line in Chicago this Sunday. Among the favorites in the women's field will be Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.), who posted the fastest marathon time in 2010 for a U.S. woman, with a 2:26:22 at the Rotterdam Marathon in April. Along with Boulet, Desiree Davila, a 2001 graduate of Hilltop High School (Chula Vista, Calif), (Rochester Hills, Mich.) will be looking to improve on her personal best of 2:27:53, set last year at the IAAF World Championships Marathon in Berlin, Germany.

Also in the women's field will be 1984 Olympic Marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson (Freeport, Maine). Samuelson will compete in Chicago to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her 1985 Chicago Marathon victory where she won in an American record time of 2:21:21, a time that stood until 2003.

Samuelson is also hoping to join several U.S. women in the quest to run under the U.S. Olympic Trials standard of 2:46:00, qualifying her to compete in a record fifth U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. She has previously competed in the 1984, 1996, 2000 and 2008 Olympic Trials.

Though Ryan Hall (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) withdrew from the race last week, a number of U.S. men will look to make a name for themselves in Chicago. Nick Arciniaga (Flagstaff, Ariz.), the fourth-place finisher at the Rock ‘n' Roll San Diego Marathon, is the fastest U.S. man in the field with a 2:11:46. Joining Arciniaga will be 2009 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon champion Jason Hartmann (Boulder, Colo.) with a best of 2:12:09 and 2010 USA Men's 10 Mile Champion Fasil Bizuneh (Flagstaff, Ariz.).

In a continuing effort to support the development of American athletes in the marathon, the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will once again offer the following American Development Time Bonuses:

Men: $2,500 for sub 2:19:00; $1,000 for sub 2:21:00
Women: $2,500 for sub 2:39:00; $1,000 for sub 2:46:00

Webcast information

NBCChicago.com will stream the entire Bank of America Chicago Marathon online, complete with on-air commentary and mile-by-mile analysis. On race day, Oct. 10, go to NBCChicago.com.

In its 33rd year and a member of the World Marathon Majors, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon annually attracts 45,000 participants, including a world class elite field and a world class elite wheelchair field, and 1.7 million spectators. The 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will start and finish in Chicago's Grant Park beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 10.

For more information on the Bank of America Chicago Marathon visit www.chicagomarathon.com.






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