• Chicago Marathon race slated for October 13.
• Kosgei, who has finished first or second in nine of her ten career marathons, will be up against compatriot Betsy Saina in the race.
Image: COURTESY
Fresh from setting a new leading time in the half marathon in England over the weekend, Brigid Kosgei will set her sight on the Chicago Marathon next month.
Kosgei, a two-time winner of the Honolulu Marathon, finished second in 2017 and then returned last fall, winning with the third-fastest time in Chicago's history, 2:18:35.
She continued her momentum this spring when she won the London Marathon in a personal best, 2:18:20, making her the seventh fastest woman in the history of marathon running. Her dominance in 2019 also extends to winning the Peachtree 10K and two half marathons.
Kosgei, who has finished first or second in nine of her 10 career marathons, will be up against compatriot Betsy Saina in the race.
Saina enjoyed a flash of brilliance in the marathon when she won the 2018 Paris Marathon in 2:22:56. After spending her career on the track, she experienced a rocky transition to the marathon in 2017, failing to finish both the Tokyo and New York City marathons.
However, she delivered in Paris and a few months later, she finished eighth in Frankfurt in 2:24:35. She finished 10th in Boston this spring in 2:30:32. Earlier in the year, she defended her title at the Marugame Half Marathon in a PR, 1:07:49. Saina was an 11-time NCAA All-American at Iowa State.
The field also includes Lisa Weightman of Australia and Fionnuala McCormack of Ireland.
In the men's category, former champion Dickson Chumba returns to the windy city. Chumba set his personal best of 2:04:32 in Chicago in 2014 when he finished third on a historic day that witnessed three of the top five times ever run in Chicago. He made a triumphant return in 2015 to take the crown in 2:09:25. He tried to defend his title in 2016, but he came up three seconds short, finishing second to Abel Kirui.
He lines up this fall after opening his 2019 season with a third-place finish in Tokyo in 2:08:44. Chumba will be up against Lawrence Cherono. Cherono, a two-time champion of both the Honolulu and Amsterdam marathons, destroyed course records in both Hawaii and the Netherlands. He holds a personal best of 2:04:06.
Kenneth Kipkemoi is the 22nd fastest man in history over the half marathon with a personal best of 59:01. In just his second marathon last fall, he finished fourth in Chicago in 2:05:57 (and just missed breaking his PR).
He hung with Mo Farah, Mosinet Geremew and Suguru Osako until almost the 40-kilometre mark. He finished on the podium in third place this spring at the Boston Marathon in 2:08:07. Kipkemoi enjoyed a successful marathon debut in 2018, running 2:05:44 to win the Rotterdam Marathon.
The Kenyan trio will be up against Ethiopian duo Getaneh Molla and Herpasa Negasa.