Chicago Marathon formcharts

Bank of America Chicago Marathon, October 9

The late Sammy Wanjiru won the men's race last year in 2:06:24 and a strong Kenyan outfit suggests this title could stay with the Rift Valley nation. Moses Mosop made a sensational debut in Boston and the former track star is the arguable pre-race favourite although Bernard Kipyego and former winner Evans Cheruiyot are both highly favoured. American hopes lie with Ryan Hall, who must be full of confidence after his 2:04:58 performance in Boston.

Meanwhile, the women's race offers a contrasting complexion as the Russians, who can compete with the best of the East Africans, could rule dominant. First and second in the London Marathon last year, Liliya Shobukhova and Inga Abitova are among the leading performers along with last year's third placer Mariya Konovalova.
 

Men's formchart

		PB
1	Moses Mosop	2:03:06	Mosop took advantage of the favourable conditions on the downhill Boston course to set the world's second fastest time ever of 2:03:06 on his debut but this performance by no means guarantees Olympic selection for the Kenyan. Mosop is an accomplished track runner and while he opted out of the World Championships, he set a world-best at 30,000m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. Mosop must surely take inspiration from his wife Florence Kiplagat, who claimed victory in the Berlin Marathon last week in a sub-2:20 clocking.
2	Ryan Hall	2:04:58	The American claimed many plaudits when he finished fourth in Boston in 2:04:58 and while this performance hasn't been ratified as a US record, his run in Boston proves he is capable of competing with the leading East Africans. His racing form in the build-up hasn't been particularly convincing but pre-marathon performances can often be discounted as immaterial and Hall wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders in the run-in to Boston.
3	Bernard Kipyego	2:07:01	Kipyego is yet to post a very fast time although he is a shrewd racer. The former world cross-country medallist was second in the Paris Marathon this spring and he almost broke the 60-minute barrier for the half-marathon in Lille last month. Look for him to make the podium this weekend.
4	Marilson dos Santos	2:06:34	The former New York Marathon champion's 2:06:34 performance from London was almost forgotten behind Emmanuel Mutai's course record and he's continued in a rich seam of form which can be illustrated by a recent 27:59 PB for 10km. Dos Santos usually competes in New York but the Brazilian has some knowledge of this course, having finished sixth in 2004.
5	Bekana Daba	2:07:04	Daba won Houston in a PB in January although perhaps he still had the effects of this marathon in his legs in Boston where he could only manage ninth in an inferior time.
6	Evans Cheruiyot	2:06:25	Cheruiyot is a former champion although the Kenyan has been quiet since a 2:06:25 performance in 2008. After missing 2010 though, Cheruiyot returned with a runner-up finish in the Dubai Marathon in 2:08:17.

Unknown factor – Bazu Worku

The Ethiopian is the third fastest in the field with a PB of 2:05:25. As an 18-year-old, he opened his marathon account with a world junior record of 2:06:15 in Paris in 2009 which was followed up with his PB performance from Berlin last year although his upward momentum has been somewhat halted. Worku had to withdraw from the London Marathon with food poisoning and he dropped out of the World Championships too. Given this race was just four weeks ago, is attempting another marathon so soon a bit ambitious? Or was he just keeping his powder dry once he fell out of medal contention in Daegu?

Fastest times in Chicago

1	Sammy Wanjiru	2:05:41	2009
2	Khalid Khannouchi	2:05:42	1999
3	Evans Rutto	2:05:50	2003
4	Khannouchi	2:05:56	2002
5	Abderrahim Goumri	2:06:04	2009
6	Vincent Kipruto	2:06:08	2009
7	Moses Tanui	2:06:16	1999
8	Daniel Njenga	2:06:16	2002
9	Toshinari Takaoka	2:06:16	2002
10	Evans Rutto	2:06:16	2004

Women's formchart

		PB
1	Liliya Shobukhova	2:20:15	The Russian was the world's leading marathon-runner in 2010 although she has been usurped by Mary Keitany, who posted a sub-2:20 performance in London. However, Shobukhova still came away with an improvement of her Russian record as she finished second in what was the deepest ever commercial marathon in terms of quality. Shobukhova will be aiming for her third successive title in the Windy City and while her form is difficult to judge due to a lack of competitive outings, the Russian always races sparingly in the build-up to big-city marathons. Shobukhova is a smart tactician and she will be confident in a scenario of race-day scenarios. She's the fastest athlete in the field on PBs and the 33-year-old, who's run 4:03.78 for 1500m and is a former world indoor 3000m record-holder, showed her nous in a tactical race in 2009.
2	Atsede Bayisa	2:22:04	Bayisa must be the most prolific of elite marathon-runners and the 24-year-old will be contesting her 17th marathon of her career and her fourth of 2011. The Ethiopian ran a bold race last year and she was on course for a sub-2:20 performance until the heat took its toll and she was reeled in by Shobukhova in the final 10km. It's difficult to expect Bayisa to be in this form given she competed at the World Championships only four weeks ago.
3	Mariya Konovalova	2:23:50	Konovalova, whose international career started in the mid-1990s, got to grips with the distance when she finished third on this course last year in a substantial PB although she faded to a slightly disappointing tenth in London in 2:25:18 after going with the sub-2:20 pace in the opening stages. The veteran looks on course for an improvement on her lifetime best as she set a half-marathon PB of 70:30 last month which was 32 seconds faster than her performance on the same course last year.
4	Askale Tafa	2:21:31	Tafa, who is easy to recognise with her unusual running gait, finished shy of the top ten last year although she returned to form with a 2:25:24 performance in London this year.
5	Christelle Daunay	2:24:22	The consistent Frenchwoman hasn't competed in a marathon this year but Daunay has showed good form at the shorter distances to suggest she might be able to challenge her French record which was set in the Paris Marathon last year. The 36-year-old has set PBs at 3000m, 10,000m and 10km and has raced well at the half-marathon too.
6	Wei Yanan	2:23:12	Wei Yanan is another enthusiastic marathoner and this will be her 31st marathon, as well as her fourth in seven months. While she hasn't raced in the high profile events, the Chinese has showed good consistency with runner-up performances in the Seoul Marathon at the World Military Games.

Unknown factor – Kayoko Fukushi

Fukushi set out at an ambitious pace on her marathon debut in Osaka in 2008 although the Japanese, who has often been thought of as a good prospect for the distance, did not gauge the distance well. Fukushi was operating at 2:20-pace in the opening stages before she was caught at the 33km mark by Mara Yamauchi who went on to win the race. Fukushi, meanwhile, hit the wall and crossed, or crawled, over the line in 19^th place in 2:40:54. Chicago will be her first marathon since her tough baptism on her debut and this race should prove if the Japanese is made out for the marathon. Despite a sub-31 10,000m, Fukushi chose to miss the World Championships and this shows her preparations have been gauged solely with this race in mind.

Fastest times in Chicago

1	Paula Radcliffe	2:17:18	2002
2	Catherine Ndereba	2:18:47	2001
3	Ndereba	2:19:26	2002
4	Liliya Shobukhova	2:20:25	2010
5	Berhane Adere	2:20:42	2006
6	Galina Bogomolova	2:20:47	2006
7	Joan Benoit	2:21:21	1985
8	Yoko Shibui	2:21:22	2002
9	Deena Kastor	2:21:25	2005
10	Constantina Dita	2:21:30	2005