Cheruiyot, Adere Poised To Lead Chicago Marathon

Defending champions Robert K. Cheruiyot (KEN) and Berhane Adere (ETH) will lead the field of elite athletes at The 30th Anniversary LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 7. Cheruiyot won the men's 2006 title in 2:07:35 while Adere place first among the women in 2:20:42.

"It is a tremendous honor to have both of our defending champions return to the streets of Chicago," said Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski. "Both Robert and Berhane are extremely talented athletes and will be the ones everyone is looking to beat on Sunday. They will be challenged by the likes of Evans Rutto, Felix Limo and Benita Johnson so they will have to perform in order to keep their titles. All of them combined makes for a great day of road racing."

Cheruiyot arrives to Chicago after back-to-back-to-back championships at the Boston Marathon (2006 and 2007) and 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. He is currently poised atop the World Marathon Majors men's leaderboard with 75 points, a lock for the inaugural championship. Regardless of his place finish in Chicago this weekend, Cheruiyot will become the first series champion following the ING New York City Marathon in November.

Adere's 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon championship set a new Ethiopian national record. Although her career spans a decade, Adere spent the majority of that time on the track, making her marathon debut in Rotterdam in 2001. Since then, she has twice held the Ethiopian national record and earlier this year, she won the Fortis Rotterdam Half Marathon in 1:11:11 as part of her preparation for Chicago.

The complete list of athletes set to compete as of today is as follows:

MEN AT CHICAGO MARATHON

Name Country Personal Record
Christopher Cheboiboch KEN 2:07:18
William Chebon KEN Debut
Robert K. Cheruiyot KEN 2:07:14
Jaouad Gharib MAR 2:07:02
Patrick Ivuti KEN 2:07:46
James Koskei KEN 2:14:02
Bong-ju Lee KOR 2:07:20
Felix Limo KEN 2:06:14
Benjamin Maiyo KEN 2:07:09
Jimmy Muindi KEN 2:07:50
Charles Munyeki KEN Debut
Daniel Njenga KEN 2:06:16
Evans Rutto KEN 2:05:50
Daniel Yego KEN 2:08:16
John Yuda KEN 2:10:13

WOMEN AT CHICAGO MARATHON

Name Country Personal Record
Berhane Adere ETH 2:20:42
Kathy Butler GBR 2:28:29
Teyba Erkesso ETH Debut
Alvetina Ivanova RUS 2:27:48
Benita Johnson AUS 2:22:36
Nuta Olaru ROU 2:24:33
Kate O'Neill USA Debut
Adriana Pirtea ROU Debut
Jess Ruthe NZL Debut
Linda Somers Smith USA 2:30:06
Liz Yelling GBR 2:30:44

Source: Marathonguide.com news release

For more information on athletes and the race, visit chicagomarathon.com