Thousands of runners and running fans will converge on Chicago for the 2015 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct. 11. Whether you're planning to run the race, cheer on the sidelines or watch from home, here are five things to know ahead of the big day:
Race Fans Can Expect a Heated Competition This Year
Kenya’s Sammy Kitwara has a chance of winning the marathon, having inched himself closer to the top over the past three years: in 2012, he came in fourth place; in 2013, he came in third place; in 2012, he came in second place, according to The Chicago Tribune. Dickson Chumba of Kenya, who came in third place last year, has a chance of winning as well.
More American Elite Runners Are Featured in Women's Field
Race fans looking for American names in the field should take notice of the women's elite field. Deena Kastor will attempt to set the women’s American Masters record, having already set the world Masters record in the half marathon last year, according to Sports Illustrated. Olympian Blake Russell will compete in what will be her second marathon of 2015, having already won the U.S. Marathon Championships in February at the 2015 L.A. Marathon. Elite American runners Lindsey Scherf, Tera Moody Sarah Crouch, and Sara Hall will also compete. They all face tough competition from marathon favorite Florence Kiplagat who returns to Chicago after finishing second last year.
The Race No Longer Has Pace-Setters
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The Chicago Marathon previously announced it will no longer use pace-setters in the race, starting with the Oct. 11 competition. As indicated by their name, pace-setters are runners paid by race organizers to help the athletes keep an ideal pace during the beginning of the competition. This year will be the first time the so-called "rabbits" will not be used since Carey Pinkowski, the race's director, took his role in 1990. “We relied too much on the pace up front,” Pinkowski told Outside magazine in August. “We got away from the chemistry of the competition.”
The Fastest Runners in the Marathon Are Really Fast
Runners in the Chicago Marathon finish the 26.2-mile event in just over two hours. To give you an idea of how fast that is, imagine putting a treadmill on 13 mph and running that fast for two hours. To complete a marathon is not very common in America. Only .5 percent of the U.S. population has run a marathon, according to Runner's World.
Anything Can Happen at the Marathon -- Including World Records and Babies
The Chicago Marathon has been unpredictable. Runners in the past have managed to break world records at the race. The first time was in 1984 when Welsh runner Steve Jones completed the marathon with a time of 2:08:05. A runner also managed to bring another life into the world shortly after the race. Amber Miller ran the Chicago Marathon in 2011 while 39 weeks pregnant. As she was nearing the end of the race, she began to feel contractions. She finished the race and hours later, her baby girl, June, was born.
