Officials with the Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced several new entrants into the field this week, including a handful that have a real chance of crossing the line first next weekend.
Highlighting the new entrants in the men’s open division is Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese, whose 2:02:48 in the 2019 Berlin Marathon is the fastest personal best time of any of the runners in the field.
In more recent years, he has finished in the top-five in Tokyo, Valencia, and London, with a fourth-place finish in the 2023 Amsterdam Marathon, with a time of 2:04:43.
Only three runners in this year’s men’s field have posted faster times than that, with Kenya’s Amos Kipruto and Vincent Ngetich both posting times of 2:03:13 as personal bests.
A pair of Japanese runners will also join the field, with Kyohei Hosoya (2:06:35) and Toshiki Sadakata (2:07:05) jumping into the competition.
American runner Shadrack Kipchirchir, who won the USA Cross Country Championships’ 10,000 meter race in 2022 and competed in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, will also join the field.
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is expected to see another record-breaking year in 2024.
In the women’s wheelchair division, American Michelle Wheeler highlights the list of new entrants, with a personal best time of 1:45:45. Egypt’s Hoda Elshorbagy, who set a career best in last year’s Chicago Marathon at 1:58:38, will also be joining the field, along with an American trio of Eva Houston, Hanna Dederick and Rachel Cleaver.
In the men’s wheelchair division, Canada’s Josh Cassidy will join the field with the second-best personal best time on the board, just behind Marcel Hug’s world-record 1:17:47 performance in Oita in 2021.
Japan’s Hiroki Nishida, with a personal best time of 1:20:28, is also joining the field, as is Spain’s Jordi Madera and Japan’s Tomoki Suzuki, all of whom could compete for top spots on the medal stand.
Americans Evan Correll and Jason Robinson are also joining the field, along with Grant Pierce, who set a career-best time in last year’s marathon.
Vanessa De Souza dropped out of the field in the women’s wheelchair division,
Mary Ngugi-Cooper dropped out of the women’s open division field, as did Americans Andrea Pomaranski and Nell Rojas, along with Kenya’s Dorcas Tuitoek.
Isai Rodriguez had been set to make his major marathon debut but was forced to withdraw from the men’s open division.
You can get full breakdowns of the field on the marathon’s website and on the NBC Chicago app.
The 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will step off in Chicago’s Grant Park on Oct. 13. You can watch full coverage on NBC Chicago, Telemundo Chicago, both stations’ mobile apps and on the NBC Chicago 24/7 Streaming News channel on Roku and a host of other services.