2024 Chicago Marathon Field Is Out: Saina, Bates, D’Amato, Panning Set to Chase Fast Times
By Jonathan Gault
On Thursday, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced its elite fields for its 2024 edition, which will be held on October 13. While the world’s top stars will be running in the Olympics in August, many of the Americans who missed out on the team at the Olympic Trials will be in Chicago attempting to run fast, including Betsy Saina, Emma Bates, Keira D’Amato, Zach Panning, and CJ Albertson.
Sutume Kebede of Ethiopia, who ran a world-leading 2:15:55 to win the Tokyo Marathon in March, headlines the women’s field alongside 2021/2022 Chicago champ Ruth Chepngetich and 2019 New York/2021 London champ Joyciline Jepkosgei. 2022 London champ Amos Kipruto and 2023 Berlin runner-up Vincent Ngetich, who sport identical 2:03:13 pbs, lead the men’s field, which also includes debutant Daniel Ebenyo, the 2023 Worlds 10,000 and World Half silver medalist.
Of course, the field will be missing defending men’s champion Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a car accident just four months after setting the world record of 2:00:35 in Chicago last year.
Full elite fields with four early thoughts on the races below.
2024 Chicago Marathon men’s elite field with personal bests
Amos Kipruto, KEN, 2:03:13 (Tokyo, 2022)
Vincent Ngetich, KEN, 2:03:13 (Berlin, 2023)
Dawit Wolde, ETH, 2:03:48 (Valencia, 2023)
Amdework Walelegn, ETH, 2:04:50 (Rotterdam, 2024)
John Korir, KEN, 2:05:01 (Chicago, 2022)
Huseydin Mohamed Esa, ETH, 2:05:05 (Amsterdam, 2022)
Jemal Yimer, ETH, 2:06:08 (Seoul, 2024)
Tatsuya Maruyama, JPN, 2:07:50 (Berlin, 2022)
Yuichi Yasui, JPN, 2:08:48 (Beppu, 2023)
Jorge Castelblanco, PAN, 2:09:24 (Seville, 2024)
Zach Panning, USA, 2:09:28 (Chicago, 2022)
Brian Shrader, USA, 2:09:46 (Chicago, 2023)
CJ Albertson, USA, 2:09:53 (Boston, 2024)
Tomoki Yoshioka, JPN, 2:10:03 (Beppu, 2024)
Reed Fischer, USA, 2:10:34 (Boston, 2022)
Nathan Martin, USA, 2:10:45 (Duluth, 2023)
Colin Mickow, USA, 2:11:22 (Chandler, 2020)
Kevin Salvano, USA, 2:11:26 (Chicago, 2023)
Jacob Thomson, USA, 2:11:40 (Gold Coast, 2023)
Turner Wiley, USA, 2:11:59 (Chicago, 2022)
JP Flavin, USA, 2:13:27 (Boston, 2023)
Charlie Sweeney, USA, 2:13:41 (Sacramento, 2023)
Ben Kendell, USA, 2:15:49 (Sacramento, 2022)
Phil Migas, CAN, 2:15:53 (Hamburg, 2024)
Daniel Ebenyo, KEN, Debut
Alex Maier, USA, Debut
Isai Rodriguez, USA, Debut
2024 Chicago Marathon women’s elite field with personal bests
Ruth Chepngetich, KEN, 2:14:18 (Chicago, 2022)
Sutume Kebede, ETH, 2:15:55 (Tokyo, 2024)
Joyciline Jepkosgei, KEN, 2:16:24 (London, 2024)
Degitu Azimeraw, ETH, 2:17:58 (London, 2021)
Ashete Bekere Dido, ETH, 2:17:58 (Tokyo, 2022)
Hiwot Gebrekidan, ETH, 2:17:59 (Valencia, 2023)
Irine Cheptai, KEN, 2:18:22 (Hamburg, 2024)
Keira D’Amato, USA, 2:19:12 (Houston, 2022)
Betsy Saina, USA, 2:19:17 (Tokyo, 2024)
Dorcas Tuitoek, KEN, 2:20:02 (Amsterdam, 2023)
Mary Ngugi-Cooper, KEN, 2:20:22 (London, 2022)
Sara Hall, USA, 2:20:32 (Chandler, 2020)
Emma Bates, USA, 2:22:10 (Boston, 2022)
Buze Diriba, ETH, 2:23:11 (Toronto, 2023)
Sara Vaughn, USA, 2:23:24 (Chicago, 2023)
Susanna Sullivan, USA, 2:24:27 (London, 2023)
Gabi Rooker, USA, 2:24:35 (Chicago, 2023)
Lindsay Flanagan, USA, 2:24:43 (Gold Coast, 2022)
Nell Rojas, USA, 2:24:51 (Boston, 2023)
Stacey Ndiwa, KEN, 2:25:29 (Los Angeles, 2024)
Laura Thweatt, USA, 2:25:38 (London, 2017)
Lauren Hagans, USA, 2:25:56 (Duluth, 2023)
Annie Frisbie, USA, 2:26:18 (New York, 2021)
Jackie Gaughan, USA, 2:27:08 (Berlin, 2023)
Dominique Scott, RSA, 2:27:31 (Chicago, 2023)
Diane Nukuri, USA, 2:27:50 (London, 2015)
Makena Morley, USA, 2:30:25 (Los Angeles, 2024)
Anne Marie Blaney, USA, 2:30:43 (Orlando, 2024)
Andrea Pomaranski, USA, 2:31:06 (Houston, 2023)
Amy Davis-Green, USA, 2:33:09 (Orlando, 2024)
Aubrey Frentheway, USA, Debut
1) How fast will the Americans run?
Zach Panning led until 23 miles at the Olympic Trials in February (Kevin Morris photo)
While the 2024 US Olympians will understandably be skipping this race — the Olympic marathons in Paris are just two months before Chicago — many of America’s best marathoners who didn’t make the team will be in Chicago this fall. And we could see some fast times considering Chicago’s flat, fast course and the fitness some of these athletes have flashed in the months since the Trials.
Coming out of the Trials, one of the things we wanted to see was Zach Panning take a crack at a fast time this fall. Panning logged some monster workouts in his Trials build and averaged 2:06:17 pace for a 15-mile stretch in the middle of the Trials — without a pacemaker and in the heat of Orlando. Panning’s pb is 2:09:28 from 2022 Chicago, but he is a lot fitter now than he was then. His last two marathons were both warm-weather races (2:11 at 2023 Worlds, 2:10 at the Trials); if Chicago’s weather is a bit cooler, he could take a couple minutes off his pb in October.
Don’t be surprised if CJ Albertson goes with him. Albertson was 5th at the Trials in 2:10:07, then ran a 2:09:53 pb in Boston two months later. Both of those performances suggest he could go much faster in Chicago.
It’s a similar story on the women’s side. Betsy Saina ran 21 miles of the Olympic Trials before dropping out, but showed impressive fitness and resilience to bounce back and run 2:19:17 (#3 all-time US) in Tokyo a month later. Keira D’Amato also dropped out of the Trials, but after a spring track season where she lowered her 10,000 pb to 31:05, she has switched coaches to Ed Eyestone and will do her first marathon block at altitude as she prepares for Chicago in October.
Emma Bates, who missed the Trials due to injury but ran 2:27 in Boston, and Sara Hall, who finished 5th at the Trials, are also running in Chicago.
All of these athletes are fit and healthy and the next Olympics are four years away. Now is the time to take a big swing and see if they can connect.
2) Sutume Kebede looks to send a message after Olympic snub
Kebede is the fastest marathoner in the world in 2024 thanks to her 2:15:55 pb in Tokyo yet will be watching the Olympics from home this summer. Kebede was not happy about the snub, but there’s a legitimate case for Kebede to be left off the team considering Ethiopia has many other strong marathoners and Kebede’s 2:15 was her only strong marathon result in the last two years (she was just 15th in Chicago last year in 2:26). She’ll get the opportunity to do what Kenenisa Bekele and Mary Keitany did in 2016: win a fall major after being left off the Olympic team.
Kebede’s top rivals figure to be a pair of Kenyans. Ruth Chepngetich has a strong history in Chicago, winning in 2021 and 2022 and finishing 2nd last year in 2:15:37 — though her most recent marathon did not go well (she was only 9th in 2:24 in London in April). Joyciline Jepkosgei, who was 4th in Chicago last year (2:17:23), is coming off a 2:16:24 pb for 3rd in London and should be in the mix here as well.
3) What does Daniel Ebenyo do in his debut?
Ebenyo, 28, will not be at the Olympics after falling in the Kenyan 10,000m trials in October. But his loss is Chicago’s gain as he will make his marathon debut in the Windy City.
Ebenyo has all the makings of a great marathoner. He has run pbs of 12:54 and 26:57 on the track, taking silver in the 10,000 at Worlds last year. And while his half marathon pb of 59:04 is no longer considered super fast in the era of super shoes, he has proven very hard to beat at the 13.1-mile distance. In seven career half marathons, he has finished no lower than 2nd. This is his track record since the start of 2023: 1st Istanbul (59:52), 2nd World Half (59:14), 1st New Delhi (59:27), 1st Berlin (59:30).
No man has won Chicago in his debut since Evans Rutto in 2003, but Ebenyo will have a chance to end that streak on October 13.
4) The men’s international feed is pretty shallow
In terms of seasoned marathoners, the men’s field is pretty shallow, which often happens in an Olympic year. The field only has six men entered who have broken 2:06 in their careers — contrast that to the 12 that started in Boston and London this year and the 14 that started in Tokyo — but it’s pretty comparable to what Chicago has been attracting in recent years.
| Sub-2:02 | Sub-2:03 | Sub-2:04 | Sub-2:05 | Sub-2:06 | Sub-2:07 | Sub-2:08 | |
| 2024 Chicago | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 2023 Chicago | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 2022 Chicago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| 2021 Chicago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 |
| 2019 Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
As for the women, 2024 Chicago will feature the most sub-2:20 women in its history: 9.
| Sub-2:16 | Sub-2:17 | Sub-2:18 | Sub-2:19 | Sub-2:20 | Sub-2:21 | |
| 2024 Chicago | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 12 |
| 2023 Chicago | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| 2022 Chicago | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| 2021 Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2019 Chicago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
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