Without pacemakers, Chicago Marathon wide open

The decision to drop pace-setters for Sunday's Chicago marathon may make for a slower race, but contender Wesley Korir thinks taking the focus off record times could help combat doping.

"This is one step toward curing the problem," Kenya's Korir said this week. "The issue of time, the issue of the under two-hour marathon, that is the problem."

The men's world record stands at 2hr 02min 57sec, but Korir said that mark is "super human" and the feeling that it must be achieved, or beaten, is too much pressure for young runners.

"When you have a kid just starting to race, and their mind is already thinking that to make it as a successful runner you have to run those times, you are forcing them to go overboard, to do something that is not acceptable," he said.

Rita Jeptoo, a three-time women's winner of the Boston Marathon and two-time winner in Chicago, is the biggest name in Kenyan athletics to be swept up in a doping scandal that has cast a shadow over the achievements of the east African distance running powerhouse.

Claims of irregularities in pursuing possible doping by many elite marathoners -- made by British newspaper the Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD -- have brought distance running under further scrutiny, as have allegations against Alberto Salazar, the Oregon-based coach of Britain's Olympic distance hero Mo Farah.

Sammy Kitwara, runner-up to Eluid Kipchoge in Chicago last year, believes the lack of a "rabbit" means there will be little chance for anyone to claim a $75,000 bonus for setting a course record -- even though the men's field features two runners with personal bests faster than 2:05 and three women who have run faster than 2:23.

Kitwara, who owns a personal best of 2:04.28, is hoping to continue the progression that saw him finish fourth in Chicago in 2012, third in 2013 and second last year.

Kenyan Dickson Chumba, who was third in Chicago last year in 2:04:32, is also back in search of a higher step on the podium.

On the women’s side, Kenyan Florence Kiplagat comes back to Chicago after finishing second last year in 2:25:57 behind disgraced compatriot Jeptoo.

Her strongest rivals include Ethiopians Mulu Seboka, who set a personal best of 2:21:56 in Dubai this year, and Birhane Dibaba, who won the Tokyo Marathon in February in 2:23.15.
Source: AFP