Mo Farah to run Chicago Marathon
Britain's Mo Farah is to race the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, organisers have announced.
The event on October 7 will see the 10-time global track gold medallist compete over 26.2 miles for the third time after twice running the Virgin Money London Marathon.
The 35-year-old will line up alongside defending champion Galen Rupp, his former training partner.
"Mo and Galen are two of the greatest distance runners of all time," said executive race director Carey Pinkowski. "They come to Chicago following in the footsteps of incredible runners like Khalid Khannouchi, Sammy Wanjiru, Moses Tanui, Paul Tergat, Steve Jones and more.
"These two runners have competed at the highest level of competition and I’m confident they will come prepared for what’s shaping up to be an epic showdown."
Farah will be aiming to follow in the footsteps of past British winners of the event - Steve Jones, Eamonn Martin, Paul Evans, Paul Davies-Hale, Marian Sutton and Paula Radcliffe.
After clocking 2:08:21 on his marathon debut in London in 2014, Farah returned to break Steve Jones’ British record with a time of 2:06:21 to finish third at this year's event.
Rupp's marathon best is 2:06:07 clocked in Prague last month.
Organisers also announced that this year's Chicago Marathon will reintroduce pacemakers into the elite competition after breaking from the tradition for the past few years.
"The championship style of racing that spectators enjoy will continue as the race enters its final miles," Pinkowski said. "The epic 2010 duel between the late Wanjiru and Tsegaye Kebede – arguably one of the greatest finishes in marathon history – underscores the importance of the tactics that still exist and flourish in paced races.
"We listened to the athletes and they want to come to Chicago because of our tradition of fast times and our legacy as a world record course," Pinkowski added. "If athletes want to run in races without pacers, there are several opportunities for them to do so."
