News of Note from the 40th Bank of America Chicago Marathon

By Adam Kopet

As has already been reported, Galen Rupp and Tirunesh Dibaba won the men's and women's races at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday in 2:09:20 and 2:18:31, respectively (here and here).  Additionally, Jordan Hasay became the second fastest American ever with her 2:20:57 third place finish.

However, Rupp and Hasay were not the only Nike Oregon Project athletes running in Chicago. Matthew Centrowitz, the 2016 Olympic 1,500-meter champion, ran about 17 miles of the race as a training run. He averaged close to six-minute miles and passed 25 kilometers in 1:33:31.

Among the many former Oregon track and field athletes competing in Chicago, Brianne Theisen-Eaton made her marathon debut. The now retired world class heptathlete tackled the marathon for Team World Vision. She finished in 3:55:08. Theisen-Eaton is looking forward to returning to sprint-based fitness training now.

The Chicago Marathon attracted the attention of a big name in a completely different endurance style sport. Dale Earnhardt Jr., of Nascar fame, tweeted Sunday morning that he was watching the Chicago Marathon to watch Noah Droddy compete in his debut marathon.

Droddy made a name for himself at last year's Olympic Trials for his appearance in the 10,000 meters. Droddy finished 19th in 2:16:26.

Earnhardt Jr. went on to finish 12th in his own race on Sunday, the Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.