Chicago Marathon Gets Boost From America's Hall
CHICAGO (CBS) U.S. Olympian Ryan Hall will compete in the 34th annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon this year.
Hall finished 10th at the 2008 Olympic Marathon in Beijing and is coming off a personal best time of 2:04:58 at the Boston Marathon in April.
"I am excited to line up at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon at full strength, which I unfortunately wasn't able to do last year," Hall said in a statement. "Every time I race against a world-class field I learn more about myself and continue to evolve as an athlete. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is an important opportunity to work on some new things in my training and develop tools that will help me compete for an Olympic medal.
Hall has the talent to break the American record of 2:05:38 held by Khalid Khannouchi, as well as the course record of 2:05:41 held by Kenya's Sammy Wanjiru. His Boston Marathon time is not recognized as an American record because the course has an elevation drop of greater than one meter per kilometer.
Hall as never competed in the Chicago Marthon after withdrawing from last year's event because of fatigue. He has pledged to donate all his prize money to his nonprofit organization, The Hall Steps Foundation, which supports anti-poverty efforts in Kenya. He will do so in honor of his friend and two-time Bank of America Chicago Marathon champion Wanjiru, who passed away this year.
"One of the reasons I decided to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon is the event's continued support of important charitable causes," Hall said.
The 34th annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon will take place Oct. 9 this year.
