10 things you need to know about the marathon

With the Bank of America Chicago Marathon getting under way on 10-10-10, here are 10 things you should know about the world's largest running event.

1. The men's field: To say Sunday's field is stacked is an understatement. Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski has assembled perhaps the fastest field in the 33-year history of the race. Defending Chicago Marathon champion Sammy Wanjiru, who ran a Chicago course record of 2:05:41 last year, headlines the field. He has his work cut out for him.

The Kenyan, whose personal record (2:05:10, set in London in 2009) is the fastest in the field, will face off against an impressive group, including two runners fresh off major victories this year – London Marathon champion Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia and Boston Marathon champion Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot of Kenya.

Pinkowski calls Cheruiyot's efforts in March at the challenging hilly course in Boston “one of the greatest marathons ever run in North America or maybe the greatest on that course. Cheruiyot's 2:05:52 set a Boston course record, breaking the previous record by 82 seconds.

This also is the first time the reigning Chicago, Boston and London Marathon champions will compete head to head in the same race.

Pinkowski says other runners to watch include Ethiopian Feyisa Lilesa, a 20-year-old who ran a near world-record pace through 35 kilometers at the Rotterdam Marathon in April before finishing fourth in 2:05:23.

2. The women's field: The top two finishers of last year return to do battle defending champion Liliya Shobukhova of Russia and runner-up Irina Mikitensko of Germany. Shobukhova used her impressive track credentials down the stretch to finish 35 seconds ahead of Mikitenko last year. Mikitensko's race strategy this time around will likely be different against Shobukhoa, who won the London Marathon in strong fashion in April.

“Irina learned a big lesson last year, Pinkowski said. “She realized that if she is going to race Liliya the last TWO miles, she will be running for second place. She realized that if she wants to win, she will need to take the race to her.

“Lilia is the No. 1 marathon runner in my opinion. She had a great run in Chicago last year and made it look easy She replicated that same effort in London against a very good field.

Others who will challenge are two-time Olympian and 2008 Chicago Marathon champion Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia. She finished third at last year's race. Naoko Sakamoto of Japan is making a nice comeback too.

3. American contenders: You probably won't see any American runners matching the favorites stride for stride for the top prize, but they will certainly be competitive. On the men's side, Nick Arciniaga (personal record: 2:11:46), Jason Hartmann (2:12:09) and James Carney (2:16:54) make up a core nucleus of American runners who have strong time goals.

On the women's side, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet is the fastest American female runner with a 2:26:22. She is looking for a big performance in her first time debut Chicago Marathon. Another U.S. runner Pinkowski is impressed with is Desiree Davila (2:27:53). St. Charles native Tera Moody will return to run again too.

4. Show me the money: The men's and women's winners will each take home $75,000. In addition, there are time bonuses. If anyone breaks the course record 2:05:41 for the men and 2:17:18 for women they will earn an extra $100,000.

5. Charity benefactors: Running for charity continues to rise. In 2010, there will be 10,059 runners running for 150 charities. Last year, 8,768 charity runners raised nearly $10.2 million for 123 charities. Pinkowski is confident that amount for local, national and global causes will be exceeded in a big way this year.

6. Economic impact: The Chicago Marathon brings a lot to the local economy. The most recent report by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Regional Economics Applications Laboratory, which has studied the race impact for several years, found that the Marathon will contribute nearly $150 million to the local economy.

7. Weather warning: AccuWeather.com is forecasting a high of 78 degrees on Sunday, so it could be warm for runners who are out long on the course. Last year, it was cool with the temperature for the start of the race at 33 degrees. In 2007, organizers stopped the race about four hours into it because of high heat (89 degrees) and humidity.

8. World Marathon Majors: The Chicago Marathon will likely be the deciding event in the 2009-2010 World Marathon Majors series for both men and women. Winners of major marathons that are part of the series earn 25 points.

On the men's side, Wanjiru and Kebede are tied with 50 points apiece. For the women, Shobukhova leads in points, 60-40, over Mikitenko. Male and female champions of the WMM series win a cool $500,000 apiece.

9. Rule the globe: The last time a world record was set in Chicago was Paula Radcliffe's 2:17:18 in 2002.

10. A marketer's dream: Working with its ad agency BBDO New York, the Chicago Marathon came up with a marketing campaign entitled “10-10-10: The Date to Motivate, which features 10 inspiriational Chicago athletes. Their images and motivations for running blanket the city, including a mural off the Kennedy Expressway. One of those runners is Will Beiersdorf of Arlington Heights who is running for the group he founded, Team Salute, to raise money for military families. Visit www.saluteinc.com to donate.