Ethiopian Review

BANK OF AMERICA MARATHON

CHICAGO IL - Bank of America today announced two-time women's champion Berhane Adere (ETH) will attempt a first-ever three-peat at the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, while six-time top-three Chicago finisher Daniel Njenga (KEN) looks for his first win in the Windy City. The additions of Adere and Njenga complete the elite field for the Oct. 12 race.

Ethiopia's Berhane Adere en route to her national
record 2:20:42 in Chicago [Photo: Victah Sailer]

Adere has thrilled Chicago fans the last two years winning back-to-back championships in the final stretches, most recently sprinting past an unaware Adriana Pirtea (ROU) in the final meters of the 2007 race. In 2006, Adere and Galina Bogomolova (RUS) trailed Constantina Tomescu-Dita (ROU) who led the field at record pace through the first 16 miles of the 26.2-mile course. Catching the Romanian in the 22nd mile, Adere and Bogomolova battled shoulder to shoulder until the Ethiopian edged into the lead and broke the tape only five seconds in front of runner-up Bogomolova.

Adding drama to the mix, Adere will face off against both Pirtea and Tomescu-Dita in the 31st running of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Tomescu-Dita arrives hot off an Olympic gold medal win in the women's marathon in Beijing while her fellow Romanian Pirtea shaved five minutes off her marathon debut in Chicago last fall with a 2:28:52 in London in April.

Njenga is Chicago's very own heartbreak kid, finishing second or third in each of his previous six consecutive Chicago appearances, including a third-place showing behind the photo finish of Patrick Ivuti (KEN) and Jaouad Gharib (MAR). Never losing to the same competitor twice, Njenga has placed behind Chicago champoins Ivuti, Robert K. Cheruyiot, Felix Limo, Evans Rutto and Khalid Khannouchi, virtually a who's who of the world's best marathon runners. Njenga is one of six men in the field who have posted personal bests below 2:07:00.

The announcement completes the field for the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. A complete start list follows.

2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon Elite Field
Name Citizenship Personal Record

Women
Berhane Adere ETH 2:20:42
Bezunesh Bekele ETH 2:23:09
Alevtina Biktimirova RUS 2:25:12
Desiree Davila USA 2:37:50
Colleen De Reuck USA 2:26:35
Zoila Gomez USA 2:33:53
Lidiya Grigoryeva RUS 2:25:10
Kate O'Neill USA 2:36:15
Adriana Pirtea ROU 2:28:52
Kiyoko Shimahara JPN 2:26:14
Worknesh Tola ETH 2:25:37
Constantina Tomescu-Dita ROU 2:21:30

Men
Moses Arusei KEN 2:06:50
Christopher Cheboiboch KEN 2:08:17
Timothy Cherigat KEN 2:09:34
Evans Cheruiyot KEN 2:09:16
Joseph Chirlee KEN 2:12:10
Arata Fujiwara JPN 2:08:40
James Getanda KEN 2:11:50
Salim Kipsang KEN 2:07:29
William Kipsang KEN 2:05:49
Richard Limo KEN 2:06:45
David Mandago KEN 2:07:23
Emmanuel Mutai KEN 2:06:15
Daniel Njenga KEN 2:06:16
Michael Reneau USA 2:17:46
Todd Snyder USA 2:21:00

Bank of America Chicago Marathon
The 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will start and finish in Chicago's Grant Park beginning with the wheelchair race at 7:50 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12. Registration opened to the public on Feb. 1 and closed on April 23 when the participant capacity of 45,000 was reached. In advance of the race, a two-day Health & Fitness Expo will be held at McCormick Place on Friday, Oct. 10 and Saturday, Oct. 11. In its 31st year, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon annually attracts 45,000 runners, 1.5 million spectators and 125,000 Expo visitors and generates more than $10 million for charities. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is one of the five races that comprise the World Marathon Majors. More information on the race and how to get involved is available at chicagomarathon.com.

Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, more than 18,500 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 25 million active users. Bank of America offers industry leading support to more than 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
www.bankofamerica.com