Much of the focus of American marathon fans shifted away from Chicago after Ryan Hall announced his withdrawal from the race, which is a shame considering the incredible field race organizers have put together in the Windy City.  Here is the elite men’s field courtesy of Letsrun.com:

Name – Personal Best/Best Time Since 2009 – Age – 2010 Accomplishment

Samuel Wanjiru 2:05:10/2:05:10 –  23 years old – DNF London - (2008 Olympic champ)
Vincent Kipruto 2:05:13/2:05:13 - 23 years old – 3rd Rotterdam
Tsegaye Kebede 2:05:18/2:05:18 – 23 years old – London champ
Feyisa Lilesa 2:05:23/2:05:23 – 20 years old – 1st Xiamen (2:08:47), 4th Rotterdam (2:05:23)
Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot 2:05:52/2:05:52 – 22 years old – 2010 Boston Champ
Deriba Merga 2:06:38/2:07:52 - 27 years old – 3rd Boston – (2009 Boston champ)

Here are also the elite Americans entered in the field:

Name – Personal Best/Best Time Since 2009 – Age – 2010 Accomplishment

Nick Arciniaga 2:11:48/2:11:48 – 27 years old – 3rd in Rock ‘n Roll San Diego
Jason Hartmann 2:12:09/2:12:09 – 29 years old – 28:25 for 10,000 on the track this year
Justin Young 2:13:52/2:16:54 – 31 years old – 16th in Vienna (2:16:54)
Chad Johnson 2:15:03/2:17:41 – 34 years old - 19th in Boston (2:17:41)
Mike Morgan 2:15:11/2:15:27 – 30 years old – 62:56 for half marathon this year
Luke Humphrey 2:15:22/2:18:48 – 29 years old – 66:01 half this year
Patrick Rizzo 2:15:48/2:1:48 – 27 years old – 65:04 half this year
Mike Sayenko 2:16:38/2:16:38 – 26 years old – 13:53 5,000 this year
Fasil Bizuneh 2:16:47/no marathons -  30 years old – US 10-Mile champ in August in 47:29 (27:50 10,000 during his career)
James Carney 2:15:50/2:15:50 – 32 years old – 13th in Rotterdam (2:15:50) – 27:43 during his career

For a more in depth breakdown of each of the elite runners, Letsrun always does excellent race previews that can be found here.

I’ll make my picks on a couple of principles.