What a weekend it was in Chicago. The Chicago Marathon showcased some of the world's best marathon talent and again showed why it's one of the very best in the world. Here are some of my thoughts...

Kenya Reigns Supreme

The amount of marathon talent coming out of Kenya is ridiculous. After Wilson Kipsang's new world record in Berlin, fellow countrymen Dennis Kimetto and Emannuel Mutai ran the #4 and #5 all-time marks over the distance. Kimetto put his stamp on Chicago Marathon history with his dominating 2:03:45 finish, while Mutai ran the fastest non-winning mark in history with his 2:03:52 effort. Both performances easily eclipsed the prior course record of 2:04:38 set by Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede last year. Kimetto taking almost a minute off the course record is impressive, but the fact that it's Kebede's record is even more impressive, as the Ethiopian goes for the World Marathon Majors win in NYC in three weeks at the NYC Marathon.

Okay, so the men's race was dominated by Kenyans, but so was the women's race. Rita Jeptoo DOMINATED, breaking 2:20 with her 2:19:57 performance, winning over fellow Kenyan Jemima Sumgong Jelegat by 51 seconds. 

The Americans

Dathan Ritzenhein was fifth, which is amazing, but was disappointed, as he ran well off his hoped-for finishing mark and ran nearly three minutes behind fourth place. Ritz put himself out there, but the early pace and muscle cramps wore him down for a much slower second half of the race. While Ritz is far from pleased, as a fan, I am very happy an American finished top five and broke 2:10.

Meanwhile, Matt Tegenkamp debuted in a respectable 2:12:28. I know he was shooting for a sub-2:10, but the man proved himself a capable marathoner and a tenth place finish in a stacked Chicago Marathon is legit. Teg's shift to the roads is the first of what I believe to be many track veterans testing out the marathon distance prior to 2016, so exciting times lie ahead for American debuts. 

Before I forget, Ritzenhein's mark ranks him US#1 in 2013, while Teg ranks US#3, with Jason Hartmann in the middle with his 2:12:12 Boston mark. I for one will be cheering Hartmann on loudly from behind my computer screen on ING NYC Marathon weekend. The dude is a beast and I hope he continues to come up big in WMM races and line himself up to be one of the key challengers heading into the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials. Yes...I am thinking that far ahead.

Clara Santucci and Melissa White came up big with their 2:31:39 ninth and 2:32:37 tenth place performances. These marks rank them US#5 and US#6 in 2013. I hope Santucci travels to London in the spring and puts herself on another fast course, as I'd love to see another American woman dip under 2:30. The veteran White impressed me, too. She's so tenacious and I wish more top-level women would join the Hansons-Brooks team. 

I am not done yet with the Americans...Craig Leon finished 14th after his top ten finish at Boston, setting a new PR in Chicago with his 2:13:52 effort.

Even better, former BYU All-American Jared Ward, who's only 25, debuted in 2:16:17. I, for one, would love to see every college XC/5k/10k All-American take a stab at the marathon distance immediately after graduating college (unless they sign a big-time shoe contract and are a threat for top five in any event on the track). There is way too much talent not being encouraged to run marathons at 22, 23, 24 and 25 years old. Come on! Dear 'B' level fall marathon race directors, please improve your recruiting and nab 15-20 "future" star marathoners coming out of college and stack them in the distance next fall. Hmm...it could be time for an editorial.

Japan v. USA

On the men's side of things in Chicago, Americans placed 5, 10, 14, 16, 17, while the top five Japanese runners placed 7, 9, 13, 15, 18. While Kenya and Ethiopia dominate the top two spots in the event, Japan and the U.S. are arguably #3 and #4. How about a dual meet in the marathon distance? More country v. country action would be great for the sport, especially if you got some corporate backing. How about having the Japan team sponsored by Honda or Toyota and the U.S. team sponsored by Ford? Lets do this!

BAA and Money

$100k was on the line in Boston this past weekend, but did anyone notice? Kim Smith (again) and former Arizona All-American Stephen Sambu each took home the $100,000 medlay prize. The $100k was earned by competing in all three B.A.A. events, a 5k in April, 10k in June and the half marathon this past weekend. Smith won the half marathon with ease, while Sambu finished third behind winner Lelisa Desisa. For everyone who thinks the sport is better off if shoe contract values or appearance fee money is made public, here is your proof that you're wrong. Talk to anyone about a $100k paycheck and you'll find them interested...unless it happens to be around road running. 

Even the NYC Marathon in less than three weeks has the potential to have a $750,000 champion, but will anyone outside of distance running diehards care? They should, but they won't. This is an issue. I digress...

Infeld!!!

I live in Portland, Oregon, so I am always cheering for Portland-based athletes, and this morning at the TUFTS 10k for Women, American Emily Infeld ran to a sweet second place finish in 31:47. While she finished 14 seconds behind race winner Sentayehu Ejigu (Ethiopia), she finished 41 seconds up on U.S. Olympian Janet Bawcom, who finished fourth. That's an impressiven margin of victory and it's nice to see her running so well. It was a Monday morning result to start the week off right.

That's all for this week. I am pumped that the NYC Marathon is right around the corner, that the Wisconsin adidas Invitational and NCAA Pre-National XC meets take place this weekend and love the fact that Nick Symmonds has his own Runner's World column now. Over and out!