Yuki Kawauchi and Suguru Osako to Race 2018 Chicago Marathon

By Adam Kopet

Bank of America Chicago Marathon organizers announced Wednesday that Yuki Kawauchi and Suguru Osako of Japan will race the 2018 edition of the race.

Kawauchi made headlines when he won this year's Boston Marathon in 2:15:58, prevailing over Geoffrey Kirui, the defending Boston champion. He has already raced at least five marathons in 2018, winning four of them. He also won the Yatsugatake Nobeyama 71K ultramarathon in May, setting a course record and winning by 30 minutes. Kawauchi has a personal best of 2:08:14 from a 2013 race in Seoul, South Korea.

Osako trains with the Nike Oregon Project and only moved to the roads in 2017. He finished third at the 2017 Boston Marathon, behind Nike Oregon Project teammate Galen Rupp, running 2:10:28. He than ran 2:07:19 at the 2017 Fukuoka Marathon, finishing third. He had the fastest personal bests of all the Nike Oregon Project runners until Rupp ran 2:06:07 at last month's Prague Marathon.

Rupp and Mo Farah have already been announced as entrants in the 2018 Chicago Marathon, scheduled for Oct. 7.