NAIROBI, Aug. 17 -- Defending Chicago Marathon champions Abel Kirui and Florence Kiplagat of Kenya are plotting to run fast time in this year's event, which will be held on Oct. 8.

Alongside the two champions, organisers have also lined up world record-holder Dennis Kimetto of Kenya, half marathon world record-holder Zersenay Tadese and three-time Olympic gold medalist Tirunesh Dibaba.

"I want to improve my personal best and Chicago fast course could give me just that. The competition I have is strong and it will spur me forward to run faster," Kirui said on Thursday from Eldoret.

Last year, it boiled down to tactics as Kirui held off compatriot Dickson Chumba to win by three seconds in 2:11:23.

The two-time world champion has a personal best of 2:05:04 and finished fourth at this year's London Marathon in 2:07:45, his fastest time since winning the second of his world titles in 2011.

Kimetto returns to Chicago for the first time since setting a course record of 2:03:45 in 2013.

Prior to that, he ran the fastest marathon debut in history in Berlin in 2017 (2:04:16) and in 2017 he became the first athlete in history to cover the marathon within 2:03, clocking a world record of 2:02:57 in Berlin.

An ankle and knee injury sustained in training early this year forced Kimetto out of Boston marathon and the 35-year-old will be keen to improve his fitness in Chicago.

Tadese, a six-time world champion on the roads and cross-country, has only finished three marathons.

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