Kenyans will be glued to their televisions on Sunday to watch the 45th edition of the Chicago Marathon where emerging star Kelvin Kiptum, defending champion Benson Kipruto and  Joyciline Jepkosgei are tipped to rule the roost.

Jepkosgei who won the 2019 New York City Marathon, has promised a tactical race when she goes for top honours during the 45th edition of the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.

Jepkosgei is among Kenyan athletes, who will do battle in the race and she will come up against defending champion Ruth Chepngetich from Kenya and Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan, the Olympic gold medallist in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

Despite the quality field on parade, Jepkosgei, who is boasting two major marathon wins, and will be running in Chicago for the first time, has exuded confidence in bringing home the winning medal.

“I will run a different race in Chicago. We prepared well with my coach and I will be taking her advice. I will be running in Chicago knowing too well that every race has its unique challenges and each of them requires different tactics,” said Jepkosgei, who is the former half marathon world record holder.

She added: “I will be running my own race with the aim being lowering my marathon personal best. With good conditions in Chicago and rigorous preparations, nothing is impossible. I can only pray that I ran faster on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Chepngetich will return to the starting line in Chicago after setting what is now the third-fastest marathon time ever last year, finishing in 2:14:18. Genzebe Dibaba, the Rio 2016 silver medallist in the 1500m event, who made her marathon debut in Amsterdam last year, completing the race in an impressive 2:18:05, will also line up in Chicago. In total, there are eight runners in the women’s field with personal bests under the two hours and 20-minute mark.

In the men’s race, Kipruto will try to defend his title from 2022, where he pulled ahead of his competitors in the 25th mile to set the fourth-fastest time in the event’s history with a time of 2:04:24.

Should the 32-year-old succeed in winning again, he will become the first in the men’s field to achieve back-to-back victories since Sammy Wanjiru in 2010.

However, this year’s competition promises to be fierce, as the second-fastest man of all time, Kiptum, will make his US marathon debut. In April, the Kenyan missed out on Eliud Kipchoge’s world record by just 16 seconds, claiming this year’s London Marathon in 2:01:25.