Wheelchair racer Ernst van Dyk will hope to continue his impressive run of form this season when he lines up as the only SA athlete in the elite field at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.
Van Dyk, who finished second at the World Marathon Majors (WMM) race last year, is up against a field led by Paralympic marathon champion Marcel Hug of Switzerland and defending champion Kurt Fearnley of Australia.
After winning all four races thus far in the WMM series, since the inaugural edition of the global wheelchair campaign was launched in Boston in April, Hug holds a comfortable lead with a full bag of 100 points.
Midway through the campaign, Van Dyk is lying third in the standings with 36 points after finishing second in Boston, fourth in London, sixth at the Paralympics and second in Berlin two weeks ago.
Fearnley is in second place with 41 points.
Each athlete’s best four positions in the eight races will be considered in the contest for the series crown, with the WMM campaign coming to a close at next year’s Boston race.
Should any other competitor win all four remaining races, and match Hug’s points tally, the series title will be decided by head-to-head results.
* The Chicago Marathon will be broadcast live on Sunday, on SuperSport 7 and SuperSport 9, at 2.25pm