Team Run Eugene athlete will be competing in the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 7th. This will be Leon’s first marathon since running the 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials this past January.

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon today announced its full elite athlete field for the event’s 35th running on October 7. Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Kebede tops a stacked roster of athletes hungry for a breakthrough performance on Chicago’s international stage, while the women’s field welcomes, among others, Werknesh Kidane of Ethiopia, coming off a fourth-place finish in the 10,000-meter race at the London Olympics. These athletes join previously announced 2012 Boston Marathon champion and Chicago runner-up Wesley Korir of Kenya, three-time U.S. Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein, and three-time defending champion Liliya Shobukhova of Russia.

“The men’s field is the deepest we’ve ever had in Chicago, and I think it will take a career performance to win on October 7,” said Carey Pinkowski, executive race director of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Along with Ritzenhein, the top U.S. entrants include Notre Dame University All- American and 2010 U.S. Half Marathon runner-up Patrick Smyth; California’s Jimmy Grabow, who ran 2:12:35 in his debut at the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in January; 2:13 athletes Jeffrey Eggleston of Arizona and Patrick Rizzo, a Chicago native; and Eugene’s Leon.

See the complete release about this year’s race here.

You can also keep up with Leon’s progress toward Chicago on his website. Recently he posted a training update to his blog, including a video of one of his staple 30k progressive runs. Check out the video below to see how the workout went and keep updated  on our facebook page and  at http://www.craigleonrunning.com for his progress toward October 7th.

About the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon: Celebrating its 35th year and a member of the World Marathon Majors, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon annually attracts 45,000 participants, including a world- class elite runner and wheelchair field, and an estimated 1.7 million spectators. As a result of its national and international draw, each year, the iconic race assists in raising millions of dollars for a variety of charitable causes while generating $219 million in economic impact to its host city in 2011 according to a report by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (R.E.A.L.). The 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will start and finish in Chicago’s Grant Park beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 7. In advance of the race, a two-day Health& Fitness Expo will be held at McCormick Place Convention Center on Friday, October 5, and Saturday, October 6.