Khannouchi again a threat in Chicago Marathon

CHICAGO (AP) -- A year ago, Khalid Khannouchi feared his marathon career was finished.

Hobbled badly by a foot injury, he could barely jog, let alone train or compete. He dropped out of the Chicago Marathon, where he had set one of his two world records, and he skipped the Olympic trials.

"You try to do something that you love to do, but you can't. You could injure yourself more," he said. "I felt like it's over. But no, it's not over yet."

Khannouchi will run the Chicago Marathon on Sunday and, though it's his first marathon in two years, he remains a favorite. He has won Chicago four times, setting American and world records along the way.

"I feel like I'm ready, that's the most important part," he said. "Winning is definitely the priority, and everybody has it in mind. ... I've been in the position where nobody thinks I will win it and I won it. Hopefully, I can do the same again."

Khannouchi won the 2002 Chicago Marathon in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 56 seconds, missing his then-world record time by 18 seconds. Shortly after the race, he developed bursitis in his left foot.

Khannouchi and his wife and coach, Sandra, visited doctor after doctor, but no one could do much. Khannouchi tried to train through the pain, but that only led to hamstring, ankle and knee injuries. He also had a bout with tonsillitis, forcing him to skip the 2003 London Marathon, where he had set a world record the previous year.

"The foot injury, because you're walking, it's very, very difficult to get rid of it," Sandra Khannouchi said. "It takes a long time for you to recover."

Finally, Khannouchi took three months off. While the pain in his foot had been bothersome, not being able to run was agonizing. He told his wife he thought his career was finished. But Sandra Khannouchi told him to think positively. Then she put him on an arduous, twice-a-day cross-training regimen.

"Cross-training for him is worse than running, it makes him more tired. So he didn't have time to think," she said, laughing.

By April, Khannouchi was ready to resume normal training -- with some adjustments. Instead of taking three months to train for a marathon, he took five to get ready for Chicago, running as much as 130 miles a week.

Khannouchi bristles at suggestions that his injuries weren't really that severe, that he passed over the chance to represent his adopted country at the Sydney and Athens Olympics in favor of bigger paydays in Chicago and London.

"That's absurd," said the Moroccan-born Khannouchi, who became a U.S. citizen in 2000. "I haven't been competing for two years. That's the way to make my living. I wish I was healthy enough to go out there and represent my country and represent myself."

Khannouchi still hopes to run in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. For now, though, he'll have to concentrate on races like Chicago.

His main challenges Sunday most likely will come from defending champion Evans Rutto, whose 2:06:18 at London is the world's fastest marathon in the world this year. Daniel Njenga, who was second to Khannouchi in 2002, and Toshinari Takaoka, who finished third in 2002 after taking a 21-second lead at mile 23, also are back.

Defending champion Svetlana Zakharova and two-time winner Joyce Chepchumba lead the women's field.

With a flat, fast course, Chicago is made for record speeds. Khannouchi set a men's world record in 1999, and Paula Radcliffe set the women's world record in 2002. Both marks have since been topped, and executive race director Carey Pinkowski wouldn't mind seeing Chicago get them back.

"World records are like great relationships or great friendships. You don't know how great they are or how wonderful they are until you lose them," Pinkowski said. "I feel a little bit of a void in our event."

With Khannouchi healthy again, anything is possible.

"I don't have anything to prove. I don't have anything to lose," he said. "A year ago, I thought that I'm done. And I'm here, I'm back competing."