The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K announced today that 2015 and 2016 champions Stephen Sambu (Tucson, Ariz.) and Alexi Pappas (Eugene, Ore.) return to the streets of Chicago to chase the elusive hat-trick of three consecutive victories, and to officially kick off the spring running season.

“We are always excited to bring Olympians and champions back to Chicago – Stephen and Alexi have developed a local following, and they magnify the fun spirit of the Shuffle,” said Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski. “For 38 years, this race has been a local running celebration of family traditions, debut runners, warmer weather and individual and team competitions.”

Sambu and Pappas defended their Shamrock Shuffle 8K titles in 2016 with commanding performances, finishing in 22:45 and 26:17, respectively. Sambu’s time was the fourth-fastest time in the event’s history (he also holds the 13th-fastest time), and he returns after making his 26.2-mile debut in Chicago with a fifth-place finish last fall. Sambu owns the world’s best time in the 8K (22:01.1), and he remains a direct threat to the Shamrock Shuffle 8K course record (22:35), set in 1998 by James Kariuki (KEN).

Pappas, a creative force to be reckoned with as a writer, poet and movie producer, ended her 2015 season with personal bests in every distance from the mile to 10 miles. She ended her 2016 racing season as an Olympian; Pappas, who holds dual citizenship, represented Greece in Rio and set a personal best in the 10,000m (31:36.16) in the fastest 10,000m women’s race ever run.

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Olympian Diego Estrada (Flagstaff, Ariz.) and 2016 runner-up and local elite runner Kristen Heckert (Bolingbrook, Ill.) boast the potential to stop a three-peat. Estrada is the seventh- fastest American over the half-marathon distance, and in spite of an early fall at the 2016 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, he emerged as the first American across the line in eighth place.