Jacob Kiplimo teased a world record performance after being on pace for just over 22 miles, while Hawi Feysa dominated in the women’s race and Conner Mantz shattered the American record at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.
Kiplimo was determined to take command of the sixth major of the year — just his second marathon — and after holding a 12 second lead he made a decisive push to surge to a 2:02:23 win. He is now the seventh-fastest marathoner ever with a statement win that comes after his second place finish in London in April.
“I didn’t know that I was inside the world record,” Kiplimo after the race. “For me, I was just doing my best to finish well. I’m happy about my results.”
But despite falling short of the world record, a 2:00:35 mark set by the late Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023, Kiplimo did not allow Sunday’s race to come down to a late sprint.
Through the halfway point at 1:00:16, Kiplimo was locked in a lead group that included last year’s winner John Korir, Amos Kipruto, Timothy Kiplagat and Philemon Kiplimo Kimaiyo. But he persisted and after the group held stead at the 25km mark at 1:11:12, he began to shifted gears. By the 30km point Kiplimo opened a 12 second lead on Korir and continued to push as a world record became a possibility.
By mile 23, Kiplimo strayed off record pace at 1:45:55 but increased his lead to nearly a minute and a half.
Kipruto finished second in 2:03:54 and Alex Masai was third in 2:04:37.
Meanwhile, Mantz finished fourth in 2:04:43 and took down the American record at the distance. The mark shatters Khalid Khannouchi’s 2:05:38 record from the 2002 London Marathon and has effectively place Mantz as the face of American distance running.
“That was a great feeling. Those last few miles were really tough,” Mantz said during the broadcast after the race. “Even with ten miles to go I started doing the math — I was like ‘what pace I needed to run to make sure I’m under the American record.’”
Mantz battled back from tenth place at the 30km point and picked off competitors patiently as he and Masai worked together late as part of the chase group.
“I think it’s fair to say it was a great day,” he later said.
In the women’s race, Feysa left little opportunity for her rivals to get a glimpse of contending for a shot at victory as she powered herself to a 2:14:57 win.
At the half at 1:07:30 she was locked in with Magdalena Shauri as they held a seven second lead over Megertu Alemu.
But by the 35km point at 1:51:58 that lead would expand as Feysa broke away from Shauri as Alemu took second position and began her pursuit. Still, Feysa pushed and cracked open a massive lead at the 40km mark at 2:07:59 and was ahead of Alemu by nearly a minute and a half. Feysa cruised to the finish, with Alemu taking second in 2:17:18 as Shauri was third in 2:18:03.
“I felt pretty confident,” Feysa said. “The race conditions were good. The course was good, and my coach gave me a lot of good preparation heading into this race.”
In the men’s wheelchair race, Marcel Hug etched another mark in history as he became the first male to win the Chicago Marathon six times with a 1:23:20 performance — the second fastest time in Chicago
“I was trying to chase the course record today,” Hug said. “But I’m still very happy with my performance. I was really trying to have a race against the clock and to push as hard as possible.”
Susannah Scaroni won her second Chicago Marathon in the women’s wheelchair race in 1:38:14 after launch into world record pace. Despite fading a bit and not getting the world mark, Scaroni still posted her fastest time on the course.
“When I got past mile three and didn’t get a flat, I was very grateful the rest of the race to be moving forward,” Scaroni said. She returned to Chicago after suffering a flat tire at mile three last year.”
Men’s elite field
1. Jacob Kiplimo (Uganda) – 2:02:23
2. Amos Kipruto (Kenya) – 2:03:54
3. Alex Masai (Kenya) – 2:04:37
4. Conner Mantz (USA) – 2:04:43
5. Huseydin Esa (Ethiopia) – 2:04:50
6. Seifu Tura (Ethiopia) – 2:05:17
7. Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya) – 2:05:31
8. Philemon Kiplimo (Kenya) – 2:06:14
9. Rory Linkletter (Canada) – 2:06:49
10. Bashir Abdi (Belgium) – 2:07:08
Women’s elite field
1. Hawi Feysa (Ethiopia) – 2:14:56
2. Megertu Alemu (Ethiopia) – 2:17:18
3. Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) – 2:18:03
4. Loice Chemnung (Kenya) – 2:18:23
5. Mary Ngugi-Cooper (Kenya) – 2:19:25
6. Natosha Rogers (USA) – 2:23:28
7. Dakotah Popehn (USA) – 2:24:21
8. Florencia Borelli (Argentina) – 2:24:23
9. Gabriella Rooker (USA) – 2:26:32
10. Melody Julien (France) – 2:27:09
Men’s wheelchair field
1. Marcel Hug (Switzerland) – 1:23:20
2. David Weir (Great Britain) – 1:27:26
3. Suzuki Tomoki (Japan) – 1:27:29
4. Aaron Pike (USA) – 1:29:07
5. Jetze Plat (Netherlands) – 1:29:11
Women’s wheelchair field
1. Susannah Scaroni (USA) – 1:38:14
2. Manuela Schär (Switzerland) – 1:39:03
3. Tatyana McFadden (USA) – 1:39:04
4. Eden Rainbow-Cooper (Great Britain) – 1:41:59
5. Jade Hall (Great Britain) – 1:42:35
