A jaw-dropping performance in Chicago
Chepngetich's 2:09:56 effort makes her first woman to break 2:10 in marathon
Women’s marathon running took another gargantuan leap forward on the streets of Chicago on Sunday morning.
That’s when Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya clocked a mind-blowing time of 2 hours 9 minutes 56 seconds in winning the women’s race of the Chicago Marathon for the third time in the last four years.
Her time crushed the world record of 2:11:53 that Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia had run in the Berlin Marathon in September of last year. That clocking cut more than two minutes off the previous global record of 2:14:04 that Kenyan Brigid Kosgei had run in Chicago in 2019.
“I feel so great. I am much proud of myself, and I thank God for the victory and world record,” Chepngetich said in a post-race interview on the NBC affiliate in Chicago. “This is my dream that has come true. I fight alone, thinking about world record, and I have fulfilled it. And I am much grateful.”
John Korir of Kenya won the men’s race in a personal best of 2:02:44 to move to sixth on the all-time performer list. But the 30-year-old Chepngetich was the story of the event as she, the 2019 World champion, had not been named to the Kenyan team that competed in the Olympic Games in Paris in August after she finished ninth in the London Marathon in April.
Her scintillating performance on Sunday cut more than four minutes off her personal best and came just over 12 months after compatriot Kelvin Kiptum had lowered the men’s global best to 2:00:35 in Chicago while becoming the first man in history to run under 2:01:00 in an official marathon race.
Tragically, Kiptum and his coach, Gervais Hakazimana, were killed in an automobile crash in Kenya in February when he lost control of the vehicle he was driving and entered a ditch alongside the road before crashing into a large tree.
Chepngetich had finished second to Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands in last year’s women’s race in Chicago when her 2:15:37 clocking left her nearly two minutes back of the Dutchwoman’s European record of 2:13:44. Previously, the Kenyan had won the women’s title in Chicago with times of 2:22:31 in 2021 and 2:14:18 in ’22.
The latter clocking had left her a scant 14 seconds shy of Kosgei’s world record at the time.
Although Chepngetich spoke of trying to lower Hassan’s course record during a press conference on Friday, it was obvious she was gunning for something bigger than that when she came through the first five kilometers of Sunday’s race in a sizzling 15:00.
That split projected to an incredible final time of 2:07:31. And though she slowed some during the remainder of the race, her ensuing five-kilometer splits were stupendous for a 42.195-kilometer/26 mile 385-yard contest.
She came through 10 kilometers in 30:14 after running her second five-kilometer segment in 15:14 and she followed that with 5k splits of 15:18 and 15:19 as she passed 15 kilometers in 45:32 and 20 kilometers in 1:00:51.
Her pace was so fast at the halfway point that her split of 1:04:16 was the fifth-fastest time in history for the women’s half marathon.
Sutume Kebede of Ethiopia, who had run a personal best of 2:15:55 in winning the Tokyo Marathon in March, was only 14 seconds back of Chepngetich at the halfway mark. But she was 50 seconds behind her after 25 kilometers and nearly two minutes down after 30 kilometers.
Chepngetich came through 30 kilometers in 1:31:49 after running 15:26 and 15:32 during her two previous 5k segments. By that point in the race, it appeared the world record was going to fall as her final time was projected to be 2:09:09.
While it was still possible that Chepngetich’s audacious pace might come back to haunt her, she looked sensational and there was no sign of her being on the precipice of falling apart during the final 12-plus kilometers of the race.
When she came through 35 kilometers in 1:47:32 following a 15:43 5k segment, her final time was projected to be 2:09:38 and a sub 2:10 performance looked possible.
She then ran the ensuing five kilometers in 15:39 to pass 40 kilometers in 2:03:11.
Showing no signs of slowing down. Chepngetich ran the final 2.195 kilometers of the race in 6:45, which was 15:23 pace for five kilometers.
Her final time was so fast that it would have been the men’s world record as recently as November of 1967. It also served to narrow the time gap between the men’s and women’s world records in the marathon to 9 minutes and 21 seconds, the smallest it’s ever been.
Kebede finished second in 2:17:32 and she was followed by Irine Cheptai of Kenya in a personal best of 2:17:51.
Buze Diriba of Ethiopia placed fourth in a personal best of 2:20:22, with Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya finishing fifth in 2:20:51, and Degitu Azimeraw of Ethiopia taking sixth in 2:20:52.
Susanna Sullivan of the U.S. placed seventh in a personal best of 2:21:56 and Ashete Bekere of Ethiopia finished eighth in 2:23:10.
“This year, the weather was perfect,” Chepngetich said when she was asked about the difference in her performance this year and last year. “And I can say I was much prepared. I prepared well. Since London was six months… and I was prepared.”
The 27-year-old Korir began the Chicago Marathon as the No. 6-ranked man in the field with a personal best of 2:05:01 that he ran while finishing third in the race in 2022. However, he finished it with the 12th-fastest time in history after running the second half of the contest nearly two minutes faster than the first.
“We were going for the win,” Korir said. “We’re not going for the time. But you know, my brother, Wesley, and my wife say ‘You are ready. Just believe in yourself and you can make it.’ ”
Korir, who is now one of 10 men to have run under 2:03 for the marathon, finished nearly two minutes in front of second-place Mohamed Esa of Ethiopia, who ran a personal best of 2:04:39. He was followed by Amos Kipruto of Kenya, who placed third in 2:04:50.
The pace during the early part of the men’s race was not particularly fast by today’s standards, as Dawit Wolde of Ethiopia followed a pair of pacesetters through five kilometers in 14:43, 10 kilometers in 29:27 (14:44), and 15 kilometers in 44:15 (14:48).
Daniel Ebenyo of Kenya, making his marathon debut after winning the silver medal in the 10,000 meters in the World Athletics Championships last year, led a 10-runner lead pack through 20 kilometers in 59:03. But Korir was at the front of the group when he came through the halfway point in 1:02:19, 25 kilometers in 1:13:47, and 30 kilometers in 1:28:18.
Korir had run the five-kilometer segment from 25-30 kilometers in 14:31 and an ensuing split of 14:01 left him 29 seconds in front of second-place Kipruto and three other runners when he came through 35 kilometers in 1:42:19. Ebenyo was in sixth place at that point in the race, 38 seconds back of Korir.
Thanks to Korir’s upping of the pace, a seven-runner lead pack at 30 kilometers was down to six individuals seven minutes later. And the front group had been reduced to four a minute after that.
Korir had a three-second lead over his closest pursuers a half-minute later and his advantage had grown to about 10 seconds two minutes after that.
He led Kipruto and Esa by a minute and 31 seconds when he came through 40 kilometers in 1:56:27 — after running the previous 10 kilometers in 28:09 — and he continued to extend his lead during the remainder of the race.
Behind the 2:04:39 clocking by Esa and the 2:04:50 effort from Kipruto, Vincent Ngetich of Kenya placed fourth in 2:05:16, followed by Ebenyo in fifth in 2:06:04, and Kyohei Hosoya of Japan in sixth in 2:07:20.
CJ Albertson of the U.S. finished seventh in a personal best of 2:08:17 and Toshiki Sadakata of Japan placed eighth in 2:08:22.
“I was thinking about him,” Korir said about Kelvin Kiptum. “And I say, ‘If the last year Kiptum was able to run [under] 2:01, why not me?’ So I had to believe in myself and try to do my best.”
The Chicago Marathon was the fifth of six World Marathon Majors races to be held this year.
The final race will be the New York City Marathon on Nov. 3.
An amazing run by her... 15:00 for first 5 kms. Sustained excellence. Hassan's Gold Medal performance in Paris at 2:22:55 looks a bit vulnerable after the Chicago Marathon run...