Jacob Kiplimo wins the Chicago Marathon (© Getty Images)
Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo and Ethiopia’s Hawi Feysa produced two of the fastest marathons in history at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, winning the World Athletics Platinum Label road race in 2:02:23 and 2:14:56, respectively, on Sunday (12).
Kiplimo triumphed by 91 seconds ahead of Kenya’s Amos Kipruto, while Kenya’s Alex Masai was third (2:04:37) and USA’s Conner Mantz broke the North American record with 2:04:43 to finish fourth.
Feysa was even more dominant after a perfectly paced race. She won the women’s title by more than two minutes ahead of her compatriot Megertu Alemu (2:17:18), while Tanzania’s Magdalena Shauri was third (2:18:03) and Kenya’s Loice Chemnung was fourth in 2:18:23 from her first completed marathon.
Feysa, racing her fifth marathon, was always to the fore in the women’s race. She settled herself alongside Shauri and they ran together behind the lead pacemaker. Bedatu Hirpa moved up to join them and they reached 5km in 16:06, a few seconds ahead of Alemu and Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye, making her marathon debut.
Feysa and Shauri broke away by the 10km mark, which they hit in 32:08, with Taye and Alemu six seconds back. They increased that gap, and their pace, over the next 5km, the leaders Feysa and Shauri reaching 15km in 48:00 – right on 2:15:00 schedule.
The top two maintained their momentum and clocked 1:07:30 at halfway before hitting 25km in 1:19:59, Alemu keeping them in sight but Taye getting dropped.
Running a well-judged race, Feysa sped up slightly and passed 30km in 1:35:54, dropping Shauri. Alemu moved into second place and was five seconds off the leader at that stage, as Shauri followed a further 13 seconds back.
From there, Feysa continued to increase her advantage, leading by 15 seconds at 35km and by more than a minute with three miles left to run.
She kicked again in the closing stages to dip under 2:15 with a negative split – running 2:14:56 for the quickest time of the year and a performance that makes her the fifth-fastest women’s marathon runner in history.
Hawi Feysa celebrates her Chicago Marathon win (© Getty Images)
She adds this win to her 2024 Frankfurt Marathon victory and her third-place finish in Tokyo in March.
Alemu followed her Valencia Marathon win in December and her third place in Chicago in 2023 with a runner-up finish this time, while Shauri improved her national record to join them on the podium. Behind Chemnung in fourth was Kenya’s Mary Ngugi-Cooper in a PB of 2:19:25 for fifth and USA’s Natosha Rogers in a PB of 2:23:28 for sixth.
World half marathon record-holder Kiplimo formed part of a group that was on world record schedule for the first half of the men’s race. He was joined by defending champion John Korir and his Kenyan compatriots Timothy Kiplagat, Philemon Kiplimo and Amos Kipruto as they reached 5km in 13:58, 10km in 28:25, 15km in 42:41 and 20km in 57:06.
The final two pacemakers stepped aside as the halfway point was hit in 1:00:16 and Korir took control. Only Kiplimo could go with him and they matched each other, stride for stride, picking up the pace to run a 14:06 5km split and reach 25km in 1:11:12 – 10 seconds ahead of Kipruto.
Kiplimo made his move around the 18-mile mark, quickly creating a gap on Korir. Kiplimo remained on world record pace, running the fastest ever 30km with a split of 1:25:31. Korir and Kipruto also remained on sub-2:01 pace, respectively running 12 and 28 seconds behind the leader at that point.
Kiplimo’s pace dipped slightly but he was still on 2:00:30 pace through 35km and by that stage his closest challenger was Kipruto, more than a minute back, as Korir appeared to have dropped out of the race.
Kiplimo drifted outside world record schedule but his win never looked in doubt and he reached 40km in 1:55:10 – 90 seconds ahead of Kipruto. They maintained that through to the finish line, Kiplimo winning in a national record of 2:02:23 to move to seventh on the world all-time list in his second marathon after his 2:03:37 debut in London in April.
The 2022 London Marathon champion Kipruto, who finished third in Chicago last year, was second this time in 2:03:54, while Masai’s 2:04:37 for third place was a PB by more than three minutes.
Mantz improved the North American record of 2:05:36 set by Canada’s Cameron Levins in 2023, clocking 2:04:43 to improve his own PB by more than three minutes.
Leading results
Women
1 Hawi Feysa (ETH) 2:14:56
2 Megertu Alemu (ETH) 2:17:18
3 Magdalena Shauri (TAN) 2:18:03
4 Loice Chemnung (KEN) 2:18:23
5 Mary Ngugi-Cooper (KEN) 2:19:25
6 Natosha Rogers (USA) 2:23:28
7 Dakotah Popehn (USA) 2:24:21
8 Florencia Borelli (ARG) 2:24:23
Men
1 Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) 2:02:23
2 Amos Kipruto (KEN) 2:03:54
3 Alex Masai (KEN) 2:04:37
4 Conner Mantz (USA) 2:04:43
5 Huseydin Mohamed Esa (ETH) 2:04:50
6 Seifu Tura (ETH) 2:05:17
7 Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) 2:05:31
8 Philemon Kiplimo (KEN) 2:06:14
