Kipruto breaks away to win Chicago in 2:01:09 as Feysa defends her title
Kenya’s Amos Kipruto reversed last year’s result against Jacob Kiplimo with a decisive surge seven kilometres out. Ethiopia’s Hawi Feysa held off Sharon Lokedi in a race that was decided after 35 km.
Amos Kipruto of Kenya won the Chicago Marathon on Sunday in a personal best of 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds, pulling clear of defending champion Jacob Kiplimo with a surge in the final seven kilometres. In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Hawi Feysa retained her title in 2:13:33.
Kipruto’s time matches, to the second, the world record Eliud Kipchoge set in Berlin in 2022. It is the fastest winning time in Chicago since Kelvin Kiptum’s 2:00:35 world record on the same course in 2023.
Ethiopia’s Tadese Takele Bikila, the two-time Tokyo Marathon champion, finished second in a personal best of 2:02:56 and his compatriot Milkesa Mengesha was third in 2:03:46. Kiplimo, who beat Kipruto by 1 minute 31 seconds here last year and came into the race as the fastest man in the field, faded to fourth in 2:04:18.
How the men’s race unfolded
Six men passed halfway together in 1:00:21. Kiplimo pushed the pace soon afterwards and briefly gapped Kipruto, who worked his way back on to Kiplimo’s shoulder. By 30 km only the two of them remained at the front.
With roughly seven kilometres to go, Kipruto made his move. He reached 35 km in 1:39:58 with a 12-second lead and kept extending it, winning by 1 minute 47 seconds.
Kipruto, the 2022 London Marathon champion, also improved on the personal best he set in London in April, when he was part of the lead group in the race Sabastian Sawe won in a world record of 1:59:30.
Feysa outlasts Lokedi
The women’s race stayed tight for longer. Lokedi led through halfway in 1:06:06, and she and Feysa were still together at 30 km. At 35 km Feysa was one second ahead; over the final seven kilometres she opened a gap of 34 seconds on the Kenyan, who won the Boston and New York City marathons in previous seasons.
Brigid Kosgei, who set the then world record of 2:14:04 on this course in 2019, finished third in 2:14:55.
Americans
Clayton Young was the top American man, seventh in 2:05:23, with Charles Hicks eighth in 2:05:35. Emma Grace Hurley finished seventh in the women’s race in 2:20:47 on her marathon debut, the fastest debut by an American woman, according to NBC Sports.
Conditions were mild for racing, with race-day trackers showing 67°F (19°C), clear skies and light winds.
In the wheelchair races, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner won again, a fortnight after both won in Berlin.
These results are provisional and may change when official results are confirmed by race organisers.
