Chepngetich wins the Chicago Marathon in 2:09:56, dedicating the report to Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a automotive crash.
Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich has placed on a efficiency for the ages as she obliterated the ladies’s marathon world report in Chicago, taking practically two minutes off the earlier greatest to win in two hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds.
Chepngetich ditched the competitors by the midway mark and ran by way of a refrain of cheers by way of the ultimate straight as she claimed her third title in Chicago on Sunday.
The 30-year-old, who grew to become the primary three-time ladies’s winner of the Chicago race, broke the earlier world report of two:11:53 set by Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa final yr in Berlin.
Ethiopia’s Sutume Kebede crossed the road seven minutes and 36 seconds later whereas Kenyan Irine Cheptai (2:17:51) was third.
“That is my dream that has come true,” Chepngetich mentioned.
Chepngetich, who additionally gained in Chicago in 2021 and 2022, devoted her newest victory to Kelvin Kiptum, who set the boys’s world report ultimately yr’s race simply 4 months earlier than he died in a automotive accident on the age of 24.
“The world report has come again to Kenya, and I dedicate this world report to Kelvin Kiptum,” Chepngetich mentioned.
“I’ve fought quite a bit, serious about the world report and I’ve fulfilled it.”
Runners keep in mind Kiptum
Runners noticed a second’s silence on the beginning line in honour of Kiptum. Organisers additionally handed out stickers displaying Kiptum’s record-breaking time of two:00:35 for the 50,000 members to placed on their race bibs.
Within the absence of Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, the 2023 Chicago winner, Chepngetich set a blazing early tempo and reached the midway level in 1:04:16, the fifth-quickest time in historical past for a half marathon by a girl.
“The climate was excellent and I used to be well-prepared. The world report was in my thoughts,” Chepngetich, who was runner-up to Hassan 12 months in the past, informed reporters after the race.
Chepngetich ran the primary 5km (3.1 miles) in quarter-hour flat and by the midway mark she had constructed a 14-second cushion between herself and Kebede.
Tv commentators have been astonished as she floor by way of the course, evaluating her try at a sub-2:10 marathon to the moon touchdown, and he or she solely appeared to realize momentum as she sprinted by way of the ultimate 2 miles (3.2km).
Chepngetich, the 2019 world champion, hunched over in utter exhaustion after breaking the tape however later mentioned “Chicago is like residence”.
Her compatriot John Korir gained on the boys’s aspect in 2:02:44.
The 27-year-old Korir completed forward of Ethiopia’s Mohamed Esa (2:04:39) and one other Kenyan, Amos Kipruto (2:04:50).
Korir was a part of a seven-man group on the head of the course 30km (18.6 miles) earlier than he hit the accelerator and shed his rivals following a comparatively conservative begin.
4 of the highest 5 have been Kenyans, with Vincent Ngetich and Daniel Ebenyo ending off the rostrum.
“It was very nice to run my PB and win in Chicago,” Korir mentioned, including that he too used the reminiscence of Kiptum as a supply of motivation.
“Right now I used to be serious about Kiptum and I mentioned, ‘Final yr if he may run underneath 2:01, why not me?’ So I needed to consider in myself and attempt to do my greatest.”
Korir’s time was the second-fastest-ever run in Chicago.
