Effectively, RunBlogRun is overlaying the forty sixth Financial institution of America Chicago Marathon on-site and remotely. We could have the considerate eyes of David Monti (Race Outcomes Weekly and photographer Jane Monti), Kevin Morris (photographer), plus myself, and, with this considerate preview, Deji Ogeyinginbo, who’s overlaying the occasion from the nice state of Georgia.
The large elephant within the room is the late Kelvin Kiptum, who put the Chicago marathon again on the marathon driver’s seat along with his world file of two hours, zero minutes, and 35 seconds (2:00:35). Kiptum and his coach have been killed in an auto accident in February 2024.
Kiptum’s legacy is that the highest athletes will all the time be in comparison with his masterful race within the Windy Metropolis in 2023.
2024 Chicago Marathon: Ruth Chepngetich Chases Historical past Whereas New Faces Emerge within the Males’s Race
This weekend, the forty fifth version of the Chicago Marathon will convey collectively a few of the world’s greatest marathoners on the quick streets of the Windy Metropolis. Because the fifth Abbott World Marathon Main of the 12 months, the race is about to ship thrilling performances throughout each the lads’s and girls’s fields. With no clear favorites and far at stake, it guarantees to be a race crammed with redemption, new beginnings, and a quest for historical past.
The Girls’s Race: Chepngetich’s Shot at Glory
On the ladies’s facet, Ruth Chepngetich enters as the favourite. The Kenyan star received this race in 2021 and 2022, and final 12 months completed second, operating an unbelievable 2:15:37—the quickest non-winning time in marathon historical past. Her private greatest of two:14:18, set on this course two years in the past, stays the second-fastest time ever run by a girl. If Chepngetich can recapture that type and win on Sunday, she is going to be a part of Khalid Khannouchi as one of many solely athletes to assert three victories in Chicago.
Nonetheless, questions stay about her health. Chepngetich has not raced since her disappointing 2:24:36 end in London earlier this 12 months. The sphere in Chicago is stacked with robust contenders, and Chepngetich will must be at her greatest to come back out on high.
One among her hardest challengers is Joyciline Jepkosgei, who completed third within the London Marathon earlier this 12 months, setting a private greatest of two:16:24. Ethiopian stars Degitu Azemiraw, Ashete Bekere Dido, and Hiwot Gebrekidan additionally convey robust credentials, making the ladies’s race a tightly contested affair.
The American subject is equally thrilling, with three of the highest 5 quickest ladies in U.S. historical past set to compete. Emily Sisson’s American file of two:18:29, set in Chicago two years in the past, may very well be below risk, with Emma Bates and Keira D’Amato anticipated to problem that mark. Bates, the runner-up in Chicago in 2021, and D’Amato, who briefly held the American file final 12 months, will each be aiming to make historical past.
The Males’s Race: A New Champion Will Rise
On the lads’s facet, final 12 months’s champion Kelvin Kiptum, who set a world file of two:00:35 on this very course, received’t be again to defend his title as a consequence of his tragic passing earlier this 12 months. In his honor, the race organizers will maintain a second of silence at first line. Kiptum’s absence leaves the race broad open, with a number of males seeking to seize the chance to change into a Chicago Marathon champion.
The quickest man within the subject is Birhanu Legese of Ethiopia, who has a private greatest of two:02:48. Legese, a two-time Tokyo Marathon winner, hasn’t fairly matched these performances in recent times, however he’s nonetheless a robust contender. Scorching on his heels would be the Kenyan duo of Vincent Ngetich and Amos Kipruto, each of whom have equivalent private bests of two:03:13. Kipruto has 4 podium finishes at World Marathon Majors, together with a victory on the 2022 London Marathon, however he has but to race this season as a consequence of damage. Ngetich, who took third in Tokyo this 12 months and second in Berlin final September, enters the race as a slight favourite.
One other thrilling prospect is Daniel Ebenyo of Kenya, who can be making his marathon debut. Ebenyo has already made a reputation for himself on the observe, profitable silver within the 10,000 meters on the World Championships and one other silver within the half marathon on the World Highway Operating Championships. His debut on the marathon scene is extremely anticipated, and he may very well be a shock contender.
With quick occasions, fierce competitors, and loads of tales of willpower, the 2024 Chicago Marathon guarantees to be an thrilling race on each the lads’s and girls’s sides.
