Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich breaks women’s marathon world record in Chicago

Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya set a world record in the women’s marathon on Sunday in Chicago, smashing the old record by almost two minutes.

Chepngetich, 30, ran 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds, making her the first woman to run a marathon in less than 2 hours and 10 minutes.

The previous world record, set by Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia at the 2023 Berlin Marathon, was 2:11:53.

“I feel so great. I’m very proud of myself. This is my dream. I fought a lot, thinking about the world record,” Chepngetich told World Athletics after the race. “The world record has come back to Kenya, and I dedicate this world record to Kelvin Kiptum.”

Kiptum, a fellow Kenyan, died earlier this year in a car crash at age 24. Four months earlier, he set the men’s marathon record at the 2023 Chicago event, completing the 26.2 miles in 2:00:35. He was recognized with a moment of silence before Sunday’s race.

Sutume Asefa Kebede of Ethiopia finished second in the women’s race with a time of 2:17:32. John Korir of Kenya won the men’s race in 2:02:44. He was one of only nine men to run faster than Chepngetich on Sunday.

Chepngetich won the 2021 and 2022 Chicago marathons and was runner-up at last year’s race. In 2022, she finished 14 seconds slower than the world record at the time.

The best American finishers were CJ Albertson in the men’s race at 2:08:17 in seventh place and Susanna Sullivan at 2:21:56 in the women’s race, also in seventh place.

Nearly 50,000 people ran Sunday’s race, which started and ended in Grant Park.

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