Chepngetich Crushes Women’s Marathon Record

Chicago, Illinois —(Map)

On Sunday, Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya set a new world record for the fastest marathon ever run by a woman, finishing in 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 56 seconds. She’s the first woman ever to finish a marathon in under 2 hours and 10 minutes.

A marathon is a 26.2 mile (42 kilometer) running race. It is a hard race. Runners must not only be fast, but they must be strong enough to keep their speed up over a very long distance.

The Chicago Marathon is one of the six major marathons held around the world every year. Chepngetich is very familiar with the Chicago Marathon – she’s won it twice before.

Chepngetich has a history of doing well in Chicago. She won the race in 2021 and 2022. Last year, she finished second. In 2022, she ran her best marathon time ever: 2:14:18. It was the fourth fastest time for a woman’s marathon in history.

This year, Chepngetich was focused on one thing: breaking the women’s marathon world record. “I fought a lot, thinking about the world record,” she said.

Chepngetich, who’s 30, ran fast from the very beginning. She finished the first 3.1 miles (5 kilometers) in just 15 minutes. She said she wasn’t sure she could keep up the pace. But she managed to do it, running almost every mile in less than five minutes.

By the halfway point, Chepngetich was 14 seconds ahead of the next fastest runner, Sutume Kebede of Ethiopia. By 18.5 miles (30 kilometers), she was nearly two minutes ahead of Kebede.

Chepngetich was going so fast that for much of the marathon, she was running with the fastest men in the race. As it turned out, only nine men finished the marathon ahead of her.

Chepngetich’s goal was to break the marathon world record set by Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia last year. Assefa ran the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:53.

Chepngetich managed to beat Assefa’s record by nearly two minutes. The results surprised many people who thought a marathon time of under 2:10 was impossible for a woman.

“I’m very proud of myself,” Chepngetich said in an interview. “This is my dream that has come true.”

Last year, Tigst Assefa set a record by running the Berlin Marathon in 2:11:53. Chepngetich beat Assefa’s record by nearly two minutes. Many people had thought a marathon time of under 2:10 was impossible for a woman. Above, Chepngetich poses with a clock showing her winning time of 2:09:56.

Kebede finished second with a time of 2:17:32. Irine Cheptai, who’s also from Kenya, came in third with a time of 2:17:51.

Chepngetich earned $100,000 for winning, and an extra $50,000 for setting a new record for the Chicago Marathon.

Chepngetich said her world record run was in memory of Kelvin Kiptum. Last year, Mr. Kiptum set the men’s marathon world record in Chicago. Sadly, Mr. Kiptum died in a car accident just a few months later. Before the race began, runners held a moment of silence for Mr. Kiptum.

This year, the Chicago Marathon men’s race was won by John Korir of Kenya, with a time of 2:02:44. He was followed by Mohamed Esa of Ethiopia (2:04:39), and Amos Kipruto of Kenya (2:04:50).