(Reuters) -Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich placed on a efficiency for the ages as she obliterated the ladies’s marathon world report in Chicago on Sunday, taking practically two minutes off the earlier finest to win in an unofficial time of two hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds.
Chepngetich ditched the competitors by the midway mark and ran via a refrain of cheers via the ultimate straight as she claimed her third title in Chicago and crushed Ethiopian Tigst Assefa’s earlier report of two:11:53, set final 12 months in Berlin.
Ethiopia’s Sutume Kebede crossed the road seven minutes and 36 seconds later whereas Kenyan Irine Cheptai (2:17:51) was third.
“This is my dream that has come true,” mentioned Chepngetich, whose time was initially recorded as 2:09:57 however was later adjusted.
Her compatriot John Korir gained on the boys’s facet in 2:02:44.
Chepngetich set a blistering tempo from the beginning, operating the primary 5 kilometres in quarter-hour flat and by the midway mark she had constructed a 14-second cushion between herself and Kebede.
Tv commentators had been astonished as she grinded via the course, evaluating her try at a sub-2:10 marathon to the moon touchdown, and she or he solely appeared to achieve momentum as she sprinted via the ultimate two miles.
Chepngetich, the 2019 world champion, hunched over in utter exhaustion after breaking the tape and devoted her efficiency to compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, who broke the boys’s world report a 12 months in the past in Chicago and died in a automobile crash 4 months later.
“World record was in my mind,” she mentioned in televised remarks. “Chicago, as I said in the press, is like home.”
The day started with a second of silence on the beginning line for Kiptum, who ran final 12 months in 2:00:35, as runners took off below pristine circumstances within the Windy Metropolis.
Korir caught with a crowded males’s lead pack via the primary 30 kilometres earlier than making his transfer and was practically 30 seconds away from the remainder of the sphere by the 35-kilometre mark.
He glided via the ultimate kilometres, holding his arms out huge as he completed his textbook efficiency in a private finest time for his first main title.
Ethiopia’s Mohamed Esa was second in 2:04:39 whereas Kenyan Amos Kipruto (2:04:50) completed third.
“Today I was thinking about Kiptum,” mentioned Korir. “I had to believe in myself and try to do my best.”
