Kiptum breaks marathon record

I said it before and I’ll say it again, soon the marathon record will fall below 2 hours. When Eliud Kepchoge of Kenya set the world record of 2:01:09 in the 2022 Berlin Marathon, it looked like runners are nearing sub-2 hours. Kepchoge’s compatriot Kelvin Kiptum almost went below two hours when he clocked 2:00:35 in the recently-concluded Chicago Marathon. The 23-year-old Kiptum eclipsed Kepchoge’s record by 34 seconds. He won $100,000 and got another $50,000 for setting the course and world record. Just six months after running the second fastest marathon of all time in London, Kiptum broke his previous 2:01:25. Defending champion Benson Kipruto also of Kenya came in second in 2:04:02 while Bashir Abdi of Belgium finished third in 2:04:32. Another Kenyan, John Korir, pocketed third in 2:05:09. The rest of the top ten are 5th Seifa Tura Abdiwak (Ethiopia-2:05:29), 6th Conner Mantz (USA-2:07:47), 7th Clayton Young (USA-2:08:00), 8th Galen Rupp (USA-2:08:48),9th Sam Chgelanga (USA-2:08:50), and 10th Ichida Takashi (Japan-2:08:57).

Women’s race

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, running in only her second marathon, ran the second fastest in women’s marathon history when she clocked 2:13:44, less than two minutes slower than the 2:11:53 world record set by Tigst Assefa in the 2023 Berlin Marathon. Two-time Olympic champion, Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya, finished second in 2:15:37 while Mergetu Alemu of Ethiopia wound up third in 2:17:23. Hassan was coming from a bronze finish in the Budapest World Championships and could have been in the top 10 in the 10,000 meters, but tripped and settled for 11th place. The rest of the top ten are 4th Joyciline Jepkosgei (Kenya-2:17:23), 5th Tadu Teshome Nare (Ethiopia-2:20:04), 6th Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia- 2:21:47), 7th Emily Sisson(USA-2:22:09), 8th Molly Seidel (USA-2:23:07), 9th Rose Harvey (Great Britain-2:23:21), 10th Sara Vaughn (USA-2:23:24).