Kenyans Dickson Chumba and Florence Kiplagat were the men’s and champions at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Sun., Oct. 11, as they ran 2:09:25 and 2:23:33 respectively.
Behind them, the great American distance star Deena Kastor, bronze medalist in the marathon at the 2004 Olympics, set not one but two American women’s Masters records in the race.
For the first time in years pacers were not allowed in the Chicago Marathon, and it particularly affected the elite male runners, who ran a much more conservative pace than normally, passing 5K in 15:31 and 15K in 46:00. Ten men remained in contention at that point, including 6’4” former University of Oregon star Luke Puskedra, who towered over the smaller Kenyan and Ethiopian runners in the lead group.
This lead group remained intact through halfway (1:05:13) and 30K (1:33:14). No one seemingly wanted to lead.
Between 30 and 35 kilometers, Dickson Chumba upped the pace significantly, which dropped everyone but his Kenyan countrymen Kitwara and Kuma. Chumba covered that 5K segment in 14:36, fastest of the race.
Although he slowed a bit over the next 5K, running it in 14:51, he had now broken away. From then on he ran to the finish line on his own, checking behind him from time to time to see if Sammy Kitwara, who has a marathon best of 2:04:28, was closing the gap.
Chumba, who’s 29, crossed the finish line safely ahead in 2:09:25, with Kitwara, who’s also 29, second in 2:09:50, and still another Kenyan, Sammy Ndungu, 27, third in 2:10:06.
Luke Puskedra, 26, was the first American across the line, as he finished fifth in 2:10:24, a personal best for him.
After the race, Chumba said, “From 30 kilometers I tried to push, but the wind was coming. It was a problem; the wind was coming.”
For his part, Kitwara wasn’t happy that there were no pacemakers and the resulting slow pace, which affected his strategy. “Running without pacemakers, I don’t think it’s nice for me, for my (chances).”
Chumba’s winning time was the slowest in Chicago since 2007, when the race was run in the heat.
He said after his victory on Sunday that he had been in shape to run faster – if there had been pacesetters. “Maybe if pacesetters were there, (I could have) run 2:04 or 2:05.”
The women’s race in Chicago was run at a much more aggressive pace than the men’s race, which set the stage for Florence Kiplagat, 28, to take control over the last seven kilometers for the victory.
She followed Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi through halfway in 1:10:27 as seven women were bunched at the front. Although Kiplagat was content to run in the lead pack, she made it clear afterwards she had been carefully monitoring the race.
“I was controlling everything to make sure,” she said. “More tactics when it comes to a race without pacemakers.”
There were still six women together at 35K, when Kiplagat decided she had bided her time long enough. She picked up the pace, running the 5K between 35 and 40K in 17:14, and the race was hers.
She hit the finish line 10 seconds to the good as she clocked 2:23:33, with Yebrgual Melese, 25, of Ethiopia second in 2:23:43 and Birhane Dibaba, 24, also of Ethiopia, third in 2:24:24.
The great American veteran Deena Kastor, now 42, was the first American finisher in the race as she ran 2:27:47, which smashed Colleen De Reuck’s U.S. national women’s 40 and over marathon record of 2:28:40.
En route to the new marathon record, Kastor also set a national women’s Masters record for 30K, 1:45:04, which was well under the previous record of 1:49:31.
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