Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich ran the fastest women’s marathon in history to win the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.
Chepngetich, 30, clocked 2 hours, 9 minutes, 56 seconds, crushing the world record of 2:11:53 set by Ethiopian Tigst Assefa at the 2023 Berlin Marathon.
“This is my dream that has come true,” Chepngetich said on NBC Chicago. “I fight a lot thinking about world record. I am fulfilled.”
Chepngetich won the Chicago Marathon for the third time and distanced runner-up Sutume Kebede of Ethiopia by 7:26. Chepngetich entered the race as the fourth-fastest woman in history with a personal best of 2:14:18.
CHICAGO MARATHON: Results
Four of the five fastest women’s marathons in history have been run on the pancake-flat Chicago course over the last six years. Before the 2019 Chicago Marathon, the women’s marathon world record was 2:15:25.
John Korir, 27, won Sunday’s men’s race in 2:02:43 for his first career World Marathon Major title. He is now the sixth-fastest male marathoner in history.
Korir, the younger brother of 2012 Boston Marathon winner Wesley Korir, was third in Chicago in 2022, fourth in Chicago in 2023 and fourth in Boston this past April. He also won the Los Angeles Marathon in 2021 and 2022.
At the 2023 Chicago Marathon, Kelvin Kiptum broke the men’s world record by winning in 2:00:35. Kiptum died in a car crash in his native Kenya on Feb. 11 at age 24.
The next major marathon is the New York City Marathon on Nov. 3.