Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum dominated Chicago Marathon A cool day on Lake Michigan, ideal for setting a new world record (2.01.09 hours Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin 2022). This was his and the organizers’ goal. And this was achieved. Both were pleased with the final result (2.00.35), which saw Kiptum 34 seconds behind the first man to go under two hours in an official marathon.
It didn’t matter that the Kenyan was deprived of the help of the rabbits after the half-marathon, which took an hour and 48 seconds and saw the first rays of sunlight filtering through Chinatown.
Kiptum then took off his hat and attempted the impossible, accompanied by debutant Daniel Mateiko, Kipchoge’s outstanding student at the Kaptagat training centre.
He left Mateiko at kilometer 30 with a partial time of under 13.51 minutes at kilometer 35; This change of pace foreshadowed his spectacular new world record of ever closer to two hours at the finish line in Columbus.