Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya recently set a world record for women’s marathon time in Chicago, finishing with a performance record of 2:09:56. She makes history as the first woman to break the 2:10 barrier.
The athlete cut over two minutes off the previous world record of 2:11:53 set by Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia last September 2023. According to World Athletics, her new world record is still pending due to the customary confirmation process.
On her victory, Chepngetich stated: “I feel so great. I’m very proud of myself. This is my dream… I fought a lot, thinking about the world record. The world record has come back to Kenya, and I dedicate this world record to Kelvin Kiptum.” He is her compatriot who set the men’s world record in Chicago last year, but unfortunately died in a road accident last February.
Her prior best record was 14 seconds short of the world record in Chicago last 2022, but this year, she erased any recollection of that letdown with a world record time so fast that only nine competitors in the men’s race could beat it.
Highlights of the race
Ethiopia’s Autumn Asefa Kebede was the only one who managed to stay within the distance of Chepngetich by the 10-kilometre mark. By that time, Chepngetich outpaced her other rivals.
Kebede placed second with a performance record of 2:12:32, eight minutes behind Chepngetich. Irine Cheptai of Kenta took third place, 20 seconds behind.
Ruth Chepng’etich of Kenya created history last Sunday at the Chicago Marathon by crossing the finish line in two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds, setting a new record.
This is the third time she has won the Chicago Marathon — she also won in 2021 and 2022.
But her feat this time is unprecedented.
The 30-year-old became the first woman in history to break the 2:10 barrier as she easily smashed the previous world mark of 2:11:53, set by Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa.
Chepng’etich’s outstanding accomplishment solidifies her status as one of the sport’s elite athletes.
What makes her achievement all the more remarkable is that she accomplished this without the assistance of a professional coach. Following her historic win in the Chicago Marathon, Chepng’etich disclosed in a recent interview that she has been self-coached her entire professional life.
She declared with pride, “I am self-coached; I don’t have a coach,” emphasizing how she has been in complete control of her training from the start. Her ascent to the top is made even more remarkable and inspirational by her victory, which was founded on self-control and tenacity.
The incredible marathon victory of Ruth Chepng’etich stunned supporters and sparked animated discussions.
Fans are split and amazed by Ruth Chepng’etich’s historic marathon victory. While many applaud Kenya’s ongoing supremacy in marathon running, others express alarm over the country’s history of doping-related suspensions among its athletes.
The remarkable accomplishment of Chepng’etich—achieved without a mentor—has garnered particular attention. Her dedication and self-control were praised by a fan, who also mentioned how uncommon it is for great athletes to be successful without receiving professional instruction.
In the meantime, Kenya’s John Korir emerged victorious in a very tough men’s race.
However, Chepng’etich stole the spotlight with her unprecedented feat. She has cemented her place in marathon history.
Sifan Hassan denies Ruth Chepngetich her third Chicago marathon title
In the run-up to this year’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2023, expectations were sky-high for the defending champion, Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich. The 29-year-old marathon runner had won the esteemed competition for two consecutive years, with an impressive time of 2:22:31 in the 2021 edition and 2:14:18 in the 2022 edition. During that time, Chepngetich also made rounds online, as she was just 14 seconds away from surpassing the previous world record set by Brigid Kosgei, a fellow Kenyan, with a time of 2.14:04.
This year, she headed into the marathon heavily favored to win the gold but struggled to compete with a strong rival, Sifan Hassan, who overtook her at the 17th mile of the race to deny what would have been her third Chicago marathon title.
Sifan Hassan’s latest endeavors
Hassan entered the marathon scene rather late compared to most of her competitors. Despite being new to running the dreaded 26.2-mile marathon, Hassan’s abilities proved to be more than sufficient, as she outpaced every other runner in the TCS London Marathon last April and ran a Dutch national record of 2:18:33, claiming the gold medal for her first marathon.
And this time proved to be no different than her last marathon, as she was able to shake off her rivals as she ran to victory in a record-breaking time of 2:13:44, the second fastest marathon time in history, behind only Tigist Assefa’s Berlin record of 2:11:53.
Hassan vs. Chepngetich
Chepngetich began the race with a commanding lead, reaching the 10-kilometer mark in a time of 31:05. At the same time, Hassan followed in close pursuit of the Kenyan reigning champion, gradually closing in on the lead until the 15-kilometer mark.
It took nearly an hour for the two runners to share the lead in the marathon race. However, at the 17th mile, Sifat made a decisive move to overtake Chepngetich and remain in the lead for the rest of the race. By the 30th kilometer, Hassan had increased her lead to 10 seconds, securing her position as the leader.
Near the end of the race, Sifat Hassan ran to the might of her abilities and, for the second time around, broke off the tape at the end of the finish line with a time of 2:13:44.
Chepngetich settled in for second place with a time of 02:15:37, while Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu came in third with a time of 02:17:09.
“I just love the pain, and the time was like you hate yourself, but the way you finish, you want to do it again. It is so amazing. I don’t know, I loved it. It is my second marathon and I win, and that’s unbelievable. I can’t describe how I feel,” Sifat Hassan said in an interview with NBC Chicago.
Who is Hassan—the woman who stunned the defending champion?
Sifat Hassan is an Ethiopian-born Dutch track and field athlete.
She has, for her entire career, specialized in middle- and long-distance running, and she’s received many accolades over the years, placing within the top three and climbing the podium in most of the competitions she’s joined. But, perhaps, her most notable achievement came in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she won two gold medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m medals and a bronze medal in the 1500m. Most recently, she also competed in the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, where she was able to medal a silver in the 5000m and a bronze in the 1500m.
Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir won the London Marathon in a time that set a world record just for women– two hours, sixteen minutes, and sixteen seconds.
Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu, Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei, and world record holder Tigst Assefa all broke the previous women’s only record of 2:17:01, set by Mary Keitany in 2017.
With three of the four fastest women in history racing, the women’s field was regarded as one of the greatest races ever put together. The athletes remained on course to set a record for the women’s only marathon run, meaning that no male competitors were present on the route.
Jepchirchir – grateful
During the duration of the race, Alemu, Assefa, Jepkosgei, and Jepchirchir were the only ones remaining as groups of athletes eventually decreased. They remained together until the final few hundred meters, when Jepchirchir ran for the finish line, enabling the 30-year-old Kenyan to defeat Assefa and win in London for the first time.
Jepchirchir admitted after her win: “I am feeling grateful. I am so happy for the victory. I was not expecting to run a world record – I knew it might be beat but I did not expect it to be me.”
“I knew the history and the ladies were strong. I was working extra hard. My time was lower but I’ve come good today and set a PB… I am so happy to qualify for the Olympics and I feel grateful. I’m happy to be at Paris and my prayer is to be there and run well to defend my title. I know it won’t be easy but I’ll try my best,” she added.
On Sunday, September 10, Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich broke the women-only 10-kilometer world record with a time of 29:24 at the World Athletics Elite Label road race in Brasov, Romania.
For Ngetich, this victory is a huge improvement from her disappointing 6th place finish at last month’s World Championships in Budapest, where she didn’t make it to the podium. Still, Ngetich didn’t opt to back down from the race this time and went out and put on an incredible solo run at the Transylvanian 10 km race instead.
Leaving everyone in her wake, the 22-year-old long distance runner completed the first five kilometers in a time of 14:25, which was four seconds quicker than the previous global record for that distance. She then went on to pass the 6.5 kilometer mark in 18:54 and the 8.5 kilometer mark in 24:56 before finishing the race in 29:24. This left everybody in shock, including Ngetich herself, as she did not expect to surpass the 30:01 world record that was set by the late Agnes Tirop in Herzogenaurach in 2021.
Ngetich on her win
“It is quite a surprise to me…I didn’t expect to break the world record. All I ever wanted was a personal best (PB) of 30:00 or 30:02 but to set a new world record in the women’s 10km was the last thing I expected,” said Ngetich.
Ngetich was also asked about her quick start, and she answered that she wasn’t concerned about burning out in the second half of the race.
“No, I was not worried…When the gun went off, I just decided to run and go for it. I started the season on a perfect note with the World Cross Country Championships (in Bathurst, Australia) and so I wanted to close it in the same way. I thank God that it unfolded this way,” she said amidst smiles.
In addition to Ngetich, another Kenyan long-distance runner also stepped onto the podium that day. Catherine Reline took second place in the race with a time of 30:14. And, the third place was awarded to Uganda’s Joy Cheptoyaek, who crossed the finish line in 30:34.
Track Spice, a famous user on X who’s known to give the latest updates in Track and Field, posted Agnes Ngetich’s latest achievement on the same day. The caption reads:
“Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich shatters the women-only 10km world record* in Brasov as she clocks 29:24 🙌”
WORLD RECORD
🇰🇪's Agnes Ngetich shatters the women-only 10km world record* in Brasov as she clocks 29:24 🙌
The only other woman to have run faster than Ngetich was Ethiopia’s Jelemzerfyehualaw, who ran 29:14 in last year’s mixed race at Castellon and 29:19 in this year’s Valencia race.
Kelvin Kiptum, a Kenyan-born athlete, was a relatively unknown figure in the international marathon scene until 10 months ago. At that time, the public only knew the names of renowned marathon runners, such as Eliud Kipchak, Haile Gerrelassie, and Abimbola Bikila.
But a year, as they say, can make all the difference. On December 2022, Kiptum burst onto the marathon scene and immediately made a splash in the headlines when he ran the fastest debut time of 2:01:53 at Valencia , the fifth fastest time in history. Four months later, he improved on this record, garnering gasps from all corners of the world, and won the April marathon in London in just 2:01:25, recorded as the second-fastest time ever, behind only the greatest-of-all time Kipchoge’s record of 2:01:09.
Kiptum at Chicago Marathon
Even without shattering world records, finishing and taking first place in a 26.2 mile race can be challenging. But evidently not for rookie Kiptum, who broke the record at the age of 23 while running just his third marathon in his life. He clocked a record-breaking time of 2:00:35, knocking 34 seconds off the previous world record of 2:01:09.
WORLD RECORD: We have a new man in town. Kelvin Kiptum just broke Eliud Kipchoge's World Record with an unofficial time of 2:00:35! UNBELIEVABLE! pic.twitter.com/XfeMEzPveZ
Kiptum adopted a ‘negative split’ strategy at the race, running at a slower pace in the first half (60:48) and accelerating in the second half (59:47). In the first 10 kilometers of the marathon, only two runners—Daniel Mateiko and Ronald Kirui—were able to keep up with Kiptum’s unwavering fast strides. However, ultimately the two were left behind in the race to be replaced by last year’s champion in the Chicago marathon, Benson Kipruto and Olympic bronze medalist Bashir Abdi.
But even then, Kiptum had still managed to keep a significant gap between him and his closest rivals. In the last few hundred meters of the race, Kiptum was running solo on the road, and by this time it was clear that he would win the race, and there was now only the matter of the world record being broken that was hanging in the air.
As he broke the tape at the finish line, he clocked a time of 2:00:35, setting a new world marathon record. Upon reaching the finish line, Kiptum was met with a large and enthusiastic crowd, which included a warm embrace from Bank of America Chicago Marathon Executive Race Director Carey Pinkowski.
Kiptum won the race by a margin of 3:27 over Benson Kipruto, who clocked 2:04:02, placed second at the event, and Bashir Abdi , who clocked 2:04:32 and placed third at the event.
“I feel so happy. I was well prepared. I was going for the course record, but fortunately, I got the world record,” said Kiptum after the race, as per sports brief.
