Amos Kipruto won the 48th Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday in 2:01:09, the second-fastest time ever run on United States soil. Hawi Feysa defended the women's title in 2:13:33, the fourth-fastest women's marathon in history. The wheelchair races produced a world record and a course record, and more than 54,000 participants started from Grant Park for a route through 29 Chicago neighborhoods.

Kipruto's move came after Mile 21

Kipruto, the 2025 runner-up, and defending champion Jacob Kiplimo exchanged the lead several times before Kipruto pulled away after Mile 21 and held the gap to the line. His winning time was 34 seconds outside the course record of 2:00:35 set by the late Kelvin Kiptum.

Six men, surrounded by pacers, went through halfway in 1:00:21, and by 25K the lead group was down to four. Tadese Bikila finished second in 2:02:56 and Milkesa Mengesha third in 2:03:46, with Kiplimo fourth. Kipruto had finished third here in 2024 and second in 2025.

"I was ready because this was my third Chicago," he said. "Running a marathon, it's all about the mindset."

Feysa broke away in the last mile

Feysa and Brigid Kosgei followed the pacers from the start. Sharon Lokedi, the two-time Boston Marathon champion and 2022 New York City winner who was making her Chicago debut, held back, then caught both of them around 20K. The women were still on 2:12 pace at halfway, and by 30K only Feysa and Lokedi were left at the front.

Lokedi appeared to have another gear, and Feysa answered with one of her own, moving clear with a mile to go. Lokedi finished second in 2:14:07 and Kosgei third in 2:14:55. All three times rank among the five fastest women's performances in the history of the race.

"It was a very hard fought battle in the later stages of the race," Feysa said, adding that she felt confident of winning around 35K and that winning again meant everything to her.

Young's 2:05:23 and Hurley's debut record

The American men chased Conner Mantz's 2:04:43 national record and did not reach it. Vincent Mauri set the early pace, and Clayton Young and Charles Hicks caught him by Mile 22. Young won the national title in a personal best of 2:05:23, the second-fastest time ever by an American man, with Hicks in 2:05:35. Mauri, cramping late, held on for 2:06:45, and Galen Rupp finished 10 seconds behind him in 2:06:55, more than three minutes inside the American masters record.

Emma Grace Hurley ran her first marathon, went out near American record pace over the first 5K, worked with her pacer through 20 miles and finished seventh overall in 2:20:47 to break the American debut record. She already holds the American 8K record and won the 2026 Shamrock Shuffle. Dakotah Popehn was the second American woman in a personal best of 2:24:00, and Elena Heyday was third in 2:24:57.

Chicago also served as a qualifying opportunity for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon. Ten American men ran 2:16:00 or faster and 12 American women ran 2:37:00 or faster, 22 athletes in total.

DeBrunner's world record and Hug's seventh title

Catherine DeBrunner won the women's wheelchair race in 1:33:16, taking 60 seconds off her own world record for her third Chicago title. It was the first wheelchair world record set in Chicago. Tatyana McFadden and Manuela Schär raced to a photo finish for second and third, both timed in 1:42:01, with McFadden taking second. Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race for the seventh time in a course record. Lito Anker was second and David Weir third, nearly nine minutes behind at 1:30:11. Winter Parts won the non-binary division in 2:28:16.

"I did not expect to break the women's record here because it's quite a technical course for us," DeBrunner said, adding that she felt great at the start line and that the crowd carried her from beginning to end.

How the winning times compare with 2025

Jacob Kiplimo won the 2025 edition in 2:02:23, with Kipruto second in 2:03:54, and Kipruto's winning time this year was 2:01:09. Feysa won in 2025 with a personal best of 2:14:56 and improved by one minute 23 seconds while defending her title. Conner Mantz set the American record of 2:04:43 in that same 2025 race, and it still stands.

Text-led concept comparison of Kipruto’s 2025 and 2026 times and Feysa’s 2025 and 2026 winning times.
Concept comparison graphic, not to scale, showing the 2025 and 2026 times discussed in the article; the existing cover already highlights Kipruto’s 2:01:09 result.

The 2027 race and the standards attached to it

Executive race director Carey Pinkowski said the day produced tremendous racing "with the world's best athletes pushing each other to records," adding that the fast finishes continued all the way to Grant Park.

Applications for the 2027 race, the 49th running on Sunday, October 10, are open until 2 p.m. U.S. Central Time on Thursday, October 29. Chicago will also host the 2027 USATF Marathon Championships, with 20 American men and 20 American women racing for national titles and prize money paid through 10th place, and the event is expanding its High Performance Program to 300 participants for athletes chasing the 2028 trials standards. Runners who finish the Shamrock Shuffle 8K on March 21, the Chicago 13.1 on June 6 and the marathon receive guaranteed entry into the 50th running in 2028.

No mile-by-mile splits have been published beyond the men's halfway mark, so the published record shows where the winning moves happened without detailing every surge before them. The course had produced seven world records and several national records before Sunday by the organizer's own count, and the 2026 edition added to that list in the open and wheelchair competitions.