• Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home Road Racing

Kenyan Sweep for Chumba, Kiplagat at Windy Chicago Marathon, by David Monti, RRW, used with permission

Larry EderbyLarry Eder
October 14, 2015
0
0 0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

2015chicago1.jpgThe men’s lead pack, 2015 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, photo courtesy of Bank of America Chicago Marathon

The 2015 Bank of America Chicago Marathon was a huge success. 40,000 plus starters, two great races up front, a wheelchair World best by Tatyana McFadden, and an American masters record by Deena Kastor were some of the highlights of the jewel of the Midwest.

RelatedPosts

Eugene 2022 World Championships Memories, #2  In A Series Of Personal Recollections: A Litte more than Four minutes with Phil Knight

COROS Athlete Watch, #9: Redemption for Lonah Salpter as she wins Bronze for Israel in the Women’s Marathon at the World Championships

Oregon 22 World Athletics Champs, Day Three: Tamirat Tola takes Men’s Marathon in Championship record!

Here is David Monti’s RRW feature on the marathon. We, of course, use the RRW column with permission.

KENYAN SWEEP FOR CHUMBA, KIPLAGAT AT WINDY CHICAGO MARATHON
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2015 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission

CHICAGO (11-Oct) — The Windy City lived up to its name here today, further challenging the elite athletes competing in the 38th Bank of America Chicago Marathon who had to run this Abbott World Marathon Majors event for the first time in at least 25 years without pacemakers.

Given those conditions, men’s and women’s contenders responded differently. The men ran cautiously, and race champion Dickson Chumba of Kenya’s winning time of 2:09:25 was the slowest here since 2007 when the race was contested in steamy conditions. The women, however, chose to run aggressively, and Kenya’s Florence Kiplagat ran an impressive 2:23:33 to get her first victory here (she was the runner-up here last year). Both Chumba and Kiplagat won $100,000 in prize money; Kiplagat also earned a $5000 time bonus.

When the gun went off at 7:30, the men were in no hurry to get to the finish line in Grant Park, at least by Chicago Marathon standards. A big pack of 17 sauntered through 5 kilometers in 15:31, right on 2:11 pace. Sammy Kitwara, the fastest man in the field with a personal best of 2:04:28, didn’t like the slow pace. He said later it felt like a training run, and it was affecting his strategy.

“Like I said last Friday, the race was not nice to me,” Kitwara said, referring to the lack of pacemakers. He added: “Running without pacemakers, I don’t think it’s nice for me, for my side.”

Kitwara stayed with the main group while American Elkanah Kibet, who represents the U.S. Army, went up the road and built a 13-second lead through 10 kilometers. Kibet was absorbed by the 15-K mark (46:00), and ten men remained in contention, including Kenyans Chumba, Kitwara and Sammy Ndungu. Ethiopia’s Abera Kuma and Girmay Birhanu Gebru were also in the pack.

Running at the back of that group was former University of Oregon star Luke Puskedra who at 193cm (6′-4″) towered over the smaller Africans. Running in just his third marathon, he was a late entrant into the race, only calling race director Carey Pinkowski three weeks ago for a starting spot.

“I really didn’t come in with that much confidence,” Puskedra admitted after the race.

The group of ten remained together through halfway (1:05:13), and the same ten were still in contention through 30-K (1:33:14). Nobody wanted to lead.

“What I can say, the pace was very slow,” said Ndungu who, like Kitwara, was getting frustrated with the pace.

But between 30 and 35-K, the race changed completely. Chumba put in a surge, dropping all but Kitwara and Kuma. He ran that 5-kilometer segment in 14:36, easily the fastest of the race.

“From 30 (kilometers) I tried to push, but the wind was coming,” Chumba told the media after the race. “It was a problem; the wind was coming.”

But the wind was a bigger problem for the others. While Chumba did slow a bit to 14:51 for the next 5-kilometers, that was still good enough to put 19 seconds on the chasing Kitwara. Chumba kept looking behind him, just in case Kitwara was closing.

“When I looked back, I look (for) Sammy,” Chumba said. “Maybe he is coming.”

But he wasn’t. Chumba entered the finish straight alone, breaking the tape with arms raised. It was his second Abbott World Marathon Majors victory (he also won in Tokyo in 2014). He lamented later that he was in shape to run faster, had there been pacemakers.

“Maybe if pacemakers were there, (I could) run 2:04 or 2:05,” he asserted.

Kitwara crossed next in 2:09:50, the third consecutive time he made the podium here without a victory. Ndungu passed Ethiopia’s Girmay Birhanu Gebru in the final sprint to take third in 2:10:07.

Both Americans, Puskedra and Kibet, were rewarded with personal best times (it was Kibet’s debut). Puskedra finished fifth in 2:10:24, and Kibet was seventh in 2:11:31. Puskedra said he was trying his hardest to stay on pace in the last 10-K and he felt like he was sprinting.

“With 10-K to go, just get on the pony and ride,” Puskedra told the media. “I was all-out, I think. I imagined myself to be Usain Bolt, but probably looked like Luke Puskedra out there.”

In the women’s contest, Kiplagat was content to follow Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi through halfway in an honest 1:10:27. Seven women were in contention, including Ethiopia’s Birhane Dibaba, Yebrgual Melese, and Amane Gobena. Kiplagat felt like she was right where she wanted to be.

“I was controlling everything to make sure,” she said. She continued: “More tactics when it comes to a marathon without pacemakers.”

Indeed, Kiplagat controlled the race perfectly. By 35-K (1:58:44), only Gobena had been dropped, and Kiplagat realized she had waited long enough. She ran the 5 kilometers between 35 and 40-K in 17:14, and put the race away. She had ample time to enjoy her run to the tape, and after falling to the ground in exhaustion after finishing, she got up, and jumped up and down several times, something she said was inspired by her two daughters, Faith (11) and Asha (7).

“I jumped because I love my kids,” she told reporters. “I told them when I win I have to jump. I was jumping because I love my kids very much.”

Melese got second (2:23:43), Dibaba third (2:24:24), and Fukushi fourth (2:24:25).

Behind the podium finishers, 42 year-old American Deena Kastor was having a record run of her own. Through halfway, the 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist was easily on pace to break Colleen De Reuck’s national record for athletes over 40 (2:28:40). Strategically tucking-in behind some male runners from time to time to save energy, she seemed to be gliding down the finish stretch before smashing De Reuck’s record with her 2:27:47
clocking. Later admitted that the final stages of the race were actually very difficult.

“I guess being a mom has taught me everything, including flexibility,” Kastor said, referring to several critical choices she had to make during the race with regard to her pace and positioning. She went on, “It hurt just like I knew it would.”

En route to the finish, Kastor set another pending national masters record, passing through 30-K in 1:45:04, well under the previous record of 1:49:31.

“I just wanted to seize the opportunity of the day,” said Kastor, who refused to say if she would run next February’s USA Olympic Trials Marathon. She added: “Today it was just putting my head down and grinding through it.

Author

  • Larry Eder

    Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself."

    View all posts

Previous Post

2015 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Challenge, Week 18, Day Two, by Larry Eder

Next Post

Salel, Wacera win B.A.A. Half-Marathon & Distance Medley Crowns, by Chris Lotsbom, RRW, used with permission

Larry Eder

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself."

Similar Post

Defending Champions Set to Return to the  2022 Bank of America Chicago Marathon  Emily Sisson and Connor Mantz Headline a Strong American Field
World Marathon Majors

Defending Champions Set to Return to the 2022 Bank of America Chicago Marathon Emily Sisson and Connor Mantz Headline a Strong American Field

August 13, 2022
World Championships Medalists Gotytom Gebreslase, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, and Hellen Obiri to Join Women’s Field at 2022 TCS New York City Marathon on November 6
World Marathon Majors

World Championships Medalists Gotytom Gebreslase, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, and Hellen Obiri to Join Women’s Field at 2022 TCS New York City Marathon on November 6

August 12, 2022
Gyulai Istvan Memorial: McLaughlin goes 51.68, fastest 400m ever in Europe, 7 Meet Records!
Continental Tour Gold

Gyulai Istvan Memorial: McLaughlin goes 51.68, fastest 400m ever in Europe, 7 Meet Records!

August 12, 2022
Defending Champions Albert Korir and Marcel Hug and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Stars Galen Rupp and Daniel Romanchuk to Headline Men’s Field at 2022 TCS New York City Marathon on November 6
World Marathon Majors

Defending Champions Albert Korir and Marcel Hug and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Stars Galen Rupp and Daniel Romanchuk to Headline Men’s Field at 2022 TCS New York City Marathon on November 6

August 12, 2022
The amazing duel between Eilish McColgan and Irene Cheptai in the women’s 10,000m final
Cross Country

2022 RunBlogRun Summer Cross Country Mileage Program, Week Six, Day Five

August 12, 2022
Monaco Diamond League, Meeting Herculis EBS, complete results,  10 August 2022
Track & Field

Kipyegon 3:50.37 missed WR by 0.3 at Herculis EBS Meeting/Monaco DL

August 12, 2022

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to RunBlogRun's Global News Feed

Wake up to RunBlogRun’s news in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll keep you informed about the Sport you love.

*we hate spam as much as you do

Recent Stories

Track & Field

Zuzana Hejnova to compete in Doha DL over 400m hurdles, from EME News (source:IAAF)

by Alfonz Juck
April 4, 2022
0

Zuzana Hejnova, photo by PhotoRun.net Hejnova opens in DohaDOHA (QAT): World 200m champion Dafne Schippers will go head-to-head with world...

Zuzana Hejnova runs 38.16 All time best for 300m hurdles, by Alfons Juck, note by Larry Eder

April 4, 2022

Zurich’s Grand Venue: Letzigrund Stadium Inspires Exceptional Performances

April 4, 2022

Zurich Weltklasse, the Olympics in One Night, by Bob Ramsak, Notes by Larry Eder

June 23, 2022

Recent Tweets

RunBlogRun Follow

RunBlogRun comments on the global world of athletics, sports & ethics, and the Olympic movement. RunBlogRun is the voice of the sport.

RunBlogRun
runblogrun RunBlogRun @runblogrun ·
7h

2022 RunBlogRun Summer Cross Country Mileage Program, Week Six, Day Five , by RunBlogRun, ...https://www.runblogrun.com/2022/08/2022-runblogrun-summer-cross-country-mileage-program-week-six-day-five.html , #crosscountry, #trainingtips, #scottishathletics, #eilishmccolgan, @EilishMccolgan, @ASICSEurope,

Reply on Twitter 1558150289122725893 Retweet on Twitter 1558150289122725893 Like on Twitter 1558150289122725893 Twitter 1558150289122725893
runblogrun RunBlogRun @runblogrun ·
8h

Really liked this tweet. @EilishMccolgan took two medals at the #commonwealthgames2022. Her first in the 10,000m was gold, and her second was in the 5,000m with a silver! This was her 4th CG games! ...@birmingham2022, @ASICSeurope

Team Scotland @Team_Scotland

GOLD! 🥇

What a run from Eilish McColgan to win the Commonwealth Games 10,000m title 32 years after her mum! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

And a Games record too!!!

#TeamScot #TimeForHeroes
...#B2022

Reply on Twitter 1558142734199754752 Retweet on Twitter 1558142734199754752 Like on Twitter 1558142734199754752 1 Twitter 1558142734199754752
runblogrun RunBlogRun @runblogrun ·
9h

Repost: BROOKS: Marathon season is almost here. Get the workout ideas, training plans, tips, and everything else you need to hit your goals at our Run Happy blog. https://bit.ly/3pkX1nK,
#runhappy, ...#brooksrunning,

Reply on Twitter 1558128422676828166 Retweet on Twitter 1558128422676828166 Like on Twitter 1558128422676828166 Twitter 1558128422676828166
runblogrun RunBlogRun @runblogrun ·
10h

Time for #coffeewithLarry! Don't miss it! 8.30 AM Pacific! #europeanathletics, #trackandfieldlife,

Reply on Twitter 1558113171906277383 Retweet on Twitter 1558113171906277383 Like on Twitter 1558113171906277383 3 Twitter 1558113171906277383
runblogrun RunBlogRun @runblogrun ·
21h

Marie-Josee Ta Lou’s perseverance in a difficult season gets rewarded with an African Record, by Deji Ogeyingbo, ...https://www.runblogrun.com/2022/08/marie-josee-ta-lous-perseverance-in-difficult-season-gets-rewarded-with-an-african-record.html , #mariejoseetalou, #IvoryCoast, #CotedIvoire, #athleticsafrica,
@deji_oges, #WCHOregon22, #100meters, #200meters,

Reply on Twitter 1557943782007443456 Retweet on Twitter 1557943782007443456 Like on Twitter 1557943782007443456 5 Twitter 1557943782007443456
Load More...
Next Post

Salel, Wacera win B.A.A. Half-Marathon & Distance Medley Crowns, by Chris Lotsbom, RRW, used with permission

runblogrun

RunBlogRun comments on the global world of athletics, sports & ethics, and the Olympic movement. @runblogrun

Browse by Category

Newsletter

Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox!

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Home page
  • My Account
  • Sample Page

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

Select a password for yourself. (minimum length of 8)

Paste here the user biography.

Provide here the twitter screen name. i.e. @RunBlogRun

Provide here the instagram screen name. i.e. @RunBlogRun

Provide here the facebook profile URL. i.e. http://www.facebook.com/RunBlogRun

Provide here the linkedin profile URL. i.e. https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-eder-5497253

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist