2018 Chicago Marathon Diary: Mo Farah sets European record 2:05.11

CHICAGO (USA, Oct 7): Mo Farah won the Chicago Marathon in a European record of 2:05:11 with splits of 63:05/62:06 in rain. Farah broke away in the final mile to claim victory and the European record ahead of Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew in 2:05:24. Suguru Osako finished third in 2:05:50 to break the Japanese record of 2:06:11 and secure a 100-million yen bonus from the Japanese Federation as part of the Project Exceed initiative. Kenya’s Kenneth Kipkemoi also broke the 2:06-barrier in fourth in 2:05:57 with reigning champion Galen Rupp fifth in 2:06:21, one place ahead of reigning world champion Geoffrey Kirui in 2:06:45. The top eleven finishers all broke the 2:10-barrier, although notable DNFs included Dickson Chumba, Stephen Sambu and Augustine Choge. In the women’s race, last year’s runner-up Brigid Kosgei from Kenya produced a second half of 68:26 to take victory in 2:18:35 to move to seventh on the world all-time lists. Ethiopians Roza Dereje (2:21:18) and Shure Demise (2:22:15) rounded out the podium with former two-time winner Florence Kiplagat fourth on her return to racing in 2:26:08. Sarah Crouch was the top US finisher in sixth in 2:32:37, just ahead of Taylor Ward in 2:32:42.

View this post on Instagram

SIR MO FARAH RUNS MASTERFUL RACE FOR 1ST VICTORY AT 2018 CHICAGO MARATHON – — It was a big day in Chicago as double-double Olympic 5 & 10,000m champion Mo Farah of Great Britain broke the European marathon record to win the race in 2:05:11. The old mark, which stood at 2:05:48, was set 10 months ago in Fukuoka by Norway’s Sondre Moen. This too means he is the fastest man ever not from the nations of Ethiopia or Kenya, taking 70 seconds from his own best. He broke each and every one of the field in this deep race (which saw 9 go under 2:08) over the last 8km or so, winning by a margin of 13 seconds. It was very Farah-esque as the tactics he displayed were much like those used to win his unprecedented 10 global titles on the track. Despite battling light rain and a steady headwind for much of the last 10 miles of the 26.2, he ran the stretch at sub-2:02 pace! Mo Farah’s range is quite stunning. We have known this since he ran 3:28.81 at 1500m for then-6th all-time 5 years ago in Monaco. Now he’s done 2:05:11 and has even better in him that is still to show (right now a 2:03-mid is what I think he could run at Berlin). His talents extend far and wide and he could run in many kinds of races as we clearly have seen in 2018. Last April in London, he went out hard, taking 3rd place (2:06:21) with 61:03 / 65:18 splits. Ahead of him there was Eliud Kipchoge and Shura Kitata, two of who I consider the best marathoners today. If he’s to be at the top, it will take more experience and doing everything right race day. — – [GBR 🇬🇧 A35] MO FARAH’S ER MARATHON (🥇) AT CHICAGO WMM (🇺🇸) ・・ 1st/2nd Halves: 63:06 / 62:05 = 2:05:11 ・・ CKPT🕢Clock Time | 5km Split | 10km Split 05km – 14:54 | 14:54 | 10km – 30:11 | 15:17 | 30:11 15km – 45:06 | 14:55 | 20km – 59:53 | 14:47 | 29:42 HALF 1:03:06 | ( 2:06:12 Projected Pace ) 25km 1:15:20 | 15:27 | 30km 1:29:46 | 14:26 | 29:53 35km 1:44:17 | 14:31 | 40km 1:58:46 | 14:29 | 29:00 FULL🏁 2:05:11 | ( ~4:46.4/mi [~2:58.0/km] ) ・・ Last 2.2K in 6:25 min (14:37 5km pace) ••• CV: ~1:10 = 2:04:00 -1:15 = 2:02:45 – — #ChicagoMarathon #MoFarah #ER20511 #WorldMarathonMajors #WMM #ChiMarathon #ChicagoMarathon2018 #NikeRunning #JustDoIt

A post shared by T&F News Daily | #ChiMarathon (@the_running_statistician) on Oct 8, 2018 at 6:32pm PDT