NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 – Ruth Chepngetich became the first woman to ever run a marathon in under two hours and 10 minutes, as she broke the world record in a time of 2:09:56 on her way to winning the Chicago Marathon on Sunday.
Chepngetich, who had hinted before the race that she would be interested in the Course Record, went further on to break the world mark, breaking Ethiopian Tigst Asefa’s mark of 2:11:53 set in September last year in Berlin.
She also lowered Sifan Hassan’s course record of 2:13:44 set at the same marathon last year, and in the end, set a new massive personal best for her.
Kenya now has both the men and women’s world record, both set in the same city. The late Kevin Kiptum, who was celebrated with a minute’s silence before the race, set the record on his way to winning in Chicago last year.
“I am dedicating this world record to Kevin Kiptum. I am sure if he was here today, he could have defended his title and maybe gone for a world record again. I am also happy that this world record has come to Kenya,” Chepngetich said after the race.
Chepngetich’s intent was clear from the start. She breezed through the first 5km in 15:00 and had Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede for company, and then reached 10km in an astonishing 30:14 with Kebede still just two seconds behind.
Chepngetich continued her relentless pace and hit the half-way mark in an incredible 1:04:16, the fifth-fastest clocking in history for the half marathon distance and putting her on course for a sub-2:09 finish.
The gap between Chepngetich and Kebede continued to grow throughout the second half. The pace of both women dropped, Kebede’s more so than Chepngetic, and by 30km (1:31:49) the Kenyan had a lead of almost two minutes over her Ethiopian rival.
Chepngetich’s next 10km was covered in 31:22, which was her slowest of the race so far, but still remarkably quick and enough to increase her leading margin to more than six minutes.
With little more than two kilometres left to run, she was still well inside world record pace, the likelihood of breaking it increasing with every step.
Spurred on by her memories of the 2022 race, when she missed out on the world record by just 14 seconds, Chepngetich powered through the final stages and crossed the line in 2:09:57, becoming the first woman to break 2:10. Remarkably, only nine athletes went quicker in the men’s race.
-Additional reporting by World Athletics
