FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kenyans Lead The Way For A Record Field At The 36th
Bank of America Chicago Marathon
A Record 39,115 Cross The Finish Line In Grant Park
Dennis Kimetto and Tatyana McFadden Rewrite Course Records
CHICAGO - In today's 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Kenyan athletes
dominated the men's and women's races with historic performances, leading
the way for the event record 39,115 runners who crossed the sun-splashed
finish line in Grant Park under ideal weather conditions. Kenya's Dennis
Kimetto smashed the men's course record with a 2:03:45 performance, taking
53 seconds off the previous mark set last year. In the women's competition,
Kenya's Rita Jeptoo cracked the 2:20 barrier with a winning time of
2:19:57, the fastest women's marathon time in the world this year. In the
elite wheelchair competition, Tatyana McFadden of the United States won her
third straight Chicago Marathon in a course record time of 1:42:35, taking
down the previous mark set in 1992. South Africa's Ernst Van Dyk won a
sprint finish in the men's wheelchair race to claim his first Chicago
title.
"It was an incredible day at the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon-one
where the results from the course reflected the hard work and determination
that was put in by the staff, the volunteers and our City of Chicago
partners to make the event possible," said Executive Race Director Carey
Pinkowski. "I asked our elite athletes to be champions today-to show the
strength of the running community-and all four of our race winners
delivered in a big way. Congratulations to the more than 39,000 champions
who reached the finish line in today's historic event."
The men's race was a world record chase from the start with a 29:20 opening
10K. At the halfway point in 1:01:52, 2011 Chicago Marathon champion Moses
Mosop of Kenya was heading the charge with the lead group still a dozen
strong. But the pack was whittled down to four when Kimetto and fellow
Kenyans Emmanuel Mutai, Sammy Kitwara and Micah Kogo split 14:33 from 30K
to 35K. Heading up the Roosevelt Road overpass, it was still a two-way
battle between Kimetto and Mutai, with Kimetto grinding away for a
seven-second advantage over Mutai at the finish line. Both athletes
registered personal best performances, becoming the fourth and fifth
fastest marathon performers of all-time. It was also the first time in
history that two athletes broke 2:04 in the same race (on a record-eligible
course). Michigan native Dathan Ritzenhein was the top U.S. finisher,
placing fifth in 2:09:45, the second fastest performance of his career and
his best finish at a Major marathon.
The lead pack of eight women traveled through the half in a relatively
relaxed 1:11:15, but things started to heat up by 25K, when Kenyans Rita
Jeptoo and Jemima Sumgong began to separate themselves from the field,
leaving defending champion Atsede Baysa of Ethiopia in their wake. With
each 5K growing progressively faster from 25K on, it was Jeptoo's 15:57
split from 35K to 40K that sealed her victory and put her in position to
break the 2:20 barrier for the first time in her career. Her 2:19:57 ranks
as the fifth fastest performance in Chicago Marathon history and she's the
first Kenyan woman to break the finish tape on Columbus Drive since
Catherine Ndereba in 2001. Clara Santucci, of Dilliner, Pa., was the top
American, finishing ninth in 2:31:39.
In the wheelchair division, defending women's champion Tatyana McFadden of
Champaign, Ill., shattered the long-standing Chicago Marathon women's
course record with a personal best 1:42:35 performance. It was her third
consecutive victory in Chicago and fourth in the last five years. With her
win, she moves on to next month's ING New York City Marathon aiming to
become the first athlete to win four Major marathons in the same year. She
was followed closely across the finish line by first-time Chicago
competitor Manuela Schaer of Switzerland (1:42:38) and her University of
Illinois teammate Amanda McGrory of the United States (1:42:55). All three
athletes were faster than the previous course mark of 1:44:29 set by Ann
Walters in 1992.
The men's wheelchair race came down to a thrilling sprint finish with South
Africa's Ernst Van Dyk speeding across the finish line first in 1:30:37,
and runner-up Kurt Fearnley of Australia and third-place finisher Joshua
George of the United States less than a second behind, both clocking
1:30:38. For Van Dyk, the most decorated athlete in Boston Marathon
history, it was his first victory in Chicago.
The fifth annual Nike Northside/Southside Challenge again featured local
high school athletes competing in a cross country race covering the final
2.62 miles of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon course. In the boys'
race, Graham Brown of Palatine High School finished first in 12:40. The
girls' race featured Kathryn Adelman, of Geneva High School, winning in
15:20.
About the Bank of America Chicago Marathon
In its 36th year and a member of the World Marathon Majors, the Bank of
America Chicago Marathon annually attracts 45,000 participants, including a
world-class elite runner and wheelchair athlete field, and an estimated 1.7
million spectators. As a result of its national and international draw, the
iconic race assists in raising millions of dollars for a variety of
charitable causes while generating $243 million in annual economic impact
to its host city according to a report by the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign's Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (R.E.A.L.).
For more information about the event and how to get involved, go to
www.chicagomarathon.com.
Visit the Bank of America newsroom for more Bank of America news.
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