Kiplimo and Feysa dominate in Chicago

Jacob Kiplimo landed his first Abbott World Marathon Major title after totally dominating the second half of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

The Ugandan pulled clear of John Korir at halfway and eventually finished in 2:02:23 – 31 seconds ahead of Amos Kipruto, becoming the first Ugandan to win an AbbottWMM race.

Kenyan Alex Masai took third while Conner Mantz broke the US record to finish fourth.

In a race of two halves, race favorite Korir looked the man to beat after he took control of a group that included Timothy Kiplagat, Amos Kipruto and the two Kiplimos – Jacob and Philomen.

The five runners were within world record time, going through 10k at 28:25 and 15k at 42:41.

Korir clocked 60:16 at halfway and began to edge ahead but half marathon world record-holder Kiplimo responded magnificently, overtaking last year’s champion and making the result a formality.

Kiplimo was 12 seconds clear at the 30km mark and, as Korir began to fade, extended the gap to 1:12 over Kipruto who took up the chase.

The world record was under threat as Kiplimo went through 35km at 1:39:53 but the Ugandan began to fade in the closing stages, eventually finishing in the 11th fastest time in history.

“I am so happy,” he said afterwards. “I think I came here to win and it’s a big achievement for me. I knew the guy (Korir) was pushing too fast so I decided to wait until 30km, I was trying to maintain the pace but I think to me it was just to run my PB. I’m happy.”

There was an exciting battle for third place which eventually saw Mantz edged out into fourth but he was delighted to smash the national record - which had stood for 23 years - by 55 seconds.

"That was a great feeling," he said. "It was great to run with Alex (Masai) for the last 10 miles. I couldn’t quite beat him but it was great feeling and a great race. I think my run in Boston gave me great confidence today. We’ll see where we can take this record second by second."

In the women’s race, Hawi Feysa justified her billing as one of the favorites by cruising home in 2:14:56 - the sixth fastest ever time - to win her first AbbottWMM title.

The Ethiopian, who came third in Tokyo, was utterly dominant from the start and finished 2:22 ahead of fellow compatriot Megertu Alemu, setting a new personal best in the process.

Tanzanian record holder Magdalana Shauri eventually finished third after keeping pace with Feysa for the first half of the race.

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