Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Florence Kiplagat’s two daughters inspired her to exert a little extra energy after she completed the Chicago Marathon on Sunday as the victor of the women’s race.

After crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 23 minutes, 33 seconds, Kiplagat pumped her arms then dropped onto her back to the red stripe on Columbus Drive. In a moment, she rolled onto her stomach and gave the cameras a thumbs-up. Then after a moment of relaxation, the Kenyan hopped to her feet and jumped three times while beaming.

“I jumped because I love my kids,” she said of her two daughters, ages 7 and 11. “They said when you win, you have to jump. They were telling me it’s been a long time since you have been in Position 1. If you win, do something. I didn’t forget.”

The Chicago Marathon crowd will remember her impressive finish.

Compared with the men’s pack, the women ran a quick pace and stayed in a pack of about six runners through Mile 23. Kiplagat surged ahead of Ethiopian runner Yebrgual Melese with about two miles remaining and finished the race on her own.

Melese finished second in 2:23:43, noting that the strong wind gave her difficulty.

Birhane Dibaba finished third in 2:24:24 and said she had been experiencing stomach issues since Saturday.

“After 35 (kilometers), it was feeling a lot worse,” said Dibaba, from Ethiopia. “After the 36 (mile mark), I really couldn’t manage.”

She said if it weren’t for the wind, the women could have finished in a blistering time of 2:19 or 2:20.

American Deena Kastor, 42, who finished seventh, set a national masters record with a time of 2:27:47. It was the 10-year anniversary of her Chicago Marathon victory.

Last year’s winner, Rita Jeptoo, did not compete as she is serving a two-year ban for doping.

Kiplagat was out to erase the memories of her last two Chicago Marathons.

She pulled out because of an injury in 2012. Last year, she struggled with a headwind in the second half of the race and ran her second-slowest marathon time 2:25:57) to finish in third place. (She was later elevated to second place after Jeptoo was stripped of her victory.)

That memory, she said, helped her deal with the strong wind Sunday.

“I knew the course very well,” she said.

Kiplagat came to Chicago riding high after setting a world record in the Barcelona Half Marathon in 1:05:09 in February.

Sunday’s win marked the third career marathon victory for the 28-year-old. It was her first since winning in Berlin in 2013 in 2:21:13.

“I was coming here well prepared for Chicago,” said Kiplagat, who earned $100,000.

Chicago Marathon race director Carey Pinkowski said he thought the poor performance last year fueled Kiplagat.

More Top Picks Best Space Heaters For Garage

“Florence was probably disappointed last year,” he said. “When I talked to her in London last April, I sensed that. I thought she would come back with some added incentive, so that was great.”

[email protected]

Twitter @sryantribune