The gliding strides of 23-year-old running phenom Kelvin Kiptum slowed as he crossed the Bank of America Chicago Marathon’s finish line last Sunday. He took eight steps before he leaped into the open arms of the race’s longtime director, Carey Pinkowski.
Overcome with joy as the men’s world record for fastest marathon fell in Chicago for the first time since 1999, Pinkowski wrapped his arms around Kiptum and held the star in the air.
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The race director was elated. However, he wasn’t surprised: The world record was the goal.
With perfect weather conditions, an ultra-in-form athlete, a fast course and an encouraging crowd, the Oct. 8 marathon seemed a perfect setup to break new barriers, race experts told the Tribune.
The incredible 2:00:35 time — 34 seconds faster than the previous record, set by Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in September 2022 — reestablishes Chicago as a premier place to make running history.
And it all started when Kiptum soared past Pinkowski at the London Marathon in April. It was the Kenyan Kiptum’s second marathon ever. He ran what was then the second-fastest time in history.
Kiptum, who went on to win the race, had already separated himself from the pack when he passed Pinkowski.
“I was on the curb and he came by us in full flight,” Pinkowski said. “I was probably 10 feet from him, and I just turned to my wife and said, ‘We have got to get Kelvin in Chicago. He is magnificent.'”
The race director urged Kiptum’s manager to take advantage of the runner’s optimal form.
“You should think about continuing this trajectory and come to Chicago and go after Kipchoge’s record,” he remembered saying.
And on race day, the little things seemed to fall in line.
The race organizers had gotten Kiptum video of the course so he could know where to expect mile markers, water stations and turns. The city smoothed the course’s streets. The elite athletes got a bus ride to take them right to the start line. The weather hovered near the optimal mark of 50 degrees.
“Perfect weather. Low dew point. Very little wind, if any,” Pinkowski said. “That’s when I was like, ‘OK, it’s set up.'”
Halfway through the race, Kiptum seemed “right in the sweet spot” to chase the record, he said. Then, the runner managed to go even faster. He held an average pace of 4:36 per mile.
Pinkowski said the crowds were the most excited he has seen in his 33-year career leading the event.
“When something great is happening, Chicagoans are keenly aware of that,” he said.
Pinkowski knew Kiptum had it at mile 26. After the two celebrated at the finish line, Kiptum ran to the grandstand, where he hugged Khalid Khannouchi, who became the last man to set the world record in Chicago in 1999.
“I was screaming. It was huge for the city of Chicago,” Khannouchi told the Tribune. “I was proud.”
Khannouchi had heard about the attempt to break the world record, but knew such pressure can get to athletes. Still, despite the last nine men’s world record marathons being set elsewhere, including eight in a row at the Berlin Marathon, Chicago delivered.
“Putting Chicago on the map again, it’s so beautiful,” Khannouchi said. “Chicago is a place for world records.”
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The men’s world record had been set in Chicago three times. The women’s record for fastest marathon in a mixed race has also been set in Chicago three times, most recently in 2019.
The traits that helped Khannouchi break the world record in 1999 helped Kiptum, he said.
The runner was in top form and the weather was perfect. The flat course ran fast, the helpful staff made it easy for runners to focus on achieving the impossible and the engrossed fans added motivation.
“The city, the energy. The course. To me, it is the best marathon on Earth,” Khannouchi said.
Khannouchi predicted Kiptum could break the daunting two-hour mark when he returns to the Chicago marathon.
He recalled his own record-setting Chicago finish over two decades ago.
“You scream. You’re so excited. You’re so happy. No words to describe that,” he said.
After he won, he took a vacation in Hawaii. He ate chocolate, swam and enjoyed all the things he had gone without in his months of intense training.
Social media video showed Kiptum receiving a hero’s welcome in Kenya after the race. The throngs of people greeting him at the airport hoisted him onto their shoulders and bounced him to music. He wore a wreath.
Before the newest record, Chicago had been an underrated marathon course for years, said Michael Lucchesi, coach of the city’s elite Second City Track Club.
“It’s been a long time. Hopefully, people will be putting it back up with Berlin and London,” Lucchesi said.
Lucchesi noted that his team’s own athletes had highlight days. Twenty of its 28 runners set personal bests, including a new U.S. Olympics trial qualifying time.
The race also included new course records in the women’s division and the men’s and women’s wheelchair divisions. The 2:13:44 time run by Dutch athlete Sifan Hasson was the second-fastest women’s time ever, bested only by a record time set in late September in Berlin.
Over 48,000 people ran, setting another record for the marathon.
“It was close to a perfect day,” Lucchesi said. “Sometimes there’s just magic in the air.”
Now that Kiptum has set a new bench mark for what is possible in the sport, others might follow him to Chicago to pursue the record, the running coach said.
Pinkowski agreed that the record will push other athletes to get better and run faster. Developments like the high-tech “super shoes” have helped runners get this far too.
Still, Khannouchi predicted the record will last for years to come. It’ll be a hard time to beat without the stars once again aligning, Pinkowski said.
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“You may have an athlete that will never have a day like that again,” he said. “The really great ones seize the moment.”