The 2011 Chicago Marathon

Chicago Marathon

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is a major marathon held yearly in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Alongside the Boston, New York, London and Berlin Marathons, it is one of the five World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also an IAAF Gold Label race...

was the 34th edition of the annual marathon

Marathon

The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 race in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 which was held on Sunday, October 9. The men's race was won by Kenya's Moses Mosop

Moses Mosop

Moses Cheruiyot Mosop is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete. He competed for Kenya at the 2004 Olympic Games and went on to take 10,000 metres bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics...

 in a time of 2:05:38 hours – a course record. Liliya Shobukhova

Liliya Shobukhova

Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova is a Russian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. She previously specialized in the 3000 and 5000 metres track events....

, who recorded a time of 2:18:20 hours, was the women's winner. Some 37,400 runners started the event (a new high for the Chicago race) and the final total of 35,670 finishers was the second highest in its history.

The pre-event favorite for the men's competition was Moses Mosop, who had run 2:03:06 for second place at the 2011 Boston Marathon

2011 Boston Marathon

The 2011 Boston Marathon took place on Monday, April 18, 2011. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya won the men's race in a time of 2:03:02. In recognizing Mutai's mark as the "fastest Marathon ever run", the International Association of Athletics Federations noted that the performance was not eligible for...

 and had broken two track world records at the Prefontaine Classic

Prefontaine Classic

The Prefontaine Classic is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.-History:...

 in July. His principle challengers were Bekana Daba

Bekana Daba

Bekana Daba is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and marathon distances....

, Ryan Hall, Bernard Kipyego

Bernard Kipyego

Bernard Kiprop Kipyego is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon.Kipyego's first international highlight came as a junior at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he took the silver medal in the junior race to form a Kenyan sweep of the medals, alongside...

, and the 2008 Chicago winner Evans Cheruiyot

Evans Cheruiyot

Evans Kiprop Cheruiyot is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. He started out as a half marathon runner, taking wins in Rotterdam and Nairobi, and won his debut marathon race in Milan in 2007...

. Inconsistent pace-making for the first half of the race reduced the chances of fast times for the elite men. A large number of runners remained at the half-way point, which was reached in just under 63 minutes. The leading pack was reduced to five at the 30 km mark with Ethiopia's Bekana Daba the sole non-Kenyan alongside Wesley Korir, Mosop, Kipyego and Cheruiyot. Mosop pulled away and increased his lead over the final 12 km to win in a course record time of 2:05:38 hours (four seconds faster than the late Samuel Wanjiru

Samuel Wanjiru

Samuel Kamau Wanjiru was a Kenyan athlete, who specialized in long distance running. He became a professional at a young age and broke the world record in the half marathon when he was 18 years old...

's time from 2009). Korir finished quickly to cross the line after 2:06:15 hours and Kipyego soon followed to complete the sixth Kenyan podium sweep of the race's history.

In the women's section, Liliya Shobukhova (winner in 2009 and 2010) was expect to be the main protagonist and Askale Tafa, Belaynesh Gebre, and Kayoko Fukushi

Kayoko Fukushi

is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. Fukushi represented Japan at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics....

 were the next fastest entrants. From the beginning Shobukhova set a fast starting pace, departing from her usual slower-starting tactics. Ejegayehu Dibaba

Ejegayehu Dibaba

Ejegayehu Dibaba is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.She is a member of the Oromo ethnic group from the high-altitude Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region. She is the third child of six, her younger sisters Tirunesh and Genzebe are also international long distance athletes, and brother Dejene is marked...

, a former Olympic track medalist but marathon debutante, kept pace with her, as did Kayoko Fukushi

Kayoko Fukushi

is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. Fukushi represented Japan at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics....

. The trio remained together up to the half-marathon point, where they all clocked a time of 69:25 minutes. After this point, Shobukhova sped away and remained unchallenged. She completed the second half of the race faster than the first and her time of 6:52 minutes over the final 2.195 km was the third fastest of anyone that day after elite men Wesley Korir and Ryan Hall. Shobukhova's winning time of 2:18:20 hours made her the second fastest woman ever behind Paula Radcliffe

Paula Radcliffe

Paula Jane Radcliffe, MBE is an English long-distance runner. She is the current women's world record holder in the marathon with her time of 2:15:25 hours...

 and improved her Russian record

Russian records in athletics

The following are the national records in athletics in Russia maintained by All-Russia Athletic Federation .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distanceht = hand timingX = unratified due to no doping control-External links:...

 by nearly two minutes. Ejegayehu Dibaba and Kayoko Fukushi completed the women's podium as they maintained their positions in the final half of the race, finishing in times of 2:22:09 and 2:24:38 hours respectively.

One person died during the running of the marathon: Will Caviness, a 35-year-old firefighter, collapsed 500 yards from the finish line. Amateur runner Amber Miller, who completed the race in a time of 6:25:50 hours, garnered attention as she ran while heavily pregnant and gave birth to a daughter hours later. Kurt Fearnley

Kurt Fearnley

Kurt Fearnley OAM is an Australian wheelchair racer, who competes at the Olympic level. At the 2004 Olympic Games, he finished 5th in the demonstration sport of Men's 1500m wheelchair...

 and Tatyana McFadden

Tatyana McFadden

Tatyana McFadden is a Paralympian athlete from America competing mainly in category T54 sprint events.-Early life:Tatyana was born with spina bifida in St. Petersburg, Russia and was abandoned in an orphanage where she spent the first six years of her life. She was not expected to live...

 were the winners of the men's and women's wheelchair races, respectively.

Elite races

• Race start time: 7:30:04 AM

Men

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Time
1	Moses Mosop Moses Mosop Moses Cheruiyot Mosop is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete. He competed for Kenya at the 2004 Olympic Games and went on to take 10,000 metres bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics...		2:05:37
2	Wesley Korir		2:06:15
3	Bernard Kipyego Bernard Kipyego Bernard Kiprop Kipyego is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon.Kipyego's first international highlight came as a junior at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, where he took the silver medal in the junior race to form a Kenyan sweep of the medals, alongside...		2:06:29
4	Bekana Daba Bekana Daba Bekana Daba is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and marathon distances....		2:07:59
5	Ryan Hall		2:08:04
6	Evans Cheruiyot Evans Cheruiyot Evans Kiprop Cheruiyot is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon. He started out as a half marathon runner, taking wins in Rotterdam and Nairobi, and won his debut marathon race in Milan in 2007...		2:10:29
7	Koji Gokaya		2:12:15
8	Hironori Arai		2:13:17
9	Takashi Horiguchi		2:14:48
10	Masaki Shimoju		2:17:49

Women

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Time
1	Liliya Shobukhova Liliya Shobukhova Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova is a Russian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. She previously specialized in the 3000 and 5000 metres track events....		2:18:20 NR Russian records in athletics The following are the national records in athletics in Russia maintained by All-Russia Athletic Federation .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distanceht = hand timingX = unratified due to no doping control-External links:...
2	Ejegayehu Dibaba Ejegayehu Dibaba Ejegayehu Dibaba is an Ethiopian long-distance runner.She is a member of the Oromo ethnic group from the high-altitude Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region. She is the third child of six, her younger sisters Tirunesh and Genzebe are also international long distance athletes, and brother Dejene is marked...		2:22:09
3	Kayoko Fukushi Kayoko Fukushi is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 and 10,000 metres. Fukushi represented Japan at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics....		2:24:38
4	Belaynesh Gebre		2:26:17
5	Christelle Daunay Christelle Daunay Christelle Daunay is a French long distance runner who specialises in road running. She is the current French marathon record holder. She represented France at the 2008 Summer Olympics and has competed a number of times in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships...		2:26:41
6	Claire Hallissey		2:29:27
7	Yue Chao		2:32:57
8	Askale Tafa		2:33:35
9	Cruz Nonata da Silva		2:35:35
10	Jeannette Faber		2:36:58

Wheelchair

Men

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Time
1	Kurt Fearnley Kurt Fearnley Kurt Fearnley OAM is an Australian wheelchair racer, who competes at the Olympic level. At the 2004 Olympic Games, he finished 5th in the demonstration sport of Men's 1500m wheelchair...		1:29:18
2	Heinz Frei Heinz Frei Heinz Frei is a Swiss wheelchair athlete. Frei has had a long career of racing, winning the London Marathon wheelchair race three times, and earning 5 medals at the 2003 European games at the age of 45...		1:29:23
3	Joshua George		1:29:23

Women

Position	Athlete	Nationality	Time
1	Tatyana McFadden Tatyana McFadden Tatyana McFadden is a Paralympian athlete from America competing mainly in category T54 sprint events.-Early life:Tatyana was born with spina bifida in St. Petersburg, Russia and was abandoned in an orphanage where she spent the first six years of her life. She was not expected to live...		1:45:00
2	Christine Dawes		1:47:01
3	Diane Roy Diane Roy Diane Roy is a Canadian wheelchair racer. Her best two finishes at the 2002 world championships were both 8th place finishes, in the 400 m and in the marathon....		1:47:11

External links

• Official website