2026 Chicago Marathon Elite Field: Charles Hicks

Charles Hicks has run two marathons, finished seventh in both, and been the second American across the line both times. He comes to the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 11 with a personal best of 2:04:35 from Boston in April, a time only one American has ever bettered, and a clear idea of what would make the day a success. “I was second American in New York. I was second American in Boston. I want to be first American in Chicago,” he told Citius Mag late last month.

Charles Hicks at a Glance

• Born: July 25, 2001 (age 25), London
• Represents: United States, since July 14, 2026 (previously Great Britain)
• Team and coach: Bowerman Track Club (Nike), coached by Jerry Schumacher
• Chicago seeding: eighth in the men’s elite field, first among the Americans

Personal Bests

• Marathon: 2:04:35, Boston, April 20, 2026
• Half-marathon: 1:02:10, Atlanta, March 1, 2026
• 20K: 58:06, New Haven, Sept. 7, 2026
• 15K: 43:39, Utica Boilermaker, 2025
• 10 miles: 45:14, Washington, D.C., April 2025
• 10,000m: 27:40.16, Stanford, April 29, 2022

Marathon Results

• 2025 New York City Marathon: seventh, 2:09:59 (debut)
• 2026 Boston Marathon: seventh, 2:04:35

Wins and Titles

• 2021 European Cross-Country Championships: U23 champion
• 2022 NCAA Cross-Country Championships: champion, 28:43.6
• 2022 European Cross-Country Championships: U23 champion and U23 team gold
• 2023 European U23 Championships: 5,000m champion
• 2025 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile: winner and U.S. 10-mile champion, 45:14
• 2026 U.S. 20K Championships: U.S. champion, second overall, 58:06

Records

• Cherry Blossom 10 Mile event record: 45:14 (2025). Still stands; this year’s winner, Mohammed El Youssfi, ran 46:17.
• Second-fastest marathon by an American: 2:04:35 (Boston, 2026). Still second on the U.S. all-time list, behind Zouhair Talbi’s 2:03:45 from the same race. Neither counts as the American record, which is Conner Mantz’s 2:04:43, because Boston’s course is not record-eligible.
• British U23 10,000m record: 27:40.16 (2022), taking down Dave Bedford’s 27:47.0 from 1971.

From Fulham to Stanford

Hicks was born in London to American parents and spent his first 12 years in Fulham before the family moved to the United States. He finished high school at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla., in 2019, then went to Stanford to study cognitive science, and for the whole of that time he raced internationally in a British vest.

He won the European under-23 cross-country title in Dublin in 2021 and defended it in Turin a year later, leading Great Britain to the team gold. In April 2022 he ran 27:40.16 for 10,000m at Stanford, a British under-23 record that bettered the 27:47.0 Dave Bedford ran in Portsmouth in 1971, Athletics Weekly noted at the time.

His biggest college day came that November at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships in Stillwater, Okla. Hicks won in 28:43.6, the first Stanford man ever to take the individual title, and his time was 40 seconds quicker than the one Conner Mantz had won with on the same course a year earlier, according to Track & Field News. Asked whether he had thought he could run that fast, his answer was “Absolutely not.”

He added the European U23 5,000m title in Espoo, Finland, in July 2023, and had already signed with Nike and joined the Bowerman Track Club under Schumacher at the end of June.

Switching to the United States

In 2025 Hicks began the process of moving his athletic allegiance to the United States, and the paperwork shaped his first season on the roads. He won the Cherry Blossom 10-mile in Washington that April in 45:14, beating Alex Maier by a single second, but he was still registered to Great Britain at the time, so the American record went to Maier, Race Results Weekly reported.

He explained the decision to Athletics Weekly‘s Euan Crumley in April, saying “I was feeling increasingly fraudulent the more time I spent outside of the UK.” His eligibility to represent the United States began on July 14, and the long-term target is a home Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

Moving Up to the Marathon

Hicks made his marathon debut in New York last November and ran a negative split, 1:05:20 for the first half and 1:04:39 for the second, to finish seventh in 2:09:59. He stepped down to the half-marathon for the first time at the U.S. championships in Atlanta in March, finishing fourth in 1:02:10, and then went to Boston.

Conditions there in April were about as kind as Boston gets, with temperatures in the 40s and a tailwind at the start. Hicks finished seventh in 2:04:35, behind John Korir’s 2:01:52 course record and 50 seconds behind Zouhair Talbi, whose 2:03:45 is the fastest marathon ever run by an American. Hicks’s time was eight seconds inside the 2:04:43 American record Mantz set in Chicago in 2025, but Boston’s point-to-point course is not eligible for records. It was also 36 seconds quicker than Mo Farah’s 2:05:11 British record, another mark Farah set in Chicago, in 2018.

What to Expect From Charles Hicks in Chicago

Hicks spent this build in Park City, Utah, his first block of training at altitude, and pushed his peak mileage to between 125 and 130 miles a week, up from 115 to 120 before Boston, he told Citius Mag. His regular training partner there was Kieran Tuntivate, and the pair tested themselves at the U.S. 20K Championships in New Haven, Conn., on Sept. 7. Tuntivate won by three seconds after kicking over the last half-mile, but he represents Thailand, so the U.S. title went to Hicks in 58:06, with a second 10K of 28:43. “He brings the speed and I bring the strength,” Hicks told LetsRun afterward.

Clayton Young, who ran 2:05:41 in Boston, has said openly that he is going after Mantz’s record on Sunday, despite a torn hamstring tendon. Hicks prefers to race the people around him rather than the clock. “Jerry and I will always go into races talking about placement, not time,” he said in a LetsRun Q&A in July.

Young, Vinny Mauri (2:05:54) and 2017 champion Galen Rupp are all in the field, and the top American earns $15,000 from the race’s separate American purse on top of any open prize money. Up front, the men’s race is led by defending champion Jacob Kiplimo, whose 2:00:28 is the fastest personal best in the field, and Amos Kipruto. Hicks told Citius Mag he will race in the Nike Alphafly 4.

When the field was announced in July, Hicks said he loves the city and that many of his friends and family live there. “But most importantly, it’s a place where people run fast, and I want to put myself in a position to be a part of that.”