Emily Sisson set a new American women’s marathon record at the 2022 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
Sisson’s record time of 2:18:29 was good for second place in the race, finishing behind Kenyan runner Ruth Chepngetich. Chepngetich who was just 14 seconds shy of the world record in the women’s marathon.
Emily Sisson has carved quite a name for herself in the American women’s distance running scene, although her experience with the marathon is limited to only one prior finish back in London in 2019 and a DNF at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.
In her marathon debut, Sisson ran an impressive 2:23:08. Now, three years later, Sisson slashed nearly four minutes and 39 seconds from her previous performance.
In her media appearance following her record-setting run in Chicago on October 9, 2022, Sisson remarked that she faded in the last 2 miles in London back in 2018, but felt much stronger through the end of the race in Chicago.
Sisson remarked that she was focusing more on running a sub-2:20 marathon than on chasing the previous American record of 2:19:12, held by Keira D’Amato, though Sisson ran the race as if gunning for the record.
In the end, Sisson shaved 43 seconds off the previous women’s marathon American record.
She ran a fairly evenly-paced race with pacers Brian Harvey and Jonny Mellor, running the first half in 1:09:26 and the second half of the race in 1:09:03.
In her Instagram caption alongside a photo of herself proudly holding her American Record plaque standing in front of her new record, Sisson says:
“American record in the marathon today! 2:18:29🇺🇸 Still sinking in to be honest lol
So overwhelmed—in the best way—with all the kind messages and texts! Thanks everyone for all the support.”
Sisson goes on to shout out some of the notable members of her support team, including her husband, coach, chiropractor, and main sponsor, New Balance, ending by saying, “I’m lucky to have such a team ☘️.”
It would be shortsighted to not praise the run of winner Ruth Chepngetich, who dominated the race, winning by an astounding 4 minutes and 11 seconds, and was less than one second per mile off world-record marathon pace.
While American runners are making major strides, there’s still a long way to go to dominate the global stage.
Here are the results.
