Hawi Feysa Defends Her Chicago Marathon Title

Hawi Feysa won the Chicago Marathon for the second year running on Sunday, pulling away from Sharon Lokedi after 40K and finishing in 2:13:33, 34 seconds ahead of the two-time Boston champion. The time takes 1:24 off the 2:14:56 she ran to win here last October, and in the history of the race only Ruth Chepngetich, with her 2:09:56 world record in 2024, has won faster.

The two of them passed 40K side by side in 2:06:43, after running together for most of the morning. Feysa covered the final 2.2K in 6:50, and Lokedi, running her first marathon on a flat course, needed 7:24 for the same stretch and came home in 2:14:07. Brigid Kosgei, who won here in 2018 and 2019 and was the fastest woman in the field on paper, was third in 2:14:55.

How the Race Unfolded

The leaders never came close to the 65:30 first half that Kosgei had asked the pacers for at Friday’s media day. The opening 10K was fast enough, with Feysa at the front in 31:04, close to 2:11 pace, but each 5K after that was a little slower than the one before, and by halfway the lead group had settled at 1:06:06. That was 36 seconds outside Kosgei’s target and right inside the 66:00 to 66:30 window Lokedi had said she wanted.

Four women were together at that point: Lokedi, Feysa, Kosgei and Loice Chemnung, who had finished fourth here a year ago. Joan Kilimo had lost touch between 15K and 20K, and three of the women expected to contend were out of it much earlier. Megertu Alemu, second here last year, and Fantu Worku were already 22 seconds down at 5K, and Sutume Kebede, the two-time Tokyo champion, ran the first 5K with the leaders but was 42 seconds behind them by 10K. None of the three made the top eight.

The group held together through 25K, which they reached in 1:18:26 after the slowest 5K of the race so far, 15:55. It broke over the next 5K. Feysa and Lokedi ran 15:50 between 25K and 30K, barely any quicker, and it was still enough to leave Kosgei 11 seconds behind at 30K and Chemnung 41 seconds back. Kosgei lost more ground from there and was a minute behind at 40K, though nobody behind her came close to taking third. Chemnung did not finish in the top eight.

Up front, neither Feysa nor Lokedi could get rid of the other for another 10K. Each of Lokedi’s three previous marathon wins had come from a late move, so a race decided in the closing kilometers looked likely to suit her. Instead it was Feysa who had more left, and she ran the second half in 1:07:26 to Lokedi’s 1:08:01.

Mary Ngugi-Cooper finished fourth in 2:17:23, more than two minutes faster than she ran for fifth here last year, and Kilimo was fifth in 2:18:38, two seconds inside the personal best she set in Barcelona in March. Australia’s Isobel Batt-Doyle, who was not among the top 10 at 30K, came through to take sixth in 2:20:38.

Emma Grace Hurley Leads the Americans

Emma Grace Hurley finished seventh in 2:20:48 on her marathon debut, 48 seconds outside the 2:20 she had said her fitness was worth. She was the first American across the line.

The American 8K record holder had said she wanted to stay relaxed through the first half, and she did. After 16:24 for the opening 5K she held every one of the next four between 16:28 and 16:39, and she went through halfway in 1:09:50, on pace for 2:19:40, having moved into the top 10 overall just before it. Beyond 25K she was running farther than she had ever raced, and she slowed to 16:43 between 25K and 30K and 17:02 between 30K and 35K, and Batt-Doyle, who had been behind her at 30K, went past before the finish.

She had led the next American, Dakotah Popehn, by 2:14 at 30K, and she takes the $15,000 prize for the top American woman. Hurley trains in Indianapolis under Amy and Andrew Begley, and Sunday was her first race longer than 25K.

Feysa takes home $100,000 for the win. Our race preview has more on the field, and Kosgei’s profile and Lokedi’s cover the two women Feysa beat.

Women’s Results

1. Hawi Feysa (ETH), 2:13:33
2. Sharon Lokedi (KEN), 2:14:07
3. Brigid Kosgei (KEN), 2:14:55
4. Mary Ngugi-Cooper (KEN), 2:17:23
5. Joan Kilimo (KEN), 2:18:38
6. Isobel Batt-Doyle (AUS), 2:20:38
7. Emma Grace Hurley (USA), 2:20:48
8. Degitu Azimeraw (ETH), 2:21:00