Chicago Marathon: Jacob Kiplimo defends his title on October 11, with Kiptum's record in his sights

Jacob Kiplimo will defend his title at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 11, 2026, with the elite start scheduled for 7:30 a.m. local time, or 2:30 p.m. in Paris. The Ugandan won the 2025 edition in 2:02:23 and approaches this 48th edition with the fastest time on the entry list, according to Run247.

His personal best of 2:00:28 was set at the 2026 London Marathon, where he finished third. A world cross-country champion, Kiplimo has established himself in less than two years among the very best marathoners on the planet, having transitioned from the track and shorter road races.

A course that invites records

Chicago is no ordinary route: only 74 meters of elevation gain, a large loop through 29 neighborhoods starting and finishing at Grant Park, according to The Running Collective. It was here that the late Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum ran 2:00:35 in 2023, a world record at the time and still the course record. It was also here that his compatriot Ruth Chepngetich clocked 2:09:56 in 2024, the fastest time on the course for women.

The field is up to the task: six men entered have already run under 2:04, and nine of the top ten entrants are under 2:05. Approximately 55,000 runners will take the start, out of more than 200,000 bib requests.

Facing Kiplimo, Kenyan Amos Kipruto, with a personal best of 2:01:39 and a fourth-place finish in London in 2026, leads the list of outsiders, ahead of Ethiopians Milkesa Mengesha and Tadese Takele.

Kosgei returns to her stomping grounds

In the women's race, Ethiopian Hawi Feysa defends the title she won in 2025 in 2:14:57, following a third-place finish in Tokyo in 2026. She will face Kenyan Brigid Kosgei, a two-time winner in Chicago in 2018 and 2019, who clocked 2:14:29 in Tokyo this year. It was on this same pavement that Kosgei ran 2:14:04 in 2019, which was a world record at the time: she has not returned since.

Her compatriot Sharon Lokedi, Boston champion with a course record of 2:17:22 according to Run247, and Ethiopian Sutume Kebede round out an elite women's field that is almost entirely African.

A detail that is anything but minor: in the world's major marathons, the hierarchy has been contested for twenty years between Kenya, Ethiopia, and now Uganda. On Sunday in Chicago, the continent is not coming to participate. It is coming to defend its own.