Chicago Marathon American Record

It was a day for chasing records at the Chicago Marathon. 0:00 intro 0:05 pre race 1:29 start 2:04 mile 1.5 2:47 mile 2.5 4:55 mile 7 5:27 mile 9 6:17 mile 13 8:08 mile 17 10:29 mile 19 11:28 mile 25 11:52 finish line John Korir called his shot back in April, the day after winning the Boston Marathon. Conner Mantz wanted to go after the American Record (he ran faster than the record previously but it was on a record-ineligible net-downhill course). And Rory Linkletter wanted to go after the Canadian Record, which also happened to be the North American Area Record. John Korir and Jacob Kiplimo set out at a blistering pace, running shoulder to shoulder for much of the race until they could shed the rest of the field. Korir dropped out late in the race, at which point Kiplimo eased up on the pace of what was a potential WR scare. He finished at 2:02:21, the second fastest time ever run in Chicago (behind only the WR and ahead of Korir’s win last year) There was some talk that Linkletter and Mantz might run together for some of the race, but Mantz’ 2:04 pacing put him in the first chase pack with Linkletter running behind in the second chase pack for much of the race. Mantz looked like Mantz for the entire race, and had the course been just a bit longer, he might have had a chance to kick for third. He settled for fourth and the American Record of 2:04:43. Linklekletter came through the finish shortly thereafter, finishing alone at a time of 2:06:49, first Canadian, and 9th overall. I will need to verify, but I believe that Rory has raced with a mustache twice and has missed his goal each time. For the women’s race, I was primarily focused on the Americans. I was thinking that Natosha Rogers and Dakotah Lindwurm would come in as the first two American women, but I wasn’t as sure about the third spot. Emily Venters had been racing impressively all year, and because she’s also training with the Eyestone group, I was thinking she could make a stellar debut. The day unfolded a bit differently than I had anticipated, with Natosha Rogers lurking far behind both the very fast lead packs that had developed and the pacer-led duo of Dakotah Popehn (paced by Minnesota Distance Elite teammate Tyler Jermann ) and Calli Hauger-Thackery (paced by her husband Nick Hauger). But by mile 19, Natosha had clawed her way up to that first American spot, which she held until the finish for a 6th place overall finish. Dakotah PR’d (by 20 seconds), but she had stated in pre-race interviews that she was hoping for a 2:20 (would have been a 4 minute PR). After the race, Dakotah told me she was “disappointed”. I didn’t want to force a post-race interview right then (she was still in her racing kit and a space blanket and we were standing in the lobby of a hotel), but I’m hoping we’ll be able to sit down for a longer conversation soon. Emily Venters started out with promise but ran into trouble late in the race, citing a need for multiple med tent trips. Makenna Myler, who is in the same Ed Eyestone group with Venters, looked strong and spent much of the race as third Americanm. However, she wasn’t able to hold on and faded to a 5th American finish. In her place, Gabi Rooker took that third American spot (and 2nd Minnesotan) with a 9th place overall finish. video by: Bryan Liang, Luke Talbot, Kofuzi edit by: Kofuzi subscriber count at time of upload: 227,104