Lawrence Cherono and Brigid Kosgei ran away with the elite titles at the 2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday afternoon. Kosgei set the women’s world record in the process with an unofficial time of 2:14:04, smashing the 16-year-old high mark set by Paula Radcliffe.
Cherono, a 31-year-old from Kenya, completed the 26.2-mile course in an unofficial time of 2:05.45, narrowing beating out Ethiopia’s Dejene Debela and Asefa Mengstu.
Daniel Romanchuk and Manuela Schär also repeated as champions in the wheelchair competitions. The duo, which won the respective titles a year ago, came away victorious again Sunday as the sun peeked through the clouds on a chilly morning.
Romanchuk, a 21-year-old from Mount Airy, Maryland, immediately took the lead Sunday in the 42nd running of the marathon, then stretched it out in the second half to repeat as men’s wheelchair champion. He blew away the field to win with a final time of 1:30:26, beating his previous time of 1:31:34 last year.
It’s been an impressive year for Romanchuk, who became the youngest person to win the Boston Marathon in the spring. He also won the title at the London Marathon, and last year, he set the record as youngest person to win the New York Marathon.
Schär, a 34-year-old from Switzerland, also repeated as the wheelchair champion on the women’s side, finishing in 1:41:08. Like Romanchuk, she also won the title at this year’s Boston Marathon.
“I am so glad [it was] not as cold as yesterday,’’ Schär said Sunday.
2019 Chicago Marathon champions
Men’s wheelchair: Daniel Romanchuk – 1:30:26
Women’s wheelchair: Manuela Schär – 1:41:08
Men’s elite: Lawrence Cherono – 2:05.45 (unofficial)
Women’s elite: Brigid Kosgei – 2:14:04 (unofficial)
