Sifan Hassan destroys Chicago Marathon course record

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands ran the second-fastest women’s marathon of all time on Sunday morning in Chicago, smashing the course record by 30 seconds to finish in 2:13:44.

Hassan has displayed an unparalleled range in the last year, taking bronze in the 1,500m and silver in the 5,000m at the World Athletics Championships, just six weeks before racing her second marathon in Chicago. Defending champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya finished second, in 2:15:37, and Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu rounded out the podium in 2:17:09.

Hassan, who is also the Olympic gold medallist in both the 5,000m and the 10,000m, made her marathon debut earlier this year at the London Marathon, where she managed to pull off the win in 2:18:33, despite stopping to stretch and having challenges with her fuelling.

AREA RECORD

🇳🇱's @SifanHassan storms to the second fastest women's marathon in history as she wins the @ChiMarathon in 2:13:44 🔥

That's of course an area record in just the second marathon of her career👏 pic.twitter.com/AsespTN7zi

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) October 8, 2023

Hassan and two-time Chicago Marathon champ Chepngetich set a blistering pace from the start, hitting the 10K mark at 31:05–a remarkable 40 seconds faster than world-record holder Tigist Assefa, two weeks ago at the Berlin Marathon. While Hassan dropped back by a few seconds at the halfway mark, she was back on track through 25K, and with Chepngetich starting to flag, set out determinedly for the win.

COURSE RECORD: In her U.S. marathon debut, Sifan Hassan takes the @BankofAmerica #ChicagoMarathon course record in an unofficial time of 2:13:38! Amazing performance Sifan! pic.twitter.com/0h7nxb50dy

— Chicago Marathon (@ChiMarathon) October 8, 2023

By 35 km, Hassan was 31 seconds ahead of Chepngetich and well under the course record; like Kelvin Kiptum in his stunning world-record-breaking performance, the Dutch runner was alone after the 30 km mark. She smashed the course record by 40 seconds, running the second fastest marathon in history, second only to Assefa, who reset the world record to 2:11:53 in Berlin.

Hassan’s course record (smashing the previous course set by Brigid Kosgei in 2019, which at the time was a new world record) is also a European record, smashing that smashing that set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 by more than two minutes. Hassan now holds every women’s European record from the 1,500m to the marathon.

Is a world record in her future? Pre-race, she told the media that, while Chicago is known for its fast course, her marathon potential has not been realized. “This is just the beginning for me. I still haven’t done a full marathon build.”

Sifan Hassan did a workout immediately after her 1,500m final

American women took three of the top 10 finishes, with national record holder Emily Sisson running 2:22:09–not a PB, but good enough for seventh place and the fastest time among American women. (Last year, Sisson became the third American woman ever to break 2:20, finishing second to Chepngetich in 2:18:29.)

Fan favourite and Olympic bronze medallist Molly Seidel followed Sisson, running a PB in 2:23:07. Seidel was paced by top Canadian distance runner Rory Linkletter.

Top 10 women

Sifan Hassan (NED) 2:13:44
Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) 2:15:37
Megertu Alemu (ETH) 2:17:09
Joyciline Jepkosgei (KEN) 2:17:23
Tadu Teshome Nare (ETH) 2:20:04
Genzebe Dibaba Keneni (ETH) 2:21:47
Emily Sisson (USA) 2:22:09
Molly Seidel (USA) 2:23:07
Rose Harvey (GBR) 2:23:21
Sara Vaughn (USA) 2:23:24

There were no elite Canadian women at this year’s race.

Swiss athletes Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner swept the wheelchair division, setting new course records of 1:22:37 and 1:38:44. Hug toppled his own course record from 2022 of 1:25:20, while Debrunner fought defending champion Susannah Scaroni in a sprint finish.

For our men’s race recap, head here. For full results of the race, head here.