A Half to Full Marathon Training Plan Chicago Marathon didn't provide pacemakers for its elite field. The result? A slow and tactical men's race that showcased 10 men jogging shoulder-to-shoulder until mile 23, when eventual winner Dickson Chumba, of Kenya, made a move.
Chumba, 28, ran 2:09:25 for the victory. Fellow Kenyans Sammy Kitwara and Sammy Ndungu were second and third in 2:09:50 and 2:10:06, respectively.
Race day temperatures started in the mid-50s and reached 63 degrees by the time the elite fields finished. The winds picked up in the second half and the top men said they felt it.
"It was a problem," Chumba said, adding that he thought he could have run a 2:04 or 2:05 if the race offered rabbits this year.
Kitwara, whose PR is 2:04:28, set when he took second at Chicago last year, agreed that the lack of pacers made the race more difficult. He likened it to a "long training run" and said his legs suffered in the final miles due to fatigue.
"Running without pacemakers is not nice for me," he said.
Chumba was third at Chicago last year in his PR of 2:04:32, more than a minute faster than his previous best. The 28-year-old set a course record at the Tokyo Marathon in 2014. He became a pro runner in 2008—prior to that he worked as a gardner.
Ndungu, who took a pit stop in the last three miles, worked his way back up to the top four. With 800 meters to go, he saw Girmay Birhanu Gebru, of Ethiopia, just ahead and caught him for third at the finish line.
Race director Carey Pinkowski said he thought the race played out well without pacers, though he added that the late withdrawls of three Ethiopian competitors—including 2012 winner Tsegay Kebede and Endeshaw Negusse—may have taken some of the "chemistry" out of the field, meaning that they may have pushed the pace earlier.
The Shoes & Gear, a five-minute personal best.
